There is a video clip that features a dance opera in a very unlikely place: The European Council for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The less than two minute clip explores the luminal space between art and science through a beautifully choreographed dance accompanied by operatic music sung by Claron McFadden.
The film project titled “Symmetry” is directed by Ruben van Leer with choreography by Lukas Timulak. In an interview with The Creator’s Project, Leer describes his hope that the film will “give space for the audience to make up their own story, with their own imagination and make a journey like [the main character] within themselves: a tiny, personal, world changing quantum-story.” Leer also hopes this film will illustrate the symmetry of art and science and how both “are filled with uncertainty, yet at the same time, they are expanding creating endless new routes for exploration.”
There are a few strange reactions to the film trailer by evangelical video bloggers who have described the video as satanic and full of cult symbolism. YouTuber Evangelist Anita Fuentes described the dance opera as “worship[ping] Satan as he crosses the dimension from spirit into natural when time and space collapse.” Fuentes interpreted the hooded African- American man as satan in this clip.
Regardless of blogger comments, the film has received a positive response from audiences at premieres in Amsterdam and Geneva and has opened up discussion about the relationship between art and science.
More information about this film can be found on their blog.