Grind Online: Darwin's "for youth, by youth" magazine » dance

We Unfold

Liam — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 05:28:01 +0000

On Friday Olive and myself were invited to take photos of amazing dancers at the Darwin Entertainment Center, they had come all the way from Sydney. It was such a privilege. So we got down there that early afternoon, when the sun was hottest, obviously we had to walk there from the grind office, so the air-conditioning came as a treat. We were welcomed with warm faces and asked to make ourselves comfortable in the huge ‘playhouse’ in the Darwin Entertainment Center. Olive and I took the closest seats to the stage, I prepared the camera, and Olive got out his pen and pad. There was no one else media related there at that point, so we got to watch the crew and dancers as their selves. It was a good insight. Everyone was very busy, but not anxious; occupied and happy. The dancers were warming up, doing stretches and practicing routines. I took a few quick shots of them, whilst playing with the camera before things got started.

Soon more media people arrived, e.g television channels, planning on filming for a short advertising clip. There was another photographer there, from another local tv channel. The crew and dancers discussed what routines they were going to go through.

The lights dimmed and the dancers got into position, at this time, there were two dancers doing one specific intimate scene, they did it again and again until we, the media, were happy with the lighting/ got good shots. It was great, an entire theater were stopping things for me? Cool! I felt selfish even considering such a thing.

That particular scene passed, and the next group of performers where ready to do their part. This time there was no chatting between people in the audience. The dancers moved elegantly to the music for a good 5-10 minutes. They repeated it again and again, with different lighting and different positions, for our preference.

As we were leaving the woman who invited us to the media session, invited us to come along to the real, official show that night. With two free tickets! Hellzyeah! We were super psyched and thanked her heaps.

We took my ratty car from Palmerston, to the city that night, to see the show. I didn’t think my car would make it there and back. We left at 7.10 to make it at 8.00. We got there late, unfortunately, halfway through, almost at the end of the introduction performance. We took our seats, trying as least as possible to disturb the near audience. I saw a brief performance of two pacific girls doing cultural dances and then the audience applauded.

The lady sitting next to us told us we’d missed out on the brilliant introduction. But that was all okay after seeing the next hour of performance. There was a very brief break and small chattering, then the lights dimmed. The curtain was raised. The intense music began slowly and everyone suddenly went quiet. The lighting was focused on particular dancers, doing synchronized moves. And lone dancers in the background, moving at the same pace as each other.

An hour later I was in aw, and it’s obvious the rest of the audience felt the same. The clapping went on for a good five minutes. People stood up, whistled, cheered. The show I had just seen was definitely deserving of such a welcoming audience. It was great to watch, and behind that was a confusing, intense story unwinding, a mind teaser.

All in all, I had a great experience and am very appreciative of seeing such a wonderful group of dancers. It was entirely synchronized with not a foot out of step. I highly recommended seeing these guys if you ever get the chance, you can check their website out here:

www.sydneydancecompany.com

Thanks for reading guys!

Andante dance workshops!

Liam — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 06:31:01 +0000

A rare opportunity exists for NT actors, dancers, circus performers, physical theatre and multi-media artists, musicians, designers and all interested artists who are welcome to take part in the Andante Masterclass with Younes Bachir.

Acclaimed Spanish performance maker, Younes Bachir, ex actor and collaborator with the legendary Spanish company La Fura dels Baus (1995 – 2009) will be at the Darwin Festival to run an intensive Masterclass for NT artists – culminating in two public performances as part of Darwin Festival.

The workshop stems from Bachir’s fourteen years experience of working with the legendary Spanish company La Fura dels Baus (1995 – 2009). Bachir has created a workshop program that is a succesful transference of his theatrical skills to international performance makers.

Workshop Dates: Tue 23 - Sun 28 August 2011

Tuesday/Wednesday: 10am – 6pm
Thursday/Friday: 11am -4pm and 6-10pm
Saturday: 10am- 6pm
Sunday: 11am – 4pm
Public Presentations: 5pm and 8pm

Venue: Commercial Hall Darwin Showgrounds

Participants interested in being involved are invited to send a CV and confirmation of availability to Deborah Leiser-Moore by email info@tashmadada.com or by calling 0414 624 908

APPLICATIONS BEING COMPILED NOW, SO GET IN SOON!

Darwin Festival Review: The Cook, the Queen and the Kelly

editor — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:23:15 +0000

With the festival well under way, there has been many a show that grinders have attended. One of these is the locally produced and written play, the Cook, the Queen and the Kelly. Ausdance Australia really put on a great show, with a combination of new and old dance styles and drama.

