Here’s your chance to create a concept for the Australian Ballet to stage in 2015!

The Australian Ballet’s 50^th Anniversary Ballet Project encourages an artistic team with a unique artistic vision, be they professionals or novices, to submit ideas for a brand-new ballet work. The competition is to create a totally original work–narrative or abstract – comprising synopsis, choreography, music and design concepts.

The winning entry will receive A$30,000 and will have their work considered for staging by The Australian Ballet in 2015. The Australian Ballet Society (Victoria) has generously donated the substantial prize.

Entries will be judged by a panel of leaders in the arts community with special areas of expertise:
Hugh Colman, designer
Nicolette Fraillon, Music Director and Chief Conductor, The Australian Ballet
David McAllister, Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet
Patrick McIntyre, General Manager, Sydney Theatre Company
Richard Mills, composer
Graeme Murphy, choreographer

The Australian Ballet celebrates and honours classical ballet in all its forms, and recognises that it is through continual exploration and development that the art form will survive into the future. The 50^th Anniversary Ballet Project honours this commitment.

Since its inception in 1962, The Australian Ballet has commissioned over 140 new works. These commissions embrace not only choreographers, but include visual artists, designers, composers and allied artists. Each creative project carries some degree of artistic and financial risk. However, the company’s commitment to dynamic and innovative programming remains a key goal.

Entries close 5pm (AEST) 31 August 2012.
For complete details download the Terms and Conditions (PDF)
and email enquiries to 50thproject@australianballet.com.au
The winning entry will be announced after 9pm (AEST) on 2 November 2012.

Note: Judging panel subject to change due to any unavoidable cause.

Photo: Laura Tong in Night Path, The Australian Ballet(2008)
Choreography Stephen Baynes, Music Richard Mills, Set and costume design Michael Pearce, Lighting design Jon Buswell

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine – everything dance in Australia – dance news, dance auditions & dance events.

By Rain Francis

1. Who choreographed the Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies?

a) Graeme Murphy
b) Tim Harbour
c) Jerry Mitchell
d) David McAllister

2. In 2011, who won the Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography?

a) Stephen Page
b) Luke George
c) Stephen Agisilaou
d) Rafael Bonachela

3. Garry Stewart is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of which Australian dance company?

a) The Australian Ballet
b) Dancenorth
c) Expressions
d) Australian Dance Theatre

4. Which choreographer does NOT have a work in The Australian Ballet’s 2012 production of Infinity?

a) Leigh Warren
b) Gideon Obarzanek
c) Graeme Murphy
d) Stephen Page

5. A fusion of which two dance styles best describes the work of Bangarra Dance Theatre?

a) ballet and hip hop
b) ballet and contemporary
c) contemporary and Indigenous Australian
d) Indigenous Australian and hip hop

6. Which of the following is NOT a work by Gideon Obarzanek for Chunky Move?

a) Glow
b) Mortal Engine
c) Human Interest Story
d) Connected

7. Australian Dance Theatre and Leigh Warren and Dancers are both based in which Australian city?

a) Melbourne
b) Adelaide
c) Sydney
d) Perth

8. Which work did Tim Harbour choreograph for the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 2011?

a) Carmen and Jose
b) The Story of Clara
c) Halcyon
d) Songs of Light

9. Which work by Phillip Adams for BalletLab featured in the 2011 Melbourne Festival?

a) Aviary
b) Miracle
c) Amplification
d) Origami

10. Who is the current Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet?

a) Raewyn Hill
b) Natalie Weir
c) Li Cunxin
d) Francois Klaus

ANSWERS:
1 – a, 2 – d, 3 – d, 4 – a, 5 – c, 6 – c, 7 – b, 8 – a, 9 – a, 10 – d.

Photo: Australian choreographers Graeme Murphy, Gideon Obarzanek and Stephen Page with Lana Jones of The Australian Ballet. Photo by Georges Antoni for The Australia Ballet’s Infinity programme.

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine – everything dance in Australia – dance news, dance auditions & dance events.

By Laura Di Orio

When a dancer steps down from the stage and “hangs up his or her shoes”, it doesn’t always mean an end to a dance-centered career. Many go on to teach, open a studio, direct a company, design costumes, and several choose the route of choreographer. Those who make the shift from dancer to choreographer may find a most freeing, creative outlet to express themselves. And a former life as a dancer just may make that transition smoother and richer.

Dance Informa hears from two established choreographers, both former professional dancers, on how and why they made the jump and what their life as choreographer provides them artistically.

Did you always know you wanted to choreograph? When did those desires begin to surface?

