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Final call for proposals - "The choreographer in solo practice" opportunity with Brian Lucas - Soft Landing 2 2009
New Dance Graduates (1st or 2nd year out)
Development & performance opportunity with Brian Lucas
Call for expressions of interest (closes 13 July)
Soft Landing 2, 2009: "The choreographer in solo practice" with Brian Lucas
A unique opportunity for tertiary dance graduates to engage, collaborate and forge creative partnerships for the future.
"SOFT LANDING 2 – The Solo Performer
Solo dance practice – the undertaking of the combined roles of choreographer and performer by an individual artist - has become a prominent aspect of the contemporary dance landscape. Solo work is increasingly regarded as a viable mode of practice, whether as the sole focus of a dance artist’s work or as an aspect of an artist’s broader range of activities.
SOFT LANDING 2 offers recent dance graduates the opportunity to experience solo performance and to explore the process of creating a short solo work. The outcome of this program will be a series of public performances at the new National Portrait Gallery, allowing the participants to present their individual pieces as part of a combined dance event.
SOFT LANDING 2 will be an invaluable experience for a range of recent dance graduates.
It will allow young performers with an interest in experiencing solo performance the chance to “test the waters” of the form in a secure and supported environment.
It will give young choreographers the opportunity to experience the benefits of solo practice, allowing them the chance to inform and enrich their other choreographic work with a wealth of new knowledge and experiences.
Importantly, it will allow young dance artists who have already begun to explore their own solo practice the opportunity to extend and enrich it under the mentorship of renowned solo artist Brian Lucas.
SOFT LANDING 2 will allow young dance artists to respond to images from within the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, and to use these responses to create their own original dance work. They will get to explore the physical, intellectual, emotional and intuitive aspects of solo choreography, and gain a greater understanding of the issues which are central to the form – representation, identity, biography/autobiography, interpretation and ownership."
Soft Landing is a collaborative professional development program at QL2 Centre for Youth Dance, Canberra. This program has been developed over several years and has supported many recent graduates during the difficult transition from the tertiary course into the dance profession.
Soft Landing #2 led by Brian Lucas in August 2009 will involve 6-9 graduates. Over a four-week intensive period, it will focus on the participants as choreographers; in particular, on the choreographer in solo practice.
Working towards a professional-level site-specific season with our project partner the National Portrait Gallery, each participant will develop a short stand-alone solo work, either on themselves or another member of the group.
Brian will bring his long experience as a solo practitioner to assist you to maximise your potential. Brian will mentor each participant intensively; refining the works and your process. The works will be presented as a program of short works in the new National Portrait Gallery, marketed as part of their public program. Brian will also work with each participant to establish and maintain a preparatory mentoring relationship by email and phone prior to the commencement of the program.
* The core of Soft Landing 2 will take place from 3 August to 30 August 2009, at QL2 Centre for Youth Dance in Canberra.
* You should also be prepared to engage in online discussion and research prior to the studio development;
* You will undertake a full time creative process including daily technique class; developing new short works; and mentoring.
* You must make a clear commitment to the creative process and be available full-time for the four-week period concluding the evening of 30 August.
* You must make your own arrangements for your travel. Successful applicants will receive $300 towards travel costs.
* You must make your own arrangements for your stay in Canberra during this period; no accommodation or living-away support is available.
* All dance graduates within the first two years after completing their degree are eligible.
* The selection criteria will be:
- demonstrated desire to work in a mentored environment with Brian Lucas to develop solo practice;
- potential benefit to you as a participant;
- your potential contribution to the Australian dance landscape;
- consideration of fitness, availability, commitment and diversity.
Expressions of interest must be received by 13 July 2009
1) Send your CV including references, photo and a concise email addressing the selection criteria to: softlanding2@ql2.org.au and
2) Submit a video with up to 15 minutes of material demonstrating your dance and choreographic experience and skill. This can be submitted by mailing a DVD to Ruth Osborne at the address below, or by providing a link to a high-quality Youtube, Facebook or other web-browser accessible online video.
Applications will be assessed by:
* Brian Lucas: Project Director
* Ruth Osborne: Artistic Director QL2
Successful applicants will be advised by email by 17 July 2009
Any further queries please contact Ruth Osborne 0418 943 857
Brian Lucas is a Brisbane-based freelance performer and choreographer. Trained in both acting and dance, he has worked as a performer, choreographer and director with many of Australia’s most well-known companies, including Chunky Move, KAGE Theatre, Dance North, Company Clare Dyson, Finucane and Smith, Chamber Made Opera, Rock ’n’ Roll Circus, Dance House (Melbourne), Brink Visual Theatre, Queensland Ballet, Queensland Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre, The Lyric Opera of Queensland, and for 8 years with Expressions Dance Company (4 of those as Assistant Artistic Director).
Brian is renowned for his solo physical performance pieces, and has developed a national reputation for producing provocative, powerful and intelligent works which fully utilise his considerable skills in theatre and dance, while seamlessly merging the elements of both forms.
In 2005, Brian was awarded a two-year Australia Council Fellowship. During this time, he consolidated his on-going creative association with Brisbane Powerhouse, creating and presenting two original full-length solo dance works on autobiographical themes. “Underbelly” premiered in June 2006 to critical and popular acclaim and was short-listed for an Australian Dance Award. It subsequently toured interstate, and received an encore home-town presentation at the Judith Wright Centre in Brisbane. The second work - “Performance Anxiety” – premiered to similar acclaim in a sell-out season at Brisbane Powerhouse in November 2007.Brian was again nominated for an Australian Dance Award, recognising his body of work, and consolidating his position as one of Australia’s most engaging, intelligent, interesting and provocative dance artists.
Brian has combined his individual practice with an on-going commitment to being a mentor, role-model and art-form advocate. As part of his active pursuit of ways to fulfil these personal goals, Brian has participated in a number of formal mentorship programmes, including the Youth Arts Qld YAMP programme, the Australia Council SPARKS programme, and the Soft Landing programme with QL2 Centre for Youth Dance.
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