Trained as a wire walker, ballet dancer and break dancer Casper Dillen is a choreographer, working with bodies, images, objects, and writing. Currently based between London and Brussels. He studied at Central Saint Martins where he received the Deans Award. He completed a post-graduate degree with a distinction in philosophy at Birkbeck and he will be completing a masters at the Royal College of Art. His work has been collected by the CSM Museum and Study Collection. Casper un-hierarchically presents various mediums, bringing them within the frame of the: gallery, theatre, screening room, lecture hall... His pieces function though semiotic arrangements and the dynamics of cooperation and struggle. Defining choreographies as problems proposed and solved. He orchestrates films, actions and situations to magnify physical tendencies, uncomfortable habits or unlearned techniques. He is interested in the tension between spontaneity and programming. His work investigates the erotics, narrative structure and atmosphere in the difficulty of overcoming physical problems. His work has been called 'brave, uncompromising and ceaselessly experimental'.
Since 2018, he has regularly produced work for theatres and galleries. Most notably a solo exhibition at the Bomb Factory Art Foundation, a performance at The Place, London, Center for Performance Research, New York and at Tictac Art Centre, Brussels. His work has been screened at the Southbank Centre, London. Casper has worked in the domain of fashion - most notably with Brandon Prizzon - and contemporary post-punk band HMLTD to craft movement and images. He has delivered artist talks and lectures at various institutions including amongst others: Simulacra (Beijing), Troy House (London), The Bomb factory Art Foundation (London), Sint-Lukas (Brussels), Center for Performance Research (New York).
His practice as research and writing focuses on ancient Greek tragedies. Treating them as forms of avant-garde performance and thinking through the political and aesthetic consequences of tragedy. His current research at the Royal College of Art focuses on trying to sculpt mythological narratives in a new form. Recent work includes, a dance duet devised in a kitchen at the Center for Performance Research (New York), a retelling of the myth of Orpheus at The Place (London), a choreographic sound sculpture at WIELS Contemporary Art Centre (Brussels) and adaptation of Marry Shelley Frankenstein in collaboration with theatre company imitating the dog currently touring the UK and Switzerland.
CV
Education
2018 - 2021 BA Performance Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins. London, UK
2021 - 2022 MA Philosophy at Birkbeck, London, UK
2023 - 2024 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art (RCA), London
Exhibitions and Performances
2018 - 'Bad Dress' Livestream Performance. Brussels, Belgium
2018 - 'Silent Cows ' Blindfolded dance duet, Dancers: Casper Dillen and Yolo Yo-Tchicai. Premiered at 'Metaphonica IV festival performance for experimental sound '. London, UK
2019 - 'Selling Life Insurance ' Performance, Costume: Clara Joy Fubini. London, UK
2019 - Group exhibition: Xhibit 2019. London, UK
2019 - ' p e r f o r m 1 3 0 6 2 0 1 9 ' Michael Spencer. Assisting set design and Performance: Casper Dillen. Prague Quadrennial. Prague, Czech Republic
2019 - 'Dramaturgy of the city' Casper Dillen and Siegfried Beyers. Solo Exhibition and Performances, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation. London, UK
2019 - 'Brushing teeth, playing the violin' Short dance film, screened at Sinfonietta Concert South Bank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall. London, UK
2020 - 'Fade to Black' Matthew Harding. Dance piece, Dancer: Casper Dillen et al. The Place. London, UK
2020 - Design for Dance, Set, costume and lighting design Dance piece. Dance and choreography: Ludmilla Giles and Clem Benson. Platform Theatre, London, UK
2021 - 'Adem' Performance. Platform Theatre, London, UK
2022 - 'Orfeo ' Performance. The Place, London, UK
2022 - 'Portraits ' video work, exhibited in group show. Room.Two.Two, Brussels, Belgium
2023 - ' Long Tennis ' performance, film screening and artist talk, 'Center for Performance Research' , Lenapehoking, the unceded land the of the Lenape people, also known as Brooklyn, New York
2023 - HMLTD Music Video- 'The Worm' and 'The End is Now', Movement direction and performer: Casper Dillen
2023 - cycle ' sculpture,, 'WIELS Contemporary art centre ' , Brussels
2023 - All fish are dead fish '' exhibition and performances
2024 - Frankenstein - collaboration with imitating the dog, Touring the UK and Switzerland https://www.imitatingthedog.co.uk/2024/01/30/press-release-frankenstein-rehearsal-images-released
2024 - 3 Body problem - Performance at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2024 - Future Archaeologies - Group exhibition, sculpture, Camden Art Centre, London,UK
2024 - A mirror is not a mirror - Wandsworth Arts fringe, London, UK
Awards
2020 - 'Queen's Scholarship' Central Saint Martins Awards
2021 - 'Dean award', Central Saint Martins Awards
2024 - New Contemporaries - Shortlist
Interview
2023 - WAF x Riverside Radio - Long Tennis - Casper Dillen in conversation with Sophie Smith
https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/frankenstein-the-lowry-salf-23083
The most striking link between the naturalism of the modern-day story and the symbolic retelling of the novel is Casper Dillen's very physical and often intimate choreography, executed very well by the two young actors, which links together the two stories and the various styles of their telling.
https://liveartalive.com/tag/casper-dillen/
The choreography by Casper Dillen has an urgency and desperation that channels that of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature while also illustrating the push/pull of the young couple deciding what to do regarding the pregnancy.