Edwaard Liang, freelance choreographer, USA
www.edwaardliang.com
I never had the thought or desire to choreograph. I had a one-track mind in terms of what I thought I wanted in my career. When I was dancing with Nederlands Dans Theater, I was urged to try my hand creating in their annual choreographic workshops. I had such a great time with the process. I had no clue what I was doing, but loved it.

Where are you along this transition from dancer to choreographer? Have you completely shifted?

Edwaard Liang
I have completely shifted from dancer to choreographer. I don’t feel sad about not performing, I think because I’m still a part of this world. I get to take class and feel like a dancer and move when I want to, but don’t have the same pressures I used to before to be perfect. I get to enjoy movement for movement’s sake. Plus, I never got the ‘juice’ or ‘high’ from performing, so it was not hard to leave.

What does your life as a choreographer offer you that life as a dancer has not?

Stephen Baynes, resident choreographer for The Australian Ballet, rehearsing Baynes's "Beyond Bach". Photo by James Braund

Stephen Baynes
As a choreographer, I have relinquished the challenge and fulfillment of performing but have been challenged and fulfilled in a different way by creating my own dances and seeing them interpreted by wonderful artists.

Edwaard Liang
My life as a choreographer has given me more freedom and input into what I want to say. Making ballets are like making mini movies. You get to decide the music, costumes and sets. You feel like you’re able to mould the whole package.

For dancers who want to either delve into choreography or who want to transition completely, what suggestions do you have?

Stephen Baynes
Be very sure that you really feel you have something to say. Try to get as much experience in making dance as you can. It is a very practical endeavour and needs constant practice, but that can be difficult. More than anything else, search for your own voice, which doesn’t always mean that you can be completely original, but at least it is uniquely yours.

Edwaard Liang's "Age of Innocence" performed by Fabrice Calmels and Victoria Jaiani. Photo by Herbert Migdoll

Edwaard Liang
Keep working and creating, whether it’s a big or small project. The only way to get deeper, better and do richer pieces of dance is to get in there and create. Try not to edit. Find your own voice. Enjoy the process and time. This profession is one of the hardest, physically and mentally, so try to find joy in some of the little things that happen. Don’t always wait for the big promotions to celebrate yourself.

What’s next for you as a choreographer?

Edwaard Liang
I finished presenting my work at Fall for Dance at City Center in New York. I am now starting my first full-length ballet – a new production of Romeo and Juliet for Tulsa Ballet and also new works for San Francisco Ballet, Washington Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and a project with Yuan Yuan Tan and myself.

Stephen Baynes
I am busy with commissions until the end of 2012, including a full-length Swan Lake for The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary, and hopefully there will be more after that.

Top photo: Edwaard Liang rehearing with Victoria Jaiani. Photo courtesy of Edwaard Liang

More than a manipulation of the elements

By Emily Yewell Volin

Does choreographic creativity ooze out of you or are you petrified by the choreographic work required in your dance course?  Whether the urge to create naturally flows from you or you think of yourself as a performer and technician who does not need the required choreography class, you have more to gain by taking the class than you may think.  And, believe it or not, your teachers are fine with either attitude as you enter choreography class.  They just want you there.  Why?  Because there’s movement potential in you that must be explored.  Choreographic training will make you a better dancer and might even lead you toward an additional passion in the field.  Here are a few tips for getting the most out of those choreography classes.

• First and foremost, realise that most brilliant choreographers did not come by it naturally, they were trained.  Accept this. 
  
• Find inspiration.  Your life experiences ARE interesting.  Find new ways to look at them and create work based upon your reinterpretations.  You may be inspired to create linear works that tell a story, abstract works without a literal interpretation, or a mixture of both.  Spend time moving in silence or to music you find that triggers your creativity.  Discover how your body moves and what thoughts come to mind.  Be inspired by these realisations; they are your most honest creative desires.
  
• A choreographer’s job is to make the dancers you are working with look fantastic.  There are typically three strategies for choosing your cast members.  You can cast accomplished dancers, novice dancers, or a mixture of technical expertise.  Regardless, it is important to work with conscientious dancers and to take time to teach your choreography in detail.  The most expertly crafted work will fall flat if you have not clearly communicated your movement or if you find yourself working with dancers who either cannot or will not respond to direction.  A cast of dancers who ‘almost’ execute your intended movement and style will undoubtedly deflate the value of your work.  Be realistic about your cast members’ abilities, choreograph accordingly, and expect clarity. 
  
• Be true to your individuality.  Take a risk and share something of yourself.  You are inherently influenced by all movement, dance and otherwise, you have seen or danced in your life.   Embrace these influences on your way of moving.  Draw from them but do not be paralyzed by them.  Utilise the physical and aesthetic experiences to develop your own choreographic voice.  Inexperienced choreographers frequently develop phrase after choreographic phrase with little attention to developing a concise vocabulary or style for the piece.  Begin manipulating a few movement phrases and expand upon them.  Less is more at this point. If you find ‘filler’ steps in your work, cut them.  Choreography class work frequently involves the creation of several short choreographic studies. Create solid studies and you may find they form the basis for expanded works in the future.
  
