The Perfect Human

Jørgen Leth described his 1968 film The Perfect Human as “a meta-document”, and though it runs for only 13 minutes, it has secured a lasting place in Danish film history. This new stage work takes Leth’s seminal film as its point of departure, exploring how the human body can be seen, scrutinised and revealed. Echoing the principles of the Dogme 95 movement — to which Leth also contributed — the ballet embraces limitation as a creative catalyst: a white marble space, a single garage door, and nowhere to hide or pretend.

Within this stripped architectural frame, everything is laid bare. Every gesture, every glance and every breath is magnified. The work becomes an investigation of the body as both instrument and possibility, exposing the fragile and the absurd aspects of being human.

Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber possess a keen understanding of the human psyche and are renowned for creating worlds that are at once deeply intimate and sensuous, yet universally resonant. Together with acclaimed American composer Andy Akiho, they now present an entirely new work in which music and movement are distilled and brought together in pure, unmediated presence.

Recommended from 12 years old