Is it me or has the contemporary dance scene in Australia turned into one big highly commercial dance competition? It really is exactly like the Strictly Ballroom film, except insert Contemporary Dance instead of the Ballroom bit. I mean if you are a ballroom dancer, there is no need to be offended because they celebrate the bitchiness and the costumes.
So I am in this Dance Festival and there are awards and prizes. One of them is a People's Choice Award, where if you filled the auditorium with your friends - you're the winner! Clearly I will not be taking any awards home this year even though my aunties and cousins are doing their best to support me. But five people cheering in the audience will not cut it.
I was re-thinking my cheeky costume (it is SO boring dieting, especially when Mama needs her champagne on a Friday night), but now I am thinking I should be prepared to be a little risky - might get a few more votes! Only problem is the piece might become a cross between European-style dance theatre and a lap dancer. I always knew I was in the wrong business.
PS. I do try to write blogs that do not offend people. But it is really hard.
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Sunday 21 October 2012
The Snip
You know the drill. You are walking to school pick-up on a sunny afternoon with another Mum. Your babies are in the pram gurgling away, your kindergarten children are toddling along on their scooters and bikes. And the conversation abruptly turns to circumcision. Sound familiar? No?
Well it was not my usual entry into conversation either until last Friday! Bloody hell. All sorts of thoughts are going through my head - dance choreography, upcoming performances, costumes, props, dinner ingredients and even watering the plants. But circumcision was not on the agenda. Of course I took part in the conversation with my usual enthusiasm and gusto. It was very strange. I could almost write a song about it.
It seems in Australia at least that a lot of baby boys still have The Snip. I thought that was just our parent's generation. Barbaric yes, but then they didn't know any better. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned washing in the bath? Play with the boats, have a splash - wash your willy.
Is this controversial turf?
I certainly hope so.
Well it was not my usual entry into conversation either until last Friday! Bloody hell. All sorts of thoughts are going through my head - dance choreography, upcoming performances, costumes, props, dinner ingredients and even watering the plants. But circumcision was not on the agenda. Of course I took part in the conversation with my usual enthusiasm and gusto. It was very strange. I could almost write a song about it.
It seems in Australia at least that a lot of baby boys still have The Snip. I thought that was just our parent's generation. Barbaric yes, but then they didn't know any better. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned washing in the bath? Play with the boats, have a splash - wash your willy.
Is this controversial turf?
I certainly hope so.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
I Don't Believe in Outer Space...
...is the name of the William Forsythe's new piece for his own company which has been showing here as part of the Melbourne Festival. I took nine ladies to see this work on Sunday night. I buttered them up with champagne first, sitting in the sun by the river in the heart of the city. A gorgeous evening after a week of blustery spring weather.
Anyone who knows Forstythe's work will understand why I did not divulge too much information about his work before the show. Especially since most of these ladies were either new to contemporary dance - courtesy of moi danse classes extroidinaire! Or had no idea what they had embarked on but had agreed to come due to a) getting out of house at dinner/bath/bedtime routine b) champagne c) nice chit chat with ladies and d) a good chance to get out of mummy jeans/tracksuit pants and into Contemporary Dance Performance Diva Outfit - whatever that is!
Interlude - whilst I tell you that my outfit of choice for the night was an absolute bargain funky jumpsuit a bought in the UK on my last visit. Too cool for school this one. Strapless, blue with a print, and perfectly gathered at the ankles. Strappy heels, little cardigan, lots of accessories. I looked a treat. The Accountant looked me up and down with a frown. "What the hell is that?". Oh the confidence boost of showing one's husband two minutes before being picked up. I left the house with the words "....clown's costume...." ringing in my ears.
Back to Forsythe: It really was a rather extraordinary piece, with the usual juxtaposition of movement, acting, voice, props and music. In fact it was complete chaos on stage at first, and then the piece settled into an abstraction of ideas and thoughts. The movement was compelling, and no other choreographer asks so much and yet so little of their dancers. Very thoughtful and courageous. And when you are watching you realise that no one else would go to these places without having to use shock tactics such as nudity or swearing. Forsythe does not need to do that. He has us there already.
