Part of Riverside Theatres & Western Sydney Dance Action 2011 Dance Bites Program
Bite sized dance with edge featuring everything from parkour, hip hop, contemporary, tap and much more!
Riverside Theatres – August 31 & September 1
Shorter+Sweeter Dance is a best of the fest dance extravaganza featuring the best ten works from recent Short+Sweet Dancefestivals in Melbourne and Sydney. Contemporary fuses with traditional to create a captivating, physically charged and highly entertaining performance at Riverside Theatres on Wednesday, 31 August and Thursday, 1 September.
Six of Australia’s hottest dancers – including Anna Healey from This Way Up and Thinking About Forever, Neale Whittaker from Dance Academy and Phly Crew, Verity Jacobsen from Picture Perfect and Tipping Point –Dirtyfeet and Sean Marcs from Tipping Point – Dirtyfeet and Physical Fracture are performing a range of dance style from parkour, break dance, adagio and hip hop to ballet, musical theatre and tap.
Shorter + Sweeter’s Executive Producer, Karen Keegan delivers an explosive line-up of new choreography, featuring works about football lovin’ sheilas, fanatical quests for beauty and the underworld of Kings Cross.
The tour features ten explosive works by choreographers Kay Armstrong, Veronica Beattie, Ash Bee, Sarah Boulter, Martin Del Amo, Thomas Egan, Timothy Farrar, Eva Fernandez Adan, Marko Panzic, Travers Ross and Sarah Vyne-Vassallo.
Western Sydney Dance Action will also run a Hip Hop Masterclass with the cast of Shorter+Sweeter on Thursday 1 September, which is ideal for students and emerging artists.
Shorter+Sweeter Works:
| BLONDE AMBITION By Ash Bee High heels, body control underwear, false eyelashes, chicken fillets, aerobics, make up… that’s what beauty is |
Sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying, Blonde Ambition explores notions of ideal female beauty and the way in which it is socially constructed through cultural stereotypes. Referencing a range of symbols including Barbie, the Hitchcock Blonde and the Playboy Bunny, the work employs the use of gender signifiers/objects to investigate the literal construction of a beauty ideal. |
| PIECES OF MIND By Eva Fernandez Adan The power memory |
Pieces of Mind is a physical exploration of memories, of how we deal with them, of how they exist in our minds, and of how eventually we have to let them go. “Pieces of Mind came to me during my last trip visiting my family in Spain. Going through old papers, writings, books, photos, I tried to make sense of a life I left behind, so I could make sense of the life I’m living now. One of the biggest inspirations came from a moment rather than an object. I remember being next to my grandmother as she lay on her deathbed, trying to hold on to 92 years of memories, I realized then that you have to eventually let go to be able to move forwards,” said Creator, Eva Fernandez Adan. |
| INNER SOLE By Sarah Boulter and Marko Panzic A fusion of Contemporary Dance and Hip Hop | Innersole highlights three different personalities that are equally strong unique & intriguing in their own right. Shoes are used to represents each personality, each making bold statements but at the same time having the ability to come together. |
| ARE WE THERE YET? By Sarah Vyne-Vassallo Ever wanted to travel light? | Have you ever stumbled, tripped or rolled on the way? Ever wanted to get somewhere in a hurry? Whilst this work represents many movement ideas and is a quirky play with props, Are we there Yet? is a deeper reflection of the human condition we all love to hate ‘emotional baggage’. |
| FEW THINGS OF THE SAME KIND By Timothy Farrar An exploration into the many ways we relate with one another |
What do we have in common that attracts us to them? How much space are we willing to give to them in our lives? What compromises may we need to make? Few Things of the Same Kind, originally created with dancers Tanya Voges and Kevin Privett, explores the things we look for in other people when beginning or continuing a relationship. The lighting design is influenced by the aesthetic of the pop group The XX, in particular their film clip VCR. |
| DIFFERENT FLOCK, SAME BIRD By Kay Armstrong | Ballet still haunts Kay Armstrong’s every cell. 25 yrs on, Armstrong’s knees are still hyper-extended from years of manic stretching, trying to become a gravity-defying, sexless bird. This work stems from this state of bittersweet nostalgia and her love of comedy. The visual metaphor alludes to the struggle of creating art in a sport-obsessed culture. |
| WHAT’S TAPPENING By Thomas Egan | Artists bringing an exciting a cappella rhythm and class to tap dance. |
| X By Travers Ross Experience is Truth | X was born after Travers Ross read about John Ibrahim a club owner in Kings Cross. The bad in a person could be misread and it’s difficult not to judge what’s behind relationships and individuals. X explores representations of relationships and individuals – does the Pole dancer represent a SEX symbol? No one can claim the REAL TRUTH but the individual or relationship members. Does Kings Cross represent what you have been told? |
Shorter+Sweeter Dance
Dates: Wed, 31 August & Thurs, 1 Sept
Time: 8pm
Ticket Prices: $35/$25*
Bookings: Riverside Theatres Box Office on 8839 3399 or www.riversideparramatta.com.au
