{"id":625884,"date":"2026-09-24T10:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/625884\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:34:09","slug":"this-gap-opens-up-of-doubt-and-scepticism-about-everything-jess-and-morgs-confront-the-politics-of-deepfakes-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/625884\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This gap opens up of doubt and scepticism about everything\u2019: Jess and Morgs confront the politics of deepfakes | Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

It appears the interviewer has got him on the ropes. \u201cFor the record, I did not take part in a pagan ceremony with minor members of the royal family in which we daubed ourselves in paint,\u201d states the beleaguered politician, caught outside Buckingham Palace with his flies undone and forced to defend himself. This is a fabrication, of course \u2013 I\u2019m watching the scene play out in an east London dance studio \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t feel miles away from something that could be true. And how do we know what\u2019s the truth anyway? That\u2019s the question in Deepfake<\/a>, the latest piece from award-winning dance duo Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple, AKA Jess and Morgs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pair tell modern stories with ambitious tech \u2013 film and live camera work \u2013 and often techy themes, too. \u201cWe\u2019ve always been drawn to where there\u2019s a crossover between the theme and the form,\u201d says Runacre-Temple. \u201cWhat gets us excited is seeing the contemporary world reflected back.\u201d The pair scored a massive hit with their 2022 piece Copp\u00e9lia<\/a>, made for Scottish Ballet, which turned a twee 19th-century ballet about a dancing doll into a cautionary tale of AI automatons and unrestrained tech bro egos. Definitely not one-hit wonders, earlier this year they made their debut at the highly esteemed Paris Opera Ballet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gladiatorial drama in smart tailoring \u2026 Deepfake. Photograph: Chewboy<\/p>\n

Deepfake is set in a green-screen studio, where the interview is taking place between a cool-headed journalist and a politician. With writer Jeff James<\/a>, Jess and Morgs looked at a wealth of TV interviews, from Jeremy Paxman\u2019s 1997 grilling of Michael Howard, where he asked the same question 12 times<\/a>, to the former prince Andrew\u2019s disastrous turn on Newsnight<\/a>. They also took inspiration from the current ultra-media-trained politicos who \u201ccontinually and bombastically evade any questions at all\u201d, says Wright.<\/p>\n

They liked the way the television interview is already a theatrical setup, says Wright. \u201cI think there\u2019s something fun about putting that on stage and asking the audience to engage with the theatricality as well.\u201d It\u2019s gladiatorial drama in smart tailoring. \u201cIt\u2019s really high stakes; it\u2019s win or lose for both of them,\u201d adds Wright.<\/p>\n

In the show, the interview will be filmed live by four cameras \u2013 then, as well as seeing what\u2019s happening in reality, the audience will watch another version on screen with background footage edited in. We\u2019ll be privy to the fabrication of the image and a number of possible realities. There are also seven dancers in green-screen suits who manipulate the environment but will disappear in the edit.<\/p>\n

Privy to the fabrication of the image \u2026 Deepfake. Photograph: Chewboy<\/p>\n

As Runacre-Temple says, green screen can actually look quite lo-fi \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s got that slightly absurd, playful, silent movie quality about it\u201d \u2013 and it\u2019s ancient tech compared with the kind of AI deepfakes that are emerging today. \u201cThey look so hyper real,\u201d says Runacre-Temple. \u201cThe danger of deepfakes is not only that people believe things that aren\u2019t true to be real, but that they start to disbelieve things that are true, and this gap opens up of doubt and scepticism about everything.\u201d Or, as in their story, someone who has been caught out doing something they shouldn\u2019t can insist it\u2019s a fake image. \u201cIt\u2019s really about the strange shifting relationship with the landscape of truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

I go to visit rehearsals on a day when there\u2019s no tech in sight, bar a couple of laptops. \u201cIt\u2019s good to go analogue to actually finish the choreography,\u201d says Wright, wryly, counting the diminishing days to the premiere. All we have is an enormous studio and two incredible dancers: Rebecca Bassett-Graham, best known for dancing with Wayne McGregor\u2019s company, who is playing the journalist; and as the politician, Kennedy Junior Muntanga, who has worked with Akram Khan.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s got that slightly absurd, playful, silent movie quality about it\u2019 \u2026 Deepfake. Photograph: Chewboy<\/p>\n

The text plays in voiceover while the two dancers embody and expand on its meaning. Their quick-fire movements visualise all the dynamics of a charged conversation: charm, challenge, cooperation, accusation, entrapment, etc. The feel is freewheeling, but each movement is tightly mapped to the syllable, every flex of muscle is considered. In certain scenes with the green screen, dancers will have to hit exact marks and even eyelines on exact words \u201cor the whole illusion collapses\u201d, says Wright. They\u2019re creating their own high-stakes environment for the performers, where \u201cthe dancers\u2019 virtuosity is a metaphor for these very virtuosic performances in interviews\u201d.<\/p>\n

Will this battle have a winner? Can we believe what we see? Jess and Morgs aren\u2019t giving any spoilers. \u201cHopefully it will be surprising and mischievous,\u201d says Runacre-Temple.<\/p>\n

Deepfake is at DanceEast, Ipswich<\/a>, on 25 September and at Sadler\u2019s Wells East, London<\/a>, 1-3 October<\/p>\n