• Find music that both speaks to you and is inextricably tied to the work.  Lyrics are fine, just realize you will be bound by them.  And, be aware that recognizable tunes and songs carry with them a litany of memories and preconceived notions for your audience.  Realise symphonic pieces are difficult to pair with a small cast of dancers and that sparse music is difficult to make work with a large cast.  Consider utilising some choreographic tools like syncopation and stillness in your work.  Rhythmic texture adds intensity to your work.
  
• Staging changes everything.  This is something you will learn in choreography class.  Devise a way to begin visualising what staging works.  Draw staging diagrams, move coins around on paper to represent dancers in the space; whatever works for you. Choreography class content includes a lot of tried and true staging information.  Implement these choreographic techniques and experiment with other ideas.  Our brains and eyes are accustomed to deciphering multiple stimuli at once.  Be intentional about the texture and staging of your work.  If your preferred aesthetic is stark, be true to it.  If you enjoy creating the decadent opulence of bodies in space; explore that.  Either way, be intentional and leave nothing to chance.
  
• Explore the creative capacity of your work in at least one other art form.  Write a poem, paint or draw, create a collage or a story board, journal, compose a jingle, read texts that relate to your ideas about the piece…the possibilities are endless.  Keep these inspirations near you throughout your choreographic process in order to create a portfolio of inspirations for the piece.  Share these creations or discoveries with your cast members.  Or, better yet, involve your cast in the creative process and be sure to share your inspirations. 
  
• Reflect and revise.  We all know how frustrating it is when you’ve spent hard found time setting and learning choreography only to return to the next rehearsal and learn that the director has major changes to the piece.  Expect this as part of the process.  Accomplished choreographers reflect and revise, and you should too.  It is often difficult to discern if something is going to work until it is seen in real time.  Invite your teacher to your rehearsals or provide a video for him/her to watch.  Listen to his/her impressions of the work and either implement their recommendations or request more discussion about the ideas. 

We all know that good choreography comes from the manipulation of the most basic elements of dance: time, space, and energy.  A choreography class will help you realize that well crafted choreography is much more than the simple orchestration of mechanical elements.  The best works embody the physical exploration of heart and honesty working in tandem with the splendid manipulation of time, space and energy.  Whether or not you continue to create after the completion of your choreography class, you’ll be a better performer, technician, teacher and artist as a result of the effortful journey.

Dance needs to get beyond the physical, argues well-travelled Australian choreographer Tim Podesta.

By Paul Ransom.

Australian choreographer Tim Podesta is one of those rare people about whom you can say ‘they have the world at their feet’; although really he’s putting the world at other people’s feet.

Having graduated from the Australian Ballet School he soon began a whirlwind worldwide career, performing in places as diverse as South Africa and Denmark and working with Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton and Natalie Weir, amongst others. In 2005, he retired from the boards to put his considerable energy and passion into choreography.

“I am driven by the theatrical essence of choreography,” he says upfront. “Yes, the movement is important but no matter how innovative the physical aspect of the choreography, eventually the audience will cease to be engaged.”

For some of the more ‘high concept’ dance artists and purists, this might seem heretical but Podesta is unapologetic. “I always consider the psyche of the audience,” he declares, before elaborating. “For instance, I think film audiences are being desensitised by a kind of sensory overload with advances in 3D; where you still have a disparity between great 3D and not so great 3D, and I feel audiences are returning to narrative driven works and are looking for a quality in film that considers their emotional journey, not just a visual feast. Dance and theatre audiences are the same in that they approach performances wanting to discover and unravel the work.”

Photos: Tim Podesta creating 'Citizen' with Ballet Wales

It’s an incredibly salient point for dance. We’ve all seen overly esoteric or cravenly crowd pleasing works that looked pretty but failed to impact and Podesta is keenly aware of this. His newest work, Not Now, which premiered in New Zealand mid-October, examines serendipity and brings together his signature palette of traditional motifs and the edgy use of multimedia to create strong narrative through lines.

Under the umbrella of PROJECTion Dance Company, Podesta has sought to unshackle himself and the works he creates from the usual constraints and parameters of dance. “My company have been involved in the creative development of projects in film, TV, radio, advertising, music composition, dance curriculum design and dis/ability in dance projects. My wife will tell you I find it difficult to say no to projects because more often than not I can find a reason that I will grow as a result of being involved. I love learning. I’ll go to dinner with designers, composers and filmmakers and before you know it, its 3am and I’m raring to go.”

