Bush / Spirit

Four Years
We had just finished our first quick regional tour around NSW, presenting a program of bits and pieces pulled together from repertoire. Just about half of the company were new dancers and so there wasn't much there to really stretch us, it more like Introduction to the Life of a Touring Professional Dancer. When we got back to Sydney, Moth was one of the first pieces that Stephen worked on for Bush and it featured the auntie/nephew partnership of DB and ST. Not quite Fonteyn/Nureyev, it was still quite enduring, and Moth became a signature duet for both of them and was performed numerous times both in Bush and on its own for one-off corporate gigs and stuff. CK and I were the official understudies but, back then, there wasn't a really concrete idea of the understudy beyond "just in case someone gets injured but it probably won't happen so don't worry about it". Besides, in Bush it really wasn't practical for me to do it anyway, considering I'm in the piece immediately prior to it.

Like all living things, Moth grew over the four years along with the dancers. For four years I kept an eye on it, noticing the changes made to it along the way. But even with the departure of ST from the company last year, there didn't seem to be any chance of me ever performing this duet as Bush has been to just about everywhere in the country (with the glaringly notable exception of Perth).

Four minutes
So there I am, settling into first plie immediately behind DB's right shoulder, waiting for the first of many abrupt strings that are the little flutters of my moth-shadow wings. The stage is small, rough and rickety. We are in the Paddington Town Hall, it had been a hot and humid day and, with the venue having no cooling system, there were large aluminium tubes connected to air-conditioning machines pumping cool air into the hall. A few moments into the dance I overbalance and almost fall over. There are people watching from their tables right next to the tiny stage and their gaze is putting me off.

This is my official Moth debut. Not Sadler's, not the Kennedy Center, not the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. But here. After four years. It was surreal, as if I was lying. "Hah! You've come to see Moth but, instead, all you're getting is this."

It was about halfway through the duet when I get a connection with DB and it starts feeling like a dance. Dance like nobody is watching, and for a moment it was true. But then I almost dance DB off the stage and my hand nearly hits the projection screen and I'm back in the stuffy old venue, on the rickety old stage. I was so conscious of making noise, as every landing from a jump was a loud thud on this stage and with people less than a metre from the front of the stage it was absolutely possible that they could hear my breathing. I am a shadow, I'm supposed to be quiet.

Four minutes later, we were taking our curtain-less calls. Maybe it'll be another four years before I do that again.

BTW, the event was for Yalari, an organisation that gives indigenous kids the support to get through secondary school. Even Robbie Williams had donated something to the silent auction: he's a good sort, isn't he?

(according to Arts On Tour NSW) A few statistics about the Clan/Spirit tour 2006:

• 6 states and territories (actually, 7: all but South Australia)
• 8 coach transfers
• 13 Taragos
• 14 venues (of all shapes and sizes)
• 22 performances (is that all?)
• 33 flights (how many frequent flyer points?)
• 66 days on the road (it seemed longer)
• 290 motel rooms (how many stars?)
• 300 cabcharges

And, tomorrow, it all comes to an end (but not before blowing a few more cabcharges!). Gathering, The Australian Ballet and the injury seemed like a long time ago. But with only (???) a UK tour in Sept/Oct, it seems like its all coming to an end for 2006 even though its only August. Its even strange when we've just picked up a new program which is starting to hit its stride here in Ballarat, and now we have to go back into rehearsal mode again.

Tonight we were at the historic Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat. It has a mean rake and, with so many stairs and corridors, it feels more like a rabbit warren. There has been sign of "tour fatigue" at this venue, not helped by the extra-large full moon yesterday, but it'll be good to spend an extended time at home.

Technorati Tags: Bangarra, Tour, clan, spirit, statistics, Ballarat, Victoria, Her Majesty's Theatre

Almost two years ago we were at the Griffith Regional Theatre teching through Spirit after completing what seemed like a tough major-cities season of Clan. Looking at the cramped wing space and the unforgiving sightlines, one of us jokingly pondered “what if we had to do Clan here?” For those who didn’t get to see it in 2004, the first half of Clan involved heaps of technical trickeries, props, quick changes and lots of quick exits-and-entrances, all for the purposes of reflecting on the man David Unaipon. Difficult for everyone involved.

I guess we asked for it.

And it’s more difficult this time ‘round, for the second half of Clan 2004 has been replaced by Rations, which is its own logistics nightmare for a travelling regional tour. Besides the dancers finding themselves at certain times in the show dancing with tin cans on their heads, throwing large flour bags across the stage, being wrapped up and rolling about in blankets, and flipping over and under a ‘fence', there’s also a large ten-metre ring that has to fly in and out throughout the dance. FR really likes her props.

What if? It was an important question back then. At the time I was having all sorts of anxieties with dance and, even just doing the relatively cruisy Spirit, going onstage came with a feeling of unease and dread. My nerves couldn’t cope with Clan again.

Two years and many frequent flyer points later we’ve finished our one show of Clan in Griffith and, well, everything went alright. It’s a shame that the only thing I exert in the first half is my voice box and that I’m only partly involved in the second half (thanks to the injury). But even if I’d been fit enough, the idea of doing this show doesn’t seem as crazy as it was back then. That Spirit regional tour was a seven-week marathon with its own demands and pressures but I think it allowed us to consolidate all that we gained as performers in Clan 2004. And having just completed the Gathering program with the Australian Ballet, it seems that just about everyone in the company has taken steps up. There seems to be more of a sense of ease and familiarity of this thing dance. The difficulty is there but there’s less anxiety about the whole thing.
I can’t wait for Canberra, where I get to flex my newly repaired calf muscle. My roles have changed since the injuries but there’s promise of getting more stage time.
And back to that original question, “what if?” Well the exits and entrances weren’t as slick as they have been, and there are some elements missing (such as the fantastic light boxes that fly in and out at the start of Motion) but all in all it’s there. And I guess it worked because there was quite a lot of applause at the end.