The play starts with the ‘Kelly’, Ken Lee, played by Kin Leong, who begins to set up a small Chinese Ceremony. However, he is interrupted by Marshall Cookson, a descendant of James Cook, who is following a trail across the top end of Australia that his descendant was alleged to have taken. The pair begins discussion of their ancestors, and the audience is treated to a showing of Ned Kelly himself, played by Nick Powers, and James Cook, played by Daniel Cunningham.

Before their discussion can get much further, Queen Elizabeth, played by Gail Evans, interrupts them. Initially thought of as crazy, the pair realise they are in fact dealing with royalty. Jess Devereux, playing the younger version of the queen, shows the audience the last time she was in the Northern Territory. As the play continues, each of the three main characters discuss their ancestors, or themselves, and what they have to do with the Territory. Meanwhile, dancers act out the past events the trio are discussing, resulting in a dynamic dance play, a show which few criticisms can be made of.

So, while the play has stopped showing, there are still a few events left in the festival calendar of similar calibre, and there will be future shows from Dance Tracks NT. Hope to see you there!

Darwin Festival Programme… FTW

editor — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:10:13 +0000

Another year, another Darwin Festival. And the festival’s line up is looking bigger and better than last year’s frankly awesome line up. We managed not only to get a sneak preview on the festival’s program, we also managed to get an interview with Joe Duffy, the artistic director of the festival. There is also a snippet of what to expect from the festival as well, which we have put together into a short clip so you can see what Joe Duffy has to say and the interesting performance.

So what about the line up itself? Well, there are sorts of things, from the comedic genius of former ROVE Corinne Grant to the famous names of music like John Butler Trio and The Cat Empire, just to name a few. There are 75 events, 47 of them involve artists from around here! Similar to last year, there are plenty of free events, like Dancing in the sand, and the famous Teddy’s Bear picnic makes a return. There are dancers from all over the world as well as people from local areas. And aimed squarely at the youth of Darwin, events such as Silent Disco, Hip Hop battle and an all new event, En Route, based around mobile phones and IPods. All this will happen between 12th and the 29th August in Festival Park, otherwise known as Civic park, with the lighthouse, in the amphitheatre and other places. Tickets are to be sold online, and from box offices in DEC, Festival park and other places, so look out for places that sell tickets.

So watch, Grinders, and see you at the festival! And check out their website

Traditional indigenous dance

editor — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:19 +0000

This traditional performance from the Kenbi Dancers, Red Flag Dancers and Pukatja, was both an enjoyable and spiritual experience. The dances told of hunters looking for mud crabs and buffalo, each individual dancer has their own style of dance, which was demonstrated to the audience. We had a special performance by the Pukatja dancers from the central Australian community of Ernabella; they showed us an intriguing performance that included Ernabella school students performing Desert Acrobatics from their new show “Pukatia”. Towards the end of the performance the dancers asked if some of us wanted to join them. It was good fun learning how to dance in the traditional way Aboriginal people have been dancing for centuries. What I liked most about the performance was that we were able to learn their dance and have fun with them. The thing I wished could have been changed was the venue; I don’t know how to say it but I think it would have been better in a more traditional setting instead of being held on the Star Shell stage, because that would have given it more impact.

Over all I’m going to give it three stars, because it was enjoyable and an experience I won’t soon forget. The impact would have been amazing if in a more traditional setting.

Tracks dances presents Lipstick and Ochre

editor — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:33:21 +0000

In a celebration of 20 years of senior women dancing with Tracks in the Northern Territory, they combined two great local dance groups with very different style. The Gray Panthers and The Yawalyu dancers, joined to do a show where cultures that are so different, come together to make an amazing performance. I personally know one of the Gray Panthers and so I wanted to go and see this performance all the more; they didn’t disappoint. It was an interesting set, The Lawns at Frogs Hollow Centre for the Arts. While every one was sitting down and finding their friends and seats, The Yalwalyu dancers were sitting on a circular carpet in the centre of the stage, painting each other in the traditional style while singing quietly. Meanwhile some of the Gray Panthers were sitting at small dressing tables with lights around the mirrors making them selves pretty for the performance. The performance felt like it took forever in some bits but overall it was a good show. Just before half time in the show, they received a “present” from “Victoria Beckom.” They rolled out this big box and it stood up and started running around. The man inside threw the box off himself and started to strut around, thrusting his hips to the crowd. Much to my distress my seat faced the middle of the stage and stood out like a sore thumb to the performers; he stopped looked at me made kissy faces and gestured for me to call him. He was a pale, skinny older man, wearing a short cave man costume; I was a bit stunned.

Over all I liked this performance a lot, it mixed cultures and wasn’t what I expected it to be. The only thing I would change was the tree above the stage; there were so many bats in it making so much noise and dropping their left overs on the stage and on the performers that one of the male brake dancers had to come on in half time and sweep the stage. I give this four stars-really enjoyable.