On November 4, 2022, Wright Lab hosted a screening of the film “Invisible Universe,” which was developed during the residency of former Wright Lab Artist-in-Residence Emily Coates, Yale Professor in The Practice of Theater and Performance Studies and Professor in the Practice of Directing at the David Geffen School of Drama.
After the film, two of the Wright Lab scientists featured in the film–Reina Maruyama, professor of physics, and David Moore, associate professor of physics–joined Coates and a third scientist featured in the film; Richard Prum, William Robertson Coe Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies; in a discussion about the film; moderated by Kimberly Jannarone, Professor in the Practice in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at the David Geffen School of Drama.
About the film
“Invisible Universe” is a feature-length experimental documentary and dance film directed by Emily Coates that chronicles spontaneous collaborations between leading dance artists and scientists encountering each other for the first time within Wright Laboratory. Part performance, part cinematic essay, the film frames the intimate, sometimes awkward process of dialoguing across differences, staging choreographic investigation inside a physics laboratory tasked with studying unseen phenomena. Featuring paired interactions between acclaimed choreographers Annie-B Parson, Ni’Ja Whitson, Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Reiner, and renowned scientists Richard Prum, David Moore, and Reina Maruyama, with a cameo by research and development technician Frank Lopez, “Invisible Universe” considers the poetic confrontation between the methods of the dance-maker and the metrics of the scientist.
The film screening was co-sponsored by the Yale Wright Laboratory, the Yale Department of Physics; Yale Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; and Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.