Well, the "IDENTIFY" season is over — but we'd love to hear from you, whether you saw it or not!
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" Confident, skilful, exuberant and full of ambition, as well as some jerky anxiety and experiment, some moves smooth and flashy, some gawky but endearing, and all highly skilled and athletic..." Cathy Bannister (Stage Whispers)
Identify is a triple bill of high quality dance by nationally recognised contemporary choreographers, working with Canberra's own youth dance company: Quantum Leap. Not a concert, but three interlinking short works, looking at how young people identify themselves: where they came from, where they are going, who they are online.
DATES
7pm Wed 3 – Sat 6 August 2011 2pm Sat 6 August extra matinee
As Artistic Director of this newly-developed original youth dance work, I worked with a wonderful creative team including three professional choreographers selected from all over Australia: Jodie Farrugia, Adam Wheeler, and Anton. All three were invited to return after very successful creative collaborations last year. They have worked intensively with the young dancers to create these works. Identify will show what can be done by talented, creative young people (of various levels of skill and training) working closely with skilled professionals and united by passion, commitment, and hard work.
Each year we create a flagship performance project for QL2’s Quantum Leap ensemble and it is always exciting and special. Over 12 years, these projects have recognised the value of their diverse range of skills, experiences and backgrounds; while challenging their creative, intellectual and physical boundaries. The interests of the young dancers drive the content of the works, and they contribute both intellectual and movement ideas to the choreographic process. We provide an environment where the creative process is highly valued — it is as important as the final performance season. We hope this experience will help these young people realise and develop their own potential as artists: not only as ‘movers’ on the stage, but as creative and intellectual forces, able to use their own choreographic intelligence to engage audiences.
The 34 dancers in this year’s ensemble are aged from 14 to 20. Most are from the ACT and surrounding regions — Quantum Leap is primarily an ACT-based program. The entire team has been working honestly and generously to pool their energy, creativity, thoughts and ideas. We also have a Visiting Dancer Program which this year has attracted three dancers from Bangkok Dance Academy, and seven returning to Quantum Leap from their study at university dance courses: Victorian College for the Arts, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Adelaide Centre for the Arts. They will all join us full time for the last month of the project.
Identify explores the idea of identity from three different perspectives.
Jodie Farrugia’s work The Land is Calling looks at our heritage: from the first Indigenous Australians migrating to Australia (perhaps tens of thousands of years ago); each successive wave of migrants in different periods; and the situation of refugees today. BOOK NOW!
Adam Wheeler returned in January to create the work Precipice that was originally part of Toes on the Edge. This was a collaboration between QL2 and Bangkok Dance Academy which toured to three major cities in Thailand in January. ‘Precipice’ explores the idea of who we are, the expectations put on us by others and boundaries we choose to stretch or accept.
Anton’s work Digital Face considers how we identify ourselves online. Is it a true reflection? Using exciting video imagery from Bearcage Productions, Anton explores the ‘inner’ identity.
Adam Ventoura has composed the inspired soundtrack for the complete work, collaborating with each choreographer to create music that supports the theme.
Hope to see you there! BOOK NOW! Ruth Osborne
Artistic Director of QL2 Centre for Youth Dance
Ruth Osborne
