Draw from Within

Draw From Within, choreographed by filmmaker and choreographer Wim Vandekeybus, was one of the very first live-streamed dance events performed and broadcast during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Created in collaboration with the Ballet Rambert in London, the piece offers an exhilarating reflection on a world where human connection is craved and disoriented bodies and minds question which way is up.

As a guest artist with Rambert, Vandekeybus developed a kaleidoscopic fresco - a visual expression of the collective vertigo experienced during a time when the world seemed to flip on its head. Draw From Within plunges into a torrent of surreal and nightmarish images, evoking a post-apocalyptic dreamscape. Birth and death, violence and media frenzy, celebration and confrontation coexist in a feverish rush. Yet Vandekeybus insists that amid this darkness, light persists: humor, hope, and the relentless physical energy of Rambert’s dancers break through, reaching beyond the skin and into something primal and electric.

Now adapted for the stage with a live audience, Draw From Within continues to dazzle. Rambert’s extraordinary dancers rip and roll through a sequence of contrasting theatrical worlds - some sweet and funny, others terrifying or dreamlike - offering a visceral journey through chaos and catharsis. After the cataclysm comes release.

Draw from Within won the National Dance Award for Best Digital Choreography in 2021.

"And my, is its new piece brilliantly danced: those 19 Rambertians perform like racehorses elated at having at long last been let out of the traps." - The Telegraph