The other thing that marks Tim Podesta out is his unabashed eye for the realities of running a dance company and getting projects off the ground. “I want my company, I need my company to be a business,” he tells me frankly. “Over the last two and half months I’ve created three different works in three different countries and this presented opportunities for me to spend time with different organisations, not just dance companies, so I could better understand management skills. I recognise this area is not my forte but I also recognise I need to know more in order to reach mine and PROJECTion’s future.” 

Part of that future, it seems, is on screen. “I am very much excited about the possibility that dance and film can have,” he enthuses. “Apart from the longevity it provides for the movement, it’s also a great marketing tool.” 

Indeed, Podesta already has screen cred, having collaborated on the successful 2010 film 4 Minutes Of Fame, which went on to win the Best Foreign Film gong at the Queens International Film Festival in New York. “As a choreographer, coverage like that doesn’t come along very often,” he observes.

However, there is another side to Tim Podesta. As one of ten Australian artists selected to appear in a recently released book celebrating the links between health and arts, he is something of a spokesperson for mixed ability arts. Like Restless Dance in Adelaide, his Dis/assemble project creates work for both professional and dis/ability dancers.

“I was first introduced to dance and disability through a choreologist who was notating a pas de deux of mine. She told me of a group of dancers with physical and learning difficulties and asked if I would be interested to come and meet them and possibly do a work on them? To be completely honest it was with apprehension that I said yes; but now looking back it was one of the greatest decisions I ever made.”

As well as stretching him as an artist and communicator of ideas, Dis/assemble has enabled him to develop a much keener understanding. “As a person it has made me realise just how shut off I was and that I had no right to feel sympathy for these incredible human beings.”

Significantly, Tim Podesta is also concerned for the health of the Australian dance industry. Whilst acknowledging that dance is enjoying its moment in the sun (due perhaps to certain TV shows) he sounds a very specific note of concern. “On a less positive note, one thing that always disappoints me is the lack of student dancers that go and see live shows. I’m aware of the costs and the tight budgets that students have but when you look at the amount of full time dance courses in Melbourne alone we could be filling theatres for days.”

Going forward, Podesta’s call to action for the local dance community is just as unambiguous. “I believe that dance/art can be profitable if we continue to head in the direction of private sponsorship, philanthropic support and forming links with big business,” he states. “I think the success we have here is no different to the rest of the world and the struggles are the same too. Obviously we are a massive country but when you consider how young companies like the Australian Ballet are in comparison to our counterparts in Europe it’s actually quite phenomenal where we stand today.”

Indeed, we may very well have the world at our feet.

By Rebecca Martin.

Alice Topp first pulled on her dance shoes in the town of Bendigo at the age of 4.  She relocated to Melbourne to study dance full time, first at the Victorian College of the Arts, then Leanne Rutherford’s Ballet Theatre of Victoria.  Alice then made the leap over the Tasman to join the Royal New Zealand Ballet before settling in at her current home at The Australian Ballet where she is a corps de ballet member and emerging choreographer.

For the past two years, Alice has been a prominent choreographer in The Australian Ballet’s Bodytorque seasons, with her first piece “Trace” being hailed by critics and dance lovers.  The piece was so successful that it was performed again outside of the Bodytorque program. 

Alice took time out of her demanding schedule to chat to Dance Informa about life on the road and life as a dancer.

Was Bodytorque your first foray into choreography? 
Yes, it was my first experiment with choreography. I’d never considered choreography previously until the 2010 Bodytorque season.

How did you find being on the other side of the creative process?
I loved it! There are so many different elements to consider and explore being on the other side. As a dancer, I’m used to taking directions and delivering the material but as a choreographer, you have control over your vision for the piece, the quality of movement, the choice of music, the lighting, set designs, video projections, props, costumes, dancers…. It can be rather overwhelming, but what I love about it is that there are limitless possibilities to explore your ideas. Collaboration is one of my favourite ways of creating and I love being surrounded by a team of talented artists each contributing their own unique flavour and shaping the work as we grow together on the journey of the piece.

Alice Topp, photo by Tim Richardson

How much of the year do you spend on tour with The Australian Ballet? 
We spend roughly five to six months a year on tour. Four months are spent in Sydney with yearly trips to Adelaide and Brisbane. There’s often an overseas tour also.

What is it like to tour with a professional Company?
It’s both exhausting and exhilarating!

Touring with a professional dance company means fulfilling a lifelong dream and having the opportunity to perform in some of the world’s most beautiful theatres. It means doing what I love on the national and world stage, working with the industry’s most amazing artists, choreographers, orchestras, production teams, technical staff and designers.

