The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ dance department’s final show for 2016, "Verge", will be a showcase of four works by Dutch choreographer Nils Christie, European-based Australian choreographer Lewis Major, Athens-based Australian dancer Paul Blackman (also a WAAPA alumnus) and his creative partner Christine Gouzelis, and WAAPA lecturer Kim McCarthy.
Nils Christie has chosen 14 of his 24 "Purcell Pieces" to be danced by the third year dancers. As the name suggests, these pieces are created to the music of Henri Purcell, and range from 36 seconds to three minutes. This version will be performed by 16 dancers from both the classical and the contemporary streams. Christie choreographed his first ballet for Netherlands Dans Theater at age 25. He was artistic director of Scapino Ballet in Rotterdam from 1986 to 1993 and is now a freelance choreographer. His body of work includes over 80 ballets.
Lewis Major, who has created and staged works on six continents, will present a new work entitled Sum. “Sum is a work about the passage of time, and of all things; a wave of movement passes, touching on ideas of the afterlife, Buddhist teachings on enlightenment and a slow realization of mortality, epiphany, and heartache,” says Major. As a performer and dance maker, Major has worked with and alongside Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant, Shaun Parker, Aakash Odedra, Hans van Den Broeck and others.
The Rehearsal is a classical piece, inspired by three artists fascinated with dance; Degas, Tchaikovsky and Cecchetti. The opening scene is modeled on those of Degas’s paintings. Dancers stretch and chat, whilst Maestro Cecchetti directs them in rehearsal. Featuring excerpts from The Nutcracker, Marius Petipas’ Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, and original choreography from Kim McCarthy. The Rehearsal is brought to life by the music of Tchaikovsky. In a coup for WAAPA, Graeme Murphy has given permission to WAAPA dance lecturer, Danielle Hunt to stage the Four Cygnets from his version of Swan Lake.
The cast of The Rehearsal includes four current students, Sarah Ouwendyk, Isabelle, Evelyn Roberts and Kristin Barwick, all of whom have been invited to compete in the 2016 Genee International Ballet Competition.
WAAPA dance graduate Paul Blackman and his partner Christine Gouzelis will present Hand of the Foe. “With Hand of the Foe we observe a mechanism of bodies that is altered by the dysfunctional behaviours of Man,” says Blackman. “Distracted amongst the reflective illusion of light within darkness, how does cause and effect react against relationships, landscapes and sound? Do these figures ultimately perish or does a resilience rise from their ashes?"
Find out more at www.waapa.ecu.edu.au