Se7en
Produced by San Musae Cultural Center
Experienced in Los Angeles ~ 2023
The Experience & How it Works:
You enter 18 Social, the bar on the top floor of the Hotel Indigo in Los Angeles and an announcement is made introducing the show. While live musicians play and dancers perform variously in three rooms, the audience is invited to move around the space.
Why it’s Interesting, IMHO:
The show is ambitious: Se7en aims to explore the intersection of the Eastern and Western philosophies surrounding the number seven, all through a dance performance… that’s immersive. The show promises to allow you to “break through the shackles of culture and history to understand the profound power of Se7en.”
Initial Impression & Critical Discussion:
The show sets a mysterious and intriguing tone. The top-hat donning MC introduces the premise and kicks off the show by inviting an attendee to pick a card, a giant playing card. The card leads him to introduce one of the seven deadly sins and this process is repeated every time a dance number ends until all seven sins have been explored through music and/or dance.
The music is spectacular and unique. A pepa player has been flown in from North Carolina and, in addition to playing live, she composed original pieces for the performance. The costumes are eye-catching and distinctive. The dance itself is beautiful and visually engaging.
While the location lends itself to an immersive performance, the dance segments often seem like they’re staged for a stage that isn’t there. Many of the sections have a preferred viewing angle and, while the audience is invited to wander through the space, if they do so, they may miss a main part of one of the performance pieces. Not all areas of the space have been choreographed to equally.
The fact that the audience is dazzled by the dancers is very apparent, as they’ll stand still to watch them, respectfully leaving a buffer of space between themselves and the performers so as not to block the view of other attendees. The audience was leaning on their learned audience behavior, which felt safe. The question this show poses for immersive creators, as a savvy audience member stated it, is “how do you make people feel safe and willing to engage in unfamiliar ways?”
HOT TIPS:
- Dress the Part. If everyone dresses up, it elevates the experience.
- Shut Your Shutter. No photography is allowed during the show.
- Stay for a Drink. 18 Social goes back to being an open-to-the-public bar after the show.
Experiential Viewpoint Expression (E.V.E.):
Embodied*, 1st person visual, 1st person narrative, participant**, mortal
*The story of this experience is the story of you attending it as an audience member. Therefore, it is a first person narrative. The dance numbers explore the seven deadly sins; they do not tell any specific story or stories related to them.
**It is implied that the card picked by the audience member determines the next dance piece. If this is true, then the experience would be participant.
Story Anchor:
The story of this experience is the story of you attending it as an audience member. Feel free to use this template to see if you can write the imagined or actual story of your attendance.
Pillars of Game:
Voluntary Participation — check!
Goal — None.
Rules —No photography. 😂📸
Feedback — None.
Conclusion: This isn’t a game and it wasn’t intended to be.
Who Should Experience This?
Anyone who enjoys dance and is looking for a fun night out with friends.
