ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

ARK 1 explores the precarious futures of human culture amid the life-altering interventions of artificial intelligence and ecological crisis. It proposes an archaeology of the future that questions: how will the history of humanity be archived, remembered, and technologically retrieved in the aftermath of coming catastrophes?

Set in the future, a fictitious bio-technology corporation VESSELS INC created the spaceship “ARK 1” to preserve the distant memory of human life. As Earth’s resource depletion and degraded ecosystems threatened human extinction, VESSELS INC launched ARK 1 into deep space equipped with the technology for sustaining artificial life.

Onboard, an algorithm digitally reconstructed the dancer Leah Marojevic to preserve the muscle memory of human experience. After aeons had passed, ARK 1 was finally detected by an intelligent life form that salvaged an assemblage of deteriorating data from the ancient ship. With no knowledge of life on Earth, they created a cosmic archeological record of Earth’s post-human remains. 

ARK 1 is funded by Nationale Performance Netz “Stepping Out” Fund and Creative Scotland. Coproduction Sophiensaele and Tanz Im August 2021. Presented as an exhibition in the context of Goethe Morph* Iceland, with the support of the Goethe-Institut and Nordic House Reykjavik. Residency support from Tanz Haus NRW, Fabrik Potsdam and TWR Glasgow.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Colette Sadler is a Scottish dancer, choreographer and multi-disciplinary artist. Trained at The Laban Centre in London she worked Internationally as a dancer with choreographers including Vicente Saez and Amanda Miller. Sadler’s choreographic work has been shown in numerous International dance contexts and in the visual arts, including, Tanz Im August Berlin, South Bank Centre London, Performatik Festival Kaai Theatre Brussels, Art Night London, Nottingham Contemporary, Les Latitudes Contemporaines France, OGR Turin Italy, The British Council Showcase, Nordic House Reykjavik Iceland and Tokyo Festival Japan. 

Sadler’s work operates at the intersection of dance, sculpture and digital art. Her interdisciplinary performances often explore the relationship between the human and the non-human, and the relationship between real and virtual spaces. In her performances, she stages bodies and identities in moments of transformation in which transitions between real and virtual realms are created by means of fiction. Since 2016 she has been developing “Present Futures”, a cycle of curatorial events exploring themes of speculative futures and post-humanism in collaboration with The Centre of Contemporay Art Glasgow UK.

TOASTER PERFORMANCE BIENNALE

In April 2026, Toaster presents Denmark’s first international performance biennale, taking place across Den Frie and Husets Teater.

The biennale offers a current portrait of the performance field within both visual art and performing arts – and the many intersections between them – which are rapidly evolving nationally as well as internationally. The focus is state of the art: taking the temperature of the field right now.

Experience more than 20 performances, including 10 entirely new works created specifically for the biennial. The artists range from established performance practitioners to emerging talents – sometimes within the same work.

The programme encompasses works rooted in dance, text, costume, sound, light, music, and space. Performance is here and now – it is the time we live in, and the time we choose to spend together.