REMACHINE
Sadler’s Wells East
★★★
“a deeply psychological and metaphysical piece”
Six dancers perch precariously in semi-light on the edge of a revolving disk that, at 10 metres wide, occupies most of the performance space. For the next hour or so they will be trapped here, moving painfully across its constantly revolving surface, sometimes dragged along just under its edge. They will come together in a concert of movement and voice; briefly unified at some interludes, only to fall away into separation; to be saved and then to be dragged across the disc. Just as death seems to approach, individuals will recover only to collapse again.
Remachine is a very dark exploration of the relationship between humans and technology. During the interplay between the dancers and the “inescapable hyper-mechanised environment of their own making” it becomes clear that they are as trapped as refugees on a detainee island. However often they draw away and whatever movement towards progress they seem to make, they are pulled back into the circle and the inevitable spinning of the disk. There is no joy in this world, only dysfunctional collaboration and a form of harmony.
Choreographer and dancer Jefta van Dinther takes a bleak view of the technical world in this piece but his interpretation of it through full body movement and evocative sound is brilliant. He has brought us a haunting vision of dystopia. To achieve this, dance is interwoven with singing and music — the sound designer is van Dinther’s frequent collaborator David Kiers — based on the works of gothic-style composer Anna von Hausswolff. Lighting design by Jonathan Winbo completes the atmosphere of continual tension and release. The six creator-performers are tested to their limits and deliver, continuously.
Make no mistake, this is a difficult piece to watch with almost no leavening. There is perhaps one song performed upstage beyond the disk which appears to bring hope as the singer dancers gradually become upright. But this is lost in an instant as dark descends and they are back on the revolve. It does have the feeling of a workshop piece, but it is so highly refined and skilled in execution that it has had to make its way to the main stage. As an audience member I found it a little too long — and painful in that length — but also a deeply psychological and metaphysical piece that is right at the forefront of contemporary dance in casting a light on the challenges of our time.
REMACHINE
Sadler’s Wells East
Reviewed on 14th May 2026
by Louise Sibley
Photography by Elin Berge
