FINDERS KEEPERS
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CONCEPT, DIRECTION: Raewyn Hill CHOREOGRAPHY: Raewyn Hill and cast [1 hr, no interval] at Lake Wanaka Centre, Wanaka 28 Apr 2009 Clyde War Memorial Hall, Clyde 30 Apr 2009 Great Hall, The Arts Centre, Christchurch From 23 Jul 2009 to 26 Jul 2009 Reviewed by: Felicity Molloy; Nigel Zega (Otago Daily Times); Kerri Fitzgerald; Francesca Horsley (New Zealand Listener); |
Raewyn Hill has stunned festival audiences with two previous dance works and now she brings a premiere dance performance from Hong Kong.
Finders Keepers started at the Yuen Po bird market in Hong Kong, where dozens of men take their caged songbirds to socialise them, for the birds to learn each other's song and to sing for their supper. The men sit watching and listening with adoration. The dance starts from here but goes on to explore that delicate and intimate balance in our lives between being the keeper or the kept, the lover or the loved.
Raewyn Hill writes:
When I first arrived in Hong Kong I was told there was a park where men took their caged birds to socialise them. So, one rather muggy Sunday in August 2007, Richard and I travelled to the park and were met with a gathering like we'd never seen before.
There were rows of caged birds, each positioned strategically by their owner so they were near those that would encourage them to sing their best. And the men; sitting, watching, listening.
Men, positioned equally as strategically, mesmerised by the beauty they had inside their cage, gleefully understanding that, in nature, their songbirds would try to outperform one another in an attempt to attract the opposite sex. I knew that there was a dance piece in this Sunday morning scene at the park. So Finders Keepers was born.
Finders Keepers looks at the intricacies of family relationships and explores how love can ultimately clip the wings of personal freedom. Conceptually Finders Keepers considers the ideas of physical and emotional possession and the social demands to 'sing our best songs' for others.
Using the songbirds as a reference and inspiration, choreographically Finders Keepers will display material and creative concepts that capture both the beauty and vulnerability of the caged songbirds, expressing the intimate balance between the keeper and the kept, the lover and the loved.
My heartfelt thanks to the cast, the creative team and Philip Tremewan for supporting me in the two years it has taken to create Finders Keepers.
"... powerful, pure and evocative dance. More than this, it is utterly beautiful, in the way we all want life and ourselves to be, and in the way we demand that dance delivers fabulous shape and sinew."
Capital Times - of her earlier Festival work White
When / Where:
28 April, 7pm - Lake Wanaka Centre
30 April, 7pm - Clyde War Memorial Hall
Duration: 60 minutes no interval
Price: $32 (including booking fee)
Bookings Book Online
Tickets for most shows can be booked online.
Look out for the Book Online links.
Book by Phone: Call +64 3 443 4178
Book in Person
Lake Wanaka i-SITE Visitor Centre
(from 23 Feb to 3 May, 9am to 5pm daily)
Lake Wanaka Centre
(from 27 Apr to 3 May, 10am to 7pm)
PERFORMERS:
Trisha Dunn - Mother
*Jessica Jefferies - Bird
*Hugh, Cho Tak Po - Son
Adam Gardiner - Father
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR: Richard Longbottom
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Martyn Roberts
COSTUME/DESIGN CONCEPT: Raewyn Hill
DRAMATURGY: Duncan Sarkies
MUSIC: Lachrimae Caravaggio: Jordi Savall (a selection)
PHOTOGRAPHER: Michaela Cox
POSTER DESIGN: Paul Everett
PRODUCERS: Raewyn Hill and Dancers
RAEWYN HILL AND DANCERS: Raewyn Hill and Richard Longbottom
FUNDING:
Creative New Zealand: New work funding
Adrienne Lady Stewart Scholarship: Hugh Cho Tak Po