LAST AND FIRST MEN by NEON DANCE

Jóhann Jóhannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman, narration by Tilda Swinton

“Listen patiently. We who are the last men, earnestly desire to communicate with you…”

A future race is on the verge of extinction. Almost all that’s left are lone, surreal monuments, beaming into the wilderness. Across 2,000 million years, these future beings come offering help — but they also ask for ours. What they want from us is something only the performance can reveal.

Crafted over seven years and completed by Yair Elazar Glotman following Jóhann Jóhannsson’s untimely death, “Last and First Men” takes Olaf Stapledon’s visionary 1930 sci-fi novel and transforms it into a deeply moving exploration of humanity’s dystopian future. The performance fuses film and contemporary dance, and science-fiction with breathtaking 16mm footage, Tilda Swinton’s indelible voice and the composer’s mesmerising orchestral score.

Set in a distant future where the human race teeters on the brink of extinction, the last remnants of humanity — the last men — reach back across two billion years to speak to us, the first men. Now, the film’s vast, surreal imagery becomes a stage for movement.

Striking choreography breathes life into this haunting vision of a world beyond our own — one shaped by extraordinary abilities, new possibilities, and profound difference.

Led by choreographer Adrienne Hart, Neon Dance presents a compelling hybrid performance featuring world renowned dance artists Fukiko Takase, Aoi Nakamura, and Kelvin Kilonzo, with costume artefacts from the award winning Ana Rajčević.

A one-of-a-kind live event fusing music, film and dance, Last and First Men by Neon Dance comes to Bristol Beacon for its UK premiere with live score, the only chance to experience this extraordinary performance with live music in the UK. 

Based on Jóhann Jóhannsson’s haunting final film and completed by Yair Elazar Glotman, the work merges 16mm visuals, Tilda Swinton’s narration, and Jóhannsson’s stirring score with bold, physical choreography. Set two billion years in the future, the story imagines a final message from the last remnants of humanity, beings shaped by profound evolution, difference, and hope.

Presented in collaboration with Encounters Film Festival, this powerful, hybrid performance places world-class contemporary dance at the heart of a deeply cinematic, immersive experience.

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