On Friday May 12 a new artistic collective led by dancer and choreographer Davide di Giovanni had its premiere performance – one night only – on the fourth floor of the Entertainment Quarter’s Wilson Car Park in Moore Park, Sydney.
That’s just one floor below the main go kart track at Hyper Karting Sydney and perhaps 400 metres away from the bright lights of Allianz Stadium where Sydney FC were playing Melbourne City that same night. And yes, those attending could hear the occasional squeak of a go kart rounding a tight corner at speed, the more distant hum of the stadium crowd, and even part of the night sky as the performance unfolded. Because instead of being sealed away in a typical indoor theatre we were open to and partially exposed to the environment around us.
NON (New Old Now) is Davide di Giovanni’s concept – not a company, but an emerging artist collective that seeks to foster a more accessible culture around performance and dance in Australia. On this day six dancers (including the choreographer) performed a new work by Davide di Giovanni called How We Take Each Other’s Love which was dedicated to the choreographer’s mother. Around 45 minutes in length, this multi-generational cast of professional, pre-professional and non-professional dancers (aged from 20-72 years) explored the emotional ties that bind through some exquisitely drawn duet and solo work.
The dancers, besides Giovanni, were Chloe Leong, Siobhan Lynch, Tayla Gartner, Isabella Crain and Robert Beaver. And the music they danced to was diverse, ranging from pieces composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Alexander Scriabin to the final track, a song by Nina Simone called Isn’t It a Pity which contained the work’s title (How We Take Each Other’s Love) within its lyrics.
A special slightly-raised dance floor had been installed on the car park’s concrete floor and the use of lighting (attributed to Mark Dyson – DarkHouse Design) was sophisticated and atmospheric, integrating the use of a car’s headlights at one point. The audience were seated on two rows of long benches arranged in a semi-circle around the performance space. And although the round columns that provide the structural support necessary for a multi-story carpark occasionally impeded the audiences’ view of the performance, it was never for long.
NON is currently fundraising for it’s second show and you can read more about that here.
Here is a link to an interview with Davide di Giovanni from last year, on his retirement from Sydney Dance Company, and prior to his development of NON.
– GERALDINE HIGGINSON
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