And I love that the dancers never wear costumes, but just rehearsal clothes or regular street clothes. They could be anyone, but then they do something amazing with their bodies and you realise that they are not just anyone. The ladies loved it. Had never seen anything like it, and did not know what to think when it started, but then came out with all sorts of ideas and comments.
Ahh, the good deeds I do knows no bounds. They are one of us now......
Anyone who knows Forstythe's work will understand why I did not divulge too much information about his work before the show. Especially since most of these ladies were either new to contemporary dance - courtesy of moi danse classes extroidinaire! Or had no idea what they had embarked on but had agreed to come due to a) getting out of house at dinner/bath/bedtime routine b) champagne c) nice chit chat with ladies and d) a good chance to get out of mummy jeans/tracksuit pants and into Contemporary Dance Performance Diva Outfit - whatever that is!
Interlude - whilst I tell you that my outfit of choice for the night was an absolute bargain funky jumpsuit a bought in the UK on my last visit. Too cool for school this one. Strapless, blue with a print, and perfectly gathered at the ankles. Strappy heels, little cardigan, lots of accessories. I looked a treat. The Accountant looked me up and down with a frown. "What the hell is that?". Oh the confidence boost of showing one's husband two minutes before being picked up. I left the house with the words "....clown's costume...." ringing in my ears.
Back to Forsythe: It really was a rather extraordinary piece, with the usual juxtaposition of movement, acting, voice, props and music. In fact it was complete chaos on stage at first, and then the piece settled into an abstraction of ideas and thoughts. The movement was compelling, and no other choreographer asks so much and yet so little of their dancers. Very thoughtful and courageous. And when you are watching you realise that no one else would go to these places without having to use shock tactics such as nudity or swearing. Forsythe does not need to do that. He has us there already.
And I love that the dancers never wear costumes, but just rehearsal clothes or regular street clothes. They could be anyone, but then they do something amazing with their bodies and you realise that they are not just anyone. The ladies loved it. Had never seen anything like it, and did not know what to think when it started, but then came out with all sorts of ideas and comments.
Ahh, the good deeds I do knows no bounds. They are one of us now......
Thursday 11 October 2012
Geoffrey Rush
I thought if I called this post Geoffrey Rush it might get your attention. And it worked. And here you are reading it. A few blogs ago I mentioned how much fun I had when I left the house to be a Real Person for half a day. I attended an audition for Short + Sweet at this very strange dance space called Ministry of Dance. It is a cross between a warehouse and various rooms which look like the set of chat shows or a posh hotel reception. It was huge.
I asked the Clipboard Girl "what the hell is this place?". It is apparently the largest dance studios space in the Southern Hempisphere. Like The Place in London. Only Five times the amount of space.
As I was walking towards my audition studio (along a corridor as wide as our house) I briefly looked at a group of people on their tea break from one of the other studios. Then they all filed back into work behind closed doors. Clipboard Girl very smugly told me Geoffrey Rush was in there rehearsing. So if I had paid more attention to the people - instead of marvelling at the decor and size of the space - I would have bloody seen him!
But all I could think was who on earth could afford to run this kind of commercial dance space.
In Melbourne. Only the big musicals could possibly afford to hire these studios. So if Lion King or West Side Story needed a rehearsal venue it would be perfect. I don't think the budget for Biserk Dance Company would stretch to the hourly rate. I would be able to afford to run up the stairs and plug my iPod into the stereo. But then I would have to pack up and leave.
A very exciting weekend coming up. Many visitors staying. The youngest cousin is having his 21st Birthday Party (they grow up so quickly). So another big family gathering. Rehearsing in earnest (well more like frantic creativity). And to top it all off - going to see The Forsythe Company on Sunday evening. William Forsythe is my absolute favourite choreographer - EVER.
I am taking a group of ten contemporary dance virgins with me. I have explained that it will be very modern and edgy - not at all the Swan Lake they may be used to. But we will have a bit of champagne first - and that's bound to take the edge off. What a pity I didn't get loaded the last time I saw Merce Cunningham in Oxford.....
I asked the Clipboard Girl "what the hell is this place?". It is apparently the largest dance studios space in the Southern Hempisphere. Like The Place in London. Only Five times the amount of space.
