Released

Playhouse, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton

16/09/2011 - 17/09/2011

Production Details

‘Released’ – Waikato contemporary choreographers present a diverse collection of dance works.

‘Take five’, choreography by Karen Barbour, is a work created to complement Dave Brubeck’s well-known jazz music track (first presented
in the season of ‘Simplicity’).

Debbie Bright collaborates with her daughter Hannah (composer) for ‘Sounds like…’ a live interaction between dancers, composer and
digital sound track.

Marie Hermo Jensen’s new choreography, ‘Unravel’, is a journey through loss and the process of grief.

The final new work is ‘Dream states – Dances I’ve never made’ choreographed by Karen Barbour with sound composition by Jeremy |
Mayall. This new contemporary trio dance delves into those fleeting but lucid moments in dreams and the kinds of states we experience
between waking and sleeping.

VENUE:
Playhouse Theatre
The Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
University of Waikato
Gate 2B, Knighton Road
Hillcrest
Hamilton

TICKETS:
$15 student and concession
$18 adult
Tickets sold at The Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts Box Office

Presented by: Waikato Contemporary Dance Projects Trust

Proudly supported by:
– The University of Waikato’s Cultural Committee
– The Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
– Hamilton Community Arts Council (Creative Communities Funding Scheme)
– ULeisure

More information is on our Waikato Contemporary Dance Projects Trust Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Waikato-Contemporary-Dance-Projects-Trust/261619093850317

Dancers: Karen Barbour, Alex Hitchmough, Claire Gray, Hannah Martin, Sam Flay, Natalie Sangster, Katie Sparrow , Olivia Buchanan, Helene Burgstaller, Kirsty Russell and Emma Goldsworthy

1 hour

Review by Brenda Rae Kidd 18th Sep 2011

Choreographer Karen Barbour, on behalf of the Waikato Contemporary Dance Projects Trust, gives a mihi-mihi to the audience, which sets the precedence for an intimate experience between performers and audience during the eclectic and minimalist body of work that is Released.

"Sounds Like…", a collaborative effort between mother and daughter, Debbie Bright (choreographer/dancer) and Hannah Bright (composer/performer) with dancers Kirsty Russell and Emma Goldsworthy, is a quirky, playful look at working partnerships and some of the challenges inherent with any form of communication. Hannah tweaks her pre-recorded digital soundtrack in response to the dancers who relate back with choreographed or improvised movement, creating an interactive and elaborate take on pedestrian movement. The level of spontaneity between composer and performer makes each performance unique.

"Dream States: Dances I’ve never made" featuring choreographer Karen Barbour with dancers Olivia Buchanan and Helene Burgstaller, explores the transcendental stage experienced in the moments between sleeping and waking whereby our dreams sometimes take on form and structure within our liminal control. A suitably haunting soundtrack by Jeremy Mayall echoes the movement, as dancers glide sylph-like then twist contort and jitter like the awakening consciousness experienced when we hover between dream and reality.

Another accomplished work by Karen Barbour, “Take Five Remixed” is a contemporary response to the classic jazz track by Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck with deconstructed choreography inspired by Radiohead. It’s infectious stuff indeed as the five performers, Sam Flay, Natalie Sangster, Kirsty Russell, Katie Sparrow and Hannah Martin beam with obvious enjoyment which belies the level of concentration required for the unusual 5/4 timing of the music. Toe tapping hip-hoppity fun.

The last work "Unravel", choreographed by Marie Hermo Jensen, who couldn’t be present after giving birth to her beautiful daughter Ella, is a beautifully poetic work exploring a journey through grief. Performers Karen Barbour, Alex Hitchmough, Claire Gray, Hannah Martin, Helene Burgstaller and Natalie Sangster weave their movement through stages of loss as experienced by the individual but come together in support of the consuming process that is grief. Deeply moving, achingly poignant I am sure this piece resounded directly within each member of the audience. Marie Hermo Jensen, from Norway, brings a northern hemisphere sensibility to what is a universal process, with soundtrack provided by Icelandic songstress, Björkand Danish composer Trentemoller. The work culminates with an altar ceremony – one which this reviewer took away with her in heart to hold and cherish in memory of those she is without.

Sometimes in life a little is a lot, it is the undertone and nuance of experience that informs. This is how I felt on leaving Released.

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Released

An intimate experience between performers and audience

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