At The Australian Ballet we’re incredibly well looked after. Our medical team comes with us on tour and we have access to all dance maintenance equipment and facilities. We also have an amazing group of company managers sorting out our flights, accommodation and ticketing and a fantastic team of people organising our media commitments, sponsor related functions and anything in between!

As touring means performing and rehearsing six days a week, we often spend our Sunday sleeping and in recovery. As tiring as it is though, performing to a wide range of appreciative audiences means that it’s usually an incredibly rewarding experience.

Do you have any rituals or items you can’t travel without?
No rituals, but my tour mascot is usually my cat! Most tours he travels with me, otherwise he visits his ‘country retreat’ in Bendigo where my parents look after him.

What is the best part of touring?
I would say the change of scenery and the challenge. As we spend so much time interstate, Sydney has become rather a second home, so the familiarity, weather change and the shift into the Opera House is always welcomed. The best part of all touring though would have to be the international tours which are always a highlight for the sights, culture, history, hype and overall sensory experience.

What is the worst part of touring?
Packing and missing your own bed.

What advice would you give to fellow touring performers? 
For long tours – be mentally flexible. Don’t pack too much because you always come home with more and no-one likes airport excess luggage taxes. Try to limit everyday takeout, as convenient as it is when you’re exhausted, because good nutrition aids your recovery process and prevents you getting run-down and sick. Invest in a multivitamin. Never underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep. Try to maintain a balance. It’s important to maintain other interests to help keep perspective, keep yourself grounded and not let work become all-consuming. This will also mean that you have more creative energy to put back into your dancing. Pack a good book. Always have your iPod handy.

For overseas tours, make the most of every moment both inside and outside the theatre, because you never know when you’ll return and you don’t want to just see the inside of the auditorium.

What has been your favourite experience on tour (on stage or off)?
The most outstanding moment thus far would be the standing ovation we received in Paris at The Chatelet Theatre in 2008 in a joint tour with Bangarra Dance Theatre. The buzz was incredible!

Where would you most like to perform?
Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera.

Favourite roles danced? 
Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929 and Stanton Welch’s Divergence.

Role you would most like to perform?
Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain pas de deux.

What are you looking forward to in The Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary year? 
The Infinity program, which is a triple bill of works by Graeme Murphy, Stephen Page and Gideon Obarzanek.

By Rain Francis

Hofesh Shechter, Artistic Director of Hofesh Shechter Company, is recognised as both a choreographer and a composer. Born in Israel, he studied at the Jerusalem Academy for Dance and Music before joining Batsheva Dance Company. In 2002 he moved to London to dance with Jasmin Vardimon Dance. Forming his own company six years later, Hofesh Shechter is currently one of the UK’s most exciting artists.

On a world tour, Shechter recently brought his bold contemporary work Political Mother to Melbourne International Arts Festival, and spent a few moments talking with Dance Informa about it.

Political Mother is a physical and gritty work danced to Shechter’s own score, featuring a band of live drummers and guitarists.  

Describe the experience that is Political Mother.

It is likely to be quite an intense experience. There are nine musicians onstage and there are twelve dancers. It’s a piece that sort of explodes on you and shouts at you. It has also some tender moments, but it’s rhythmic, like a demonstration that goes on and flickers through worlds – from one world into another. It’s a pretty intense experience. The idea is to create a sort of emotional build up and tension. It’s loud at times, it’s angry, and it’s fun, if you’re in the right mood.

What are the themes you’re trying to explore with that intensity? 

I’m a little bit scared of the word ‘themes’, but I do deal with human emotions and human experience below and underneath the pressures of modern life. But it’s not about these pressures, it’s not about politics, it’s not about politicians. It’s about the people that live underneath, it’s about the emotional experience, it’s about the way that we deal with it. There is a lot going on, but it’s definitely dealing with human emotions.

What sort of emotions in particular do you deal with in this work?

Anger and I think there is a lot of despair, and a feeling of hopelessness. But through that, sometimes at the bottom we find hope, we find a sense of perspective, a sense of brotherhood, a sense that we share this experience with other people. So it’s a lot about hope and the loss of hope.

What was the catalyst for the creation of Political Mother?

The work always starts with things that I deal with in my life. I did deal with collision of different worlds. I’ve seen and experienced in my own life, how you can see something that is happening just next to you, or very far away from you (something that is very powerful, very disturbing) and you can forget about it in five minutes. It can really disturb you, and then you just move on. I find our ability to have parallel worlds that are conflicting in a way, but actually exist sometimes very closely, kind of disturbing and worrying. But it’s also just the way it is. That’s the way we respond to the world. It started from this curiosity about our ability to care and then to not care.

In this work you use both traditional Jewish folk dance and live, hard rock music. What is the relationship between these two?

There are parallels between the social structures that allow people to feel connected to each other, and to feel connected to certain emotions that they need to express and want to experience. Rock can give you that angry experience, but it’s like a bubble in a way – you’re not doing anything, you’re just venting, you’re not changing the world at all, or yourself. Folk dance can give you this sense of belonging, a sense of identity. It helps direct people towards a certain way of thinking. I find this interesting – the social systems that help direct people to where you want to direct them. That’s the parallel that I’m looking at.

Hofesh Shechter Company is currently performing Political Mother and other works across Europe, and will be touring across the world well into the New Year.

Top photo: Israeli Choreographer Hofesh Shechter, photo by Carl Fox

By Rain Francis.

Born in Kingsley, England, Paul Lightfoot trained at the Royal Ballet School before joining Nederlands Dans Theater in 1985. He created his first ballet for NDT 2 in 1989 and went on to create over 40 works for Nederlands Dans Theater, in collaboration with his wife, Sol Leon. Since 2002, the couple – operating under the harmonious name Lightfoot Leon – have been  Resident Choreographers for NDT. Rain Francis caught up with the charismatic Paul Lightfoot, on NDT1′s recent tour.

Your work, Silent Screen was performed as part of NDT 1′s recent tour. Tell me about Silent Screen.

Every piece has a different catalyst; for this piece it was silent movies. It was Hitchcock who said that silent film is the purest form of cinema. I’m a big film fanatic, and I love the genre of silent movies. It’s basically choreography, because it’s people telling a story without words. I wanted to use a film without anybody in it to create a surreal situation, where you have real people moving with the camera, and they can go to different places that evoke different feelings. I thought it would be beautiful to create a tromp l’oeil, a Victorian parlour trick. Phillip Glass was also a huge inspiration, and his Glassworks is one of his most famous pieces. I was very lucky to come across it at the right time for this project.

Nederlands Dans Theater 1 present Silent Screen by Lightfoot & Leon

Are there themes or ideas that you find yourself returning to in your work?

Yes. Silent Screen is an incredibly important piece for us. It is the journey of a man and a woman, which of course is in relation to Sol and I, the way we work, and the way we are. It wasn’t to tell our story, but it was to tell the story of emotions that every couple can relate to, during the stages of a relationship. Sol and I have been together 25 years; we’ve had many ups and downs and those things inspire you.

Do you always create together with Sol?

Always. Ever since the first piece. For the first few years the works only had my name on them, and  Sol wasn’t really aware how much she was becoming a choreographer. She was helping me. We’d go home and chat, go into the studio and work something out, and slowly this partnership was growing. I like to share. Our partnership is highly irregular in the world of choreography. It’s like a dialogue; we combine our ideas, we respect each other, and move forward together.

Do you ever struggle for inspiration, or are you full of ideas?

It sounds very pretentious when I say I’ve got lots of ideas, but sometimes I think it’s a curse. Generally I’ve got too many. I have to chop them down, get to the essence. It can be very chaotic, but I work very instinctively. I’m a good planner but I immediately break all those plans, and follow my gut. With Sol there too it’s very important to remember that there’s somebody else there. You might be fixated on your idea but you have to be ready to let go of it, because the other person isn’t going to always be on the same wavelength.

Do you get to a point where you are satisfied with a piece of work, or could you go on tinkering with it?

No, there’ve been very few pieces that we’ve tinkered with. There are other choreographers I know and love very much, who get itchy. So they return to older works and make changes. It’s funny, even if it’s a lot better, I feel that they haven’t succeeded. I think when pieces have been made, they’ve been made – there’s a certain kind of destiny to it. Imperfections can be very beautiful, and what make things or people special, so I don’t look to make the perfect piece, and I think that’s part of what makes it magical sometimes. I haven’t touched a step of Silent Screen.

You say you are a film fanatic. What kind of things do you watch?

I love everything. I am a bit of a maverick really, I go to anything. Of course I watch the commercial things. I have a 13 year old daughter, so I’m quite often going to see those ones. I can have as much fun watching those as with a much more artistic film, but generally it’s more enriching to watch the work of great directors.

So, what did you think of Black Swan?

I think it’s a good film. It isn’t realistic, in terms of what a ballet company is – it’s a dark, negative fantasy, and frankly, I can imagine someone in that frame of mind going that far. We do deal with obsession, and we do stare at ourselves all day in a mirror and judge ourselves constantly, and those things can turn into a sickness if you’re not careful. I saw it as a lot less of a ballet film and more as being about the destruction of a human being, and ballet was just a tool to describe her story. The film paints a very dark tale. I love thriller and fear and they’re very important elements to all of us.

What advice can you give to budding choreographers?

I would give them a warning, with all the kindness in my heart – make sure you’ve got something to say. It’s not good to do anything in life if you don’t really believe it. Choreography is sort of an exaggerated version of that, it will show you up very fast.

Also, it’s very important to have your own language. Work a lot with your own body first, don’t just wait for others to do all the hard work for you, because it is hard work. It’s hours in the studio, and you have to be dedicated to doing that yourself.

Don’t be afraid to be influenced. I was highly influenced by many people, in many strange ways. Hans van Manen was a giant inspiration to me, and Jiri Kylian of course. People say, ‘I can see you are influenced by Kylian’ – well, absolutely – where else am I going to learn from? I don’t see that as being somehow negative. It’s very important to learn from people who are lots wiser and more experienced, like we do in all walks of life.

Adelaide based choreographer Leigh Warren has enjoyed a lifetime of artistic and critical success and now he’s taking on both the past and the future.

By Paul Ransom.

“I don’t want to do as much but I want to do everything better,” declares Leigh Warren from his Adelaide headquarters.

For a man who has been living and breathing dance, (from his early days on stage with Nederlands Dans to his award winning career as one of Australia’s most daring and consistently brilliant choreographers), the fire remains undimmed. Now, as he approaches 60, he can not only look back on a stellar past but contemplate an exciting future. 

“Maybe as you get older you keep less and throw out more,” he muses. “You hold what you really need and you remove the padding, so the work is leaner. It’s not just about spewing out movement but choosing movement that’s going to connect to an audience and really let them follow what you’re saying.”

Leigh Warren. Photo by Alex Makeyev

Appropriately, Warren’s latest venture is a blend of past and future. When his company premiered Dreamscape this month at OzAsia Festival in Adelaide it saw Leigh revisiting a work he first danced in under the tutelage of the legendary Czech maestro Jiri Kylian and a brand new piece celebrating his passion for Japanese inspired dance.

Of the former, a Kylian piece called Dreamtime, Warren observes, “This is the first time that I’ve worked on a piece that I was in and it’s amazing how the body remembers it. If things aren’t quite working in rehearsal I’ll go to do it and I will automatically move with ease into how it’s supposed to co-ordinate. If I don’t think about it, it’s just there.”

Whilst restaging someone else’s work might seem creatively limiting, Leigh Warren seems very much at ease with his erstwhile mentor’s original vision. “They pretty much are the same combinations of steps,” he confesses easily, “but what’s interesting is that when you look at something again your view of it has changed.”

It’s tempting here to suggest that perhaps the passage of years has rendered Kylian’s choreography dated but Warren is adamant the work is timeless. Indeed, picking up on that thread, he launches into an impassioned criticism of choreographic fashion. “The big pitfall of everybody is that they start using the codified moves,” he begins. “If I see somebody throw themselves to the floor once more for no reason I’ll scream. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Although Warren has been critically feted, shown work internationally, worked in film and teamed up with legends like William Forsythe, he is the first to admit that he has never been fashionable. “But then I’ve never strived to be,” he adds. “Some people get more celebration than others but an artist with any integrity just goes their journey because that’s who they are and they don’t succumb to the pressures. And I mean, you do go out of fashion just as quick, even if you do start going into the gimmicks and the latest combos of steps.”

Invariably, what this means is a process of continual reinvention; and part of the back story for the other half of the Dreamscape double bill involves one such creative epiphany. Warren had gone to Japan to participate in a Butoh festival where, he says, “I was taken totally out of my comfort zone. I was miserable. I really didn’t want to be there. I was in the middle of a rice paddy ankle deep in water and everything that wanted to wriggle and bite me was in that field. It was horrible; but that experience was a revelation to me because I was separated into what I call the second person, the person that you really are.”

Kaiji Moriyama in Dreamscape

That second person, as Warren calls it, is the older, wiser person, the one who outlives the flare and glare of reflexive passion and comes to a state approaching grace. For Warren the choreographer this experience sparked a profound shift. “When I came back from that I started to work with people, not on people. That’s a very big difference because everything you do after that is richer. It’s not just about you, it’s about everything.”

Fast forward to 2011 and Warren’s Japanese inspiration is finding new life in Escape, a piece built around the dynamic movement of Kaiji Moriyama and the delicate piano score of Australian composer Simon Tedeschi. Clearly energised, Warren says, “Kaiji is not just from Japan, he’s from another world.”

However, for all his worldly vision and vast experience, Leigh Warren chooses to live and work in Adelaide, a city far removed from the so-called ‘centres’ of dance. Like all Adelaide artists he’s used to the obvious question: has being based in a ‘provincial outpost’ held you back? His answer is illuminating, “Wuppetal is the armpit of Europe but it didn’t hold Pina [Bausch] back,” he quips. “You may be in a swanky city or something but it’s not going change who you are. While some things appear more prestigious it doesn’t really change anything. The real challenge for all of us is resource and touring; getting your work out there.”

And getting it out there is precisely what Leigh Warren & Dancers continue to do with great aplomb. If you haven’t already worked it out, the man is a national treasure. Then again, as he is quick to point out, “There’s nothing nicer than a surprise.”

Top photo: Dreamscape (Escape fearturing Kaiji Moriyama). Photo by Tony Lewis

By Grace Edwards

Adelaide-born contemporary dance artist Lisa Griffiths and New Zealand-born contemporary performing artist and guest teacher Craig Bary collaborate with multi-media designer Adam Synott in their long-awaited work, Side To One. This new work features as part of the Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program, to be held in late July. Dance Informa’s Grace Edwards discusses dance, friendship and the existence of soul mates with the choreographers.

Tell us about your work, Side To One

Lisa
The work is about two people destined to connect. Some people call this love or chemistry, and would call them soul mates. Side To One explores the vital human need for connection and is a true story inspired by our friendship and dancing together.

Do you believe in the concept of soul mates?

Craig
I do believe in connections that go deeper; I also believe you can have this connection with more than one person, but in different ways. With Lisa, I feel we have always been destined to come together in this creative way. We feel very much like family now too. We have an unspoken understanding of each other.

Lisa
I certainly believe in soul mates but they can come and go. In our case, Craig and I have had a long journey together.

How do you work together in the studio?

Lisa
We are peers who share a great deal of skill and experience, so when we choreograph, we sometimes create phrases separately in the studio before coming together to learn each other’s sections. Then together, we extend the material further. When making duet work we simply experiment and see where a movement idea may move us – sometimes into a dance lift, or one supporting the other suspended. We find these places by trusting and listening to each other, always keeping our connection and an awareness of each other’s bodies. If we fall, we fall together, again finding a new choreographic outcome.

Craig
We have also spent many a night with our heads near computer screens writing and rewriting concepts, ideas and grant applications, and refining what we discover in the studio. It has been a long and sporadic process of development spanning a few years. Each time we come back together we see what still inspires us and we develop those ideas, or throw them out and find new ones.

Many dance artists see choreography as a form of movement-based research.  How do you view choreographic practice?

Lisa
Choreography has no rules in regards to process, but it is always about using movement as a medium. I have learnt that it is important to question why you use a movement. You need to question your motivation and be honest about what you want to say. Then let go and trust your instinct.  

Craig
I think we take what we are and what we experience and put it into an art form that resonates with ourselves. For Lisa and me, that art form is dance, and also music and imagery.

How has the process of creating this work differed to that of other works?

Craig
I have made a few works now, but when we started this process this was my first work in development. As dancers both performing and creating our own work, the process is very exhausting but also extremely true and instinctive. It is not the same as looking into a work and seeing the whole picture and being able to manipulate it externally. You need to trust how it is feeling and how that will read to an audience.

Lisa
I have really been able to take risks in our partner work, as Craig and I have much experience and trust. Since the movements come from our own bodies, the process is not delayed by transferring the movement onto other dancers’ bodies. 

How difficult has it been juggling your time between choreography and performance as  independent artists?

Lisa
It has been tricky for both Craig and me to juggle work. As we are both still performers for other companies we have had to find time here and there to work. We have also had to keep in mind the availability of our collaborators and studio space. Side to One has only been made possible through our friendship, respect and patience for each other’s life and busy careers. I do, however, hope to create a new work next year with Craig dancing in it to experience the perspective of creating from outside the work.

Craig
It has been difficult to juggle our dance careers as well as make this work. I think that is why it has been a longer process than normal, but the experiences that we have outside of our work further serve to inform the work we make together. Side to One has gone through many transformations as we have grown as artists. It’s very rare to see a work take the time to develop like this and really grow alongside the artists. It will be interesting to see if an audience can feel this.

What inspires you to create and perform?

Craig
Both Lisa and I are inspired by artists and collaborators around us, and the simplicities and complexities of life. The ability to share with an audience that which I see and which affects me as a person and artist is what constantly drives me to dance and make work.

Lisa
I love the challenge of combining other mediums such as projection and set design to support the story and complement the dance. I think this comes from the fact that the people around me are gifted with particular skills and I feel compelled to utilise these.

Performing and creating is about sharing an experience. The older I become the more I want to understand people and why we behave the way we do. My art form keeps me physically active and hearing your heart beat whilst dancing makes you feel alive. My performances make me strive for perfection; it does not exist, of course, but in the process I feel I do become mentally stronger. Creating work keeps me questioning life; it keeps me switched on to what some people may find mundane but what I see as daily miracles and achievements.

Side to One will run from July 27th-30th at the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre.

Photos: Chris Herzfeld