As I was walking towards my audition studio (along a corridor as wide as our house) I briefly looked at a group of people on their tea break from one of the other studios. Then they all filed back into work behind closed doors. Clipboard Girl very smugly told me Geoffrey Rush was in there rehearsing. So if I had paid more attention to the people - instead of marvelling at the decor and size of the space - I would have bloody seen him!
But all I could think was who on earth could afford to run this kind of commercial dance space.
In Melbourne. Only the big musicals could possibly afford to hire these studios. So if Lion King or West Side Story needed a rehearsal venue it would be perfect. I don't think the budget for Biserk Dance Company would stretch to the hourly rate. I would be able to afford to run up the stairs and plug my iPod into the stereo. But then I would have to pack up and leave.
A very exciting weekend coming up. Many visitors staying. The youngest cousin is having his 21st Birthday Party (they grow up so quickly). So another big family gathering. Rehearsing in earnest (well more like frantic creativity). And to top it all off - going to see The Forsythe Company on Sunday evening. William Forsythe is my absolute favourite choreographer - EVER.
I am taking a group of ten contemporary dance virgins with me. I have explained that it will be very modern and edgy - not at all the Swan Lake they may be used to. But we will have a bit of champagne first - and that's bound to take the edge off. What a pity I didn't get loaded the last time I saw Merce Cunningham in Oxford.....
Tuesday 2 October 2012
Back in the Game
Got the Short + Sweet gig. Very chuffed. And here are a few photos from our holiday in Canberra. Short blog as I have a new laptop and will take an eternity to work out how to put the bloody photos on the blog. The boys and I saw three beautiful balloons at 6:30am this morning.
A gorgeous sight in the bright blue Canberra skyline.
A gorgeous sight in the bright blue Canberra skyline.
Monday 1 October 2012
Wife Swap
We are in Canberra at the moment, on a school holiday road trip. Lunch yesterday was Bellini's and home made pizza (cooked on the BBQ). It was a lovely sun-dappled lunch, and with Jonty asleep the two big boys had the adults to themselves and embarked on their usual series of inquisitions.
They were trying to piece together who my parents were out of the six they have to choose from. Eventually they settled on Nonna and Russell, but then Henry remembered it was actually Grandpa John (with some triumph) who was my dad. Then one of them said "they did a swap". And apparently some people swap more than once.
Henry ended the conversation with "some people just keep swapping until they die!".
PS. Have heard back from the directors of the Short + Sweet Festival, and they want to see me in Melbourne this week. Great, but the only problem is we are in Canberra until Friday. Do I ditch the family holiday and fly back just for a fifteen minute meeting? Or do I try to wangle a different time at the risk of sounding difficult? What are the new rules for a supposed professional dancer/choreographer who has three small children who has moved countries and who has not embarked on furthering her dance career (in Australia) until now?
It was so much fun going to the audition - like being a proper person again! Walking down hallways (with no children), telling the lady your name (with no children), showing your work (with no children) and talking about your work (with no children). AND catching public transport WITH NO BLOODY CHILDREN! Even had a cheeky lunch at a funky cafe, but was disappointed to find myself looking around and thinking "I could even bring the children here!"
They were trying to piece together who my parents were out of the six they have to choose from. Eventually they settled on Nonna and Russell, but then Henry remembered it was actually Grandpa John (with some triumph) who was my dad. Then one of them said "they did a swap". And apparently some people swap more than once.
Henry ended the conversation with "some people just keep swapping until they die!".
PS. Have heard back from the directors of the Short + Sweet Festival, and they want to see me in Melbourne this week. Great, but the only problem is we are in Canberra until Friday. Do I ditch the family holiday and fly back just for a fifteen minute meeting? Or do I try to wangle a different time at the risk of sounding difficult? What are the new rules for a supposed professional dancer/choreographer who has three small children who has moved countries and who has not embarked on furthering her dance career (in Australia) until now?
It was so much fun going to the audition - like being a proper person again! Walking down hallways (with no children), telling the lady your name (with no children), showing your work (with no children) and talking about your work (with no children). AND catching public transport WITH NO BLOODY CHILDREN! Even had a cheeky lunch at a funky cafe, but was disappointed to find myself looking around and thinking "I could even bring the children here!"
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