Jess and Morgs explore deepfakes and uncertainty in new dance work
Choreographers Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple, known as Jess and Morgs, use movement, green-screen effects, film and live camera work in Deepfake. The work stages the theatricality of high-stakes television interviews while examining how fabricated images and performances can make it harder to determine what is true.
Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple, who work as the dance duo Jess and Morgs, have created Deepfake, a performance about uncertainty and the politics of fabricated media.
The work uses virtuosic movement, green-screen effects, film and live camera work. Its scenes draw on the theatricality of high-stakes television interviews, including a fictional politician defending himself against an invented allegation.
Runacre-Temple said the pair have long been interested in the crossover between a work’s theme and its form, and in reflecting the contemporary world through performance.
Jess and Morgs previously created Coppélia for Scottish Ballet in 2022, presenting the ballet’s dancing doll as a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence and uncontrolled technology. Earlier this year, they made their debut at the Paris Opera Ballet.
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
What conditions make audiences more likely to doubt authentic images as well as fabricated ones?
Who gains influence when uncertainty about recorded evidence becomes widespread?
How might live performance change the way people judge technologically altered images?
What safeguards are absent when fabricated media resembles a plausible news interview?
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GLOBAL CURIOSITY MAP · JULY 2026