‘This gap opens up of doubt and scepticism about everything’: Jess and Morgs confront the politics of deepfakes

In the choreographers’ new work, virtuosic movement and some green-screen magic unfurl the theatricality of high-stakes television interviews It appears the interviewer has got him on the ropes.

“For the record, I did not take part in a pagan ceremony with minor members of the royal family in which we daubed ourselves in paint,” states the beleaguered politician, caught outside Buckingham Palace with his flies undone and forced to defend himself.

This is a fabrication, of course – I’m watching the scene play out in an east London dance studio – but it doesn’t feel miles away from something that could be true.

And how do we know what’s the truth anyway? That’s the question in Deepfake , the latest piece from award-winning dance duo Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple, AKA Jess and Morgs .

The pair tell modern stories with ambitious tech – film and live camera work – and often techy themes, too.

“We’ve always been drawn to where there’s a crossover between the theme and the form,” says Runacre-Temple.

“What gets us excited is seeing the contemporary world reflected back.” The pair scored a massive hit with their 2022 piece Coppélia , made for Scottish Ballet, which turned a twee 19th-century ballet about a dancing doll into a cautionary tale of AI automatons and unrestrained tech bro egos.

Definitely not one-hit wonders, earlier this year they made their debut at the highly esteemed Paris Opera Ballet .

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