How foley, the art of creating sound effects for film and TV, inspired a dance show for the stage
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Greek artist Ioanna Paraskevopoulou had never heard of foley, before one day stumbling upon a YouTube video of two men in a recording studio, playfully re-creating the sound effects for a chase scene in a film, in order to enhance the audio quality of the footage. Ioanna was mesmerised by what she saw, and it was the beginning of a creative journey that first led her to create a short film All she likes is popping bubble wrap, before developing this concept into a full length work for the stage, MOS. Both were part of Dance Umbrella’s 2023 festival programme.
“There are people that we cannot see in front of the screen or on stage, and these hidden relationships were very inspiring for me.”
Using everyday objects: umbrellas, plungers, and of course, coconut shells, MOS (which stands for “Mute Out Sound”) playfully experiments with the techniques used by foley artists. In the show, the physical act of generating audio while following film footage becomes energetic dance, with tap numbers turned into recordings that are looped, distorted, paused and intensified.
The trailer for MOS
Following her performance at the Barbican in October 2023 for the show’s UK premiere, Ioanna was joined on stage by Hetain Patel (visual artist, filmmaker, performance maker) to discuss how she created an audio-visual experience, transforming the stage into a cinematic soundscape.
Making her Dance Umbrella Festival debut, Athens-based Ioanna Paraskevopoulou is an award-winning dancer and choreographer who focuses on the interplay between movement, sound and imagery, and whose past collaborators have included DU Artist Dimitris Papaioannou.
Hetain Patel (left) and Ioanna Paraskevopoulou (right) in conversation