Super Normal Extra Natural
A takeover of the Finchley Road O2 Centre by Requardt & Rosenberg
About Super Normal Extra Natural
Attention all shoppers.
A woman with a yellow backpack walks towards the escalator; a couple in matching raincoats stand in silence; coffee is sipped, keys are dropped and a prophet predicts an unavoidable future.
What begins as an ordinary day transforms into an extraordinary blend of angels and demons, hope and misadventure.
Experience the Finchley Road O2 Centre like never before. With headphones connecting you to the soundtrack, you’ll become part of a surreal world where the line between reality and performance blurs.
The award winning Super Normal Extra Natural is a community-based performance created with the people of Camden and students from the London Contemporary Dance School, developed by the creators of Future Cargo and DeadClub™. Featuring dancers, singers, and Camden locals, the show takes over the Finchley Road O2 Centre in an intimate, ever-surprising dance spectacle that redefines the familiar.
Camden residents can book £5 tickets (normally £12). Bookers must have a Camden postcode when booking. If you are a Camden Resident, we will check your proof of address when you collect your headphones.
ABOUT REQUARDT & ROSENBERG
Requardt & Rosenberg (Direction & Choreography)
Requardt & Rosenberg was established to create dance performance away from the auditorium and studio either in outdoor locations or within temporary structures. Their desire is to make performances that are highly visible, unique events in order to engage a wide audience in a distinctive format. Requardt & Rosenberg combine both the spectacle of large-scale dance performances and the delicate integrity and intimacy of the audience experience through binaural sound.
The goals of Requardt & Rosenberg’s current practice include:
- An exploration of different spatial relationships between audience and performance.
- The creation of dance works that take as a starting point an architectural constraint.
- The creation of models for the construction of temporary performance spaces that can tour and could be reproduced around the world in order to provide an alternate touring network for international work.
Frauke Requardt trained in Germany, New York and London. As well as directing dance and performance, she has also worked as one of Lea Anderson’s Cholmondeleys. Frauke was a Work Place artist at The Place and is now an Affiliate Artist. Previous work includes Jammy Dodgers, a fantastical world, with a rolling line up of bands from the London contemporary Jazz scene; the Lynch-esque Roadkill Cafe; and Pequenas Delicias, an absurdist site-specific piece; Episode premiered at The Place (June 2011); Mothers (2017), an anarchic response to her experience of being a new parent; and Dadderrs (2019 - 2021) with Daniel Oliver. Current projects include The Anatomy of Survival (working title) with writer Vivienne Franzman.
David Rosenberg co-founded Shunt in 1998 to pursue an interest in the role of an audience in theatrical productions and he directed all their shows: The Ballad of Bobby Francois, Tennis Show, Dance Bear Dance, Tropicana, Amato Saltone, Money, The Architects and The Boy Who Climbed Out of His Face. Together with Glen Neath and Andrea Salazar he founded Darkfield who make audio based performance in shipping containers for audiences in complete darkness.
CREDITS
Direction and Choreography: David Rosenberg and Frauke Requardt
Composer: Dave Price
Sound Designer: Mike Winship
Costume Design Supervisor: Kate Bunce
Rehearsal Director: Valentina Formenti
Cast: Jordan Ajadi, Alex Henderson, Anders Duckworth and David Rosenberg
Original Cast: Ruben Brown, Jordan Ajadi, Temitope Ajose-Cutting and Anwar Russell
Performers: Camden community members and students from London Contemporary Dance School
Production and Stage Manager: Rachel Bowen
Company Producer: Nina von der Werth
Super Normal Extra Naturalis co-produced by The Place. Commissioned by This Is Croydon, the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture, The Place and Stanley Arts. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
ACCESS
Headphones: To experience Super Normal Extra Natural in full, audience members will be invited to listen in using headphones provided.
Seating: There is no seating, unless provided by the venue for access purposes. Audience members will be standing throughout. If you have any access requirements, please contact the box office.
Touch tours: available upon request.