A Double-Double Bill by Burrows and Gargion
Australian Premiere in Melbourne by Dancehouse
MAY 6: BOTH SITTING DUET & BODY NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
MAY 7: CHEAP LECTURE & THE COW PIECE
Two critically acclaimed internationals – Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion – will present the Australian premieres of 2 of their double-bill works in May for 2 nights only.
Their work is wryly situated somewhere between dance, music, live art and comedy, the work of world renowned choreographer Jonathan Burrows and composer Matteo Fargion is singularly unique and enjoys a devoted fan-base among dance in-crowds worldwide. CHEAP LECTURE for example initiates a game with the structure of John Cage’s Lecture On Nothing and THE COW PIECE then re-stages the lecture as a riotous celebration of the limits of logic, as 12 plastic cows dance, sing, speak, think, sleep, come, go and die. So while these works have garnered a great deal of academic interest, they’re also quite accessible and hilarious.
One of the most enchanting things I’ve ever seen.
– The Daily Telegraph, London
There are few performers who can hold an audience captive like this double act… the timing of every note, shrug, laugh and gesture is awesome. Five stars.
– The Guardian, London
Over the past twelve years, the two artists have built a body of duets that mix the formality of classical music composition with an open and often anarchic approach to performance and audiences, bringing them an international following. Their work is hard to place, but it has its roots in a shared love of classical music, which they buck against with an outlook on performance that is radical as much as it is joyful.
BOTH SITTING DUET (2002) saw the transformation of Burrow’s long-standing collaboration with Italian composer, Fargion, into an equal partnership where both perform side by side to create a choreographic composition alongside a musical score. Their work has since continued an investigation into the relationship between music and dance. It is a formal yet humorous contemplation on the nature of communication – particularly between the two performers and their audience. At Dancehouse, they will follow this work with their newest performance BODY NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE, a commission from the 2014 Venice Biennale that juxtaposes political action with the ‘empty joy’ of dancing – unraveling the link between meaning and action and raising questions in the midst of laughter.
CHEAP LECTURE (2009) initiates a game with the structure of John Cage’s Lecture On Nothing and THE COW PIECE (2009) then re-stages the lecture as a riotous celebration of the limits of logic, as 12 plastic cows dance, sing, speak, think, sleep, come, go and die. Through a logic of subversion, these performance becomes less dance, music or lecture and more 40-minute live-poetry-come-stand-up set that explores the mysteries of theatrical time and space. Described by Jan Perry of Ballet.magazine as “highly intelligent clowns” this double bill from Burrows and Fargion is both entertaining and perhaps a little sinister as the cows get both serenaded and abused – a duality equally mirrored in the audience experience situated somewhere between entertainment/humour and intellectual provocation.d by a title that shifts, contradicts or erases the virtuosity of the dance with a political question.
For more information visit dancehouse.com.au