Tags: Bangarra, Dance, tour, Clan, Griffith, Spirit.

Seven o'clock in the morning, just pulled up at Central on the XPT from Melbourne via Wagga and a sea of red spilled out onto the platform. Earlier on that morning, bleary eyed because even in first class those seats are far less comfortable than economy class across the Pacific, I awoke to a rendition of the red and white club song. The aisle of the carriage was lined with red and white flags.

On Saturday in Wagga we had decided to shift the schedule forward so that we could watch the match. It was bloody amazing to see the MCG awash with red, amazing because in Rugby League Central I didn't really think that there would be that many dedicated AFL fans. The extended break also meant an opportunity take a decent nap and, when the Swans were 39-19 up at about half time I decided to rest up, that the Swannies had it in the bag. By the middle of the fourth quarter I woke up to find that it was anything but, and fifteen minutes later I was wide awake and jumping around. We were all so excited that Bangarra decided to do a special dedication to the Swans. Had I had been more organised instead of stressing about my hair I would have done a special commemorative Goanna paint-up but instead had to make do with some random red and white stripes on my arms and legs. The dancers also gave them a bit of a cheer a post curtain call cheer but we got a bit confused because we weren't sure if we were going to cheer "Swans" or "Swannies" or "Sydney" or... Oh well.

Now if only that OTHER red and white team replicated the Swannies' victory. Then I wouldn't find myself at risk of being knocked off the top of the NRL tipping competition. Serves me right, I live in Wests Tigers' territory. Never again...

Tags: Sydney Swans, AFL.

I was trying so hard not to think about the three metre high razor wire fence surrounding the school. I had a lesson plan and a job to do. We were buzzed in and led to the Gymnasium by a guy wearing a black earpiece. All the doors were kept locked, even the toilets. Nearby was an ominous looking structure that looked like a watchtower (it probably wasn’t). The boys looked a bit rough and one had even started to ask us if we could do a back flip for them (I can’t). It was a struggle to get the boys to participate and in the end, there were more teaching staff participating than boys.

But strangely enough, and despite the depressing-looking pictures that I've included because I think they look interesting (there are more positive pictures but I don't want to include them because I haven't asked the people in the picture if they want to appear on this blog), it wasn’t the hardest dance workshop I’ve had to do. We received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from the staff at the detention centre and many of them told us that they really enjoy working there. The boys themselves seemed quite good-spirited, joking around and being quite your average bunch of teenagers. My role in the workshop was to lead a warm up and assist in teaching a repertoire and I had to make quite a few impromptu changes to my lesson plan as I tried to gauge what was working for the group. I even ended up ditching the accompaniment music that I spent all night and all morning trying to sort out. Some decisions proved to be a bit detrimental, for instance we demonstrated the crabbing section of the dance Canoe from Boomerang and, rather than inspire them to learn some more, they seemed to be put off by the effort (yes, dance is hard!) But they were interested, asking JG questions as she worked the CD player and video camera.

At the very least, it was a taste of something different for these boys. Presumably, they may not have had much of a chance to see contemporary dance before and it’s such a shame that the boys that are actually allowed to go on excursions outside the centre have other plans and won’t be coming to the show. We were told that they’ve also had other cultural people to visit, such as poets and classical musicians, and they’ve even done a program of drama workshops. They also have an arts room filled with some quite impressive paintings and drawings. Of course, there’s quite a lot of sports at the centre, too, with a gymnasium, tennis courts, basketball courts and an oval. It would look like any other school except for that razor wire fence.

Tags: Dance, Workshop, Wagga Wagga.

Menzies1
Originally uploaded by Jhuny.

Way back in the early nineties I had put Monash University down as my fourth preference to study Maths and Engineering. It was a Band One University after all! There was never a chance that I would need to resort to considering any of the preferences apart from my first one, such was my high school results being what they were I pretty much could pick any Uni in the country. And fortunate for me, for Monash is out in the sticks! (Then again, ANU is in a big country town, not that much better than Clayton…)

The surroundings were familiar enough: a massive sprawl of really ugly buildings and patches of grass for the students to sit on and “study”. And really random bits of concrete that sort-of look like they’re supposed to have some kind of aesthetic value. A bit like ANU! The theatre where we performed was located near the Robert Menzies building, a breathtaking monstrosity that seems less “Melbourne” and more “Communist Russia”. Ironic because it is near a building housing an architecture exhibition and near another building that is housing student elections. It is so big and SO UGLY! Rather than inspire you to higher learning, it just makes you want to throw something at it. Like your textbooks.

Anyway... it was interesting getting caught up in the student elections. In search of nourishment, we were faced with a wall of hopeful candidates, mainly in blue, purple and orange. And because us dancers are quite fit, active and youthful-looking (and, with a full day in the theatre, wearing crap rehearsal clothes) we often got mistaken for being a student which I guess is kind of flattering in a way. For the first couple of times. After that we were calling it harassment. But not before teasing a couple of candidates: “Have you voted?” “No.” “Well blah blah blah….” “Oh that’s nice. And by the way I’m not a student…”

Later on, during the bus trip back to the hotel after our last performance, we were ruing the missed opportunity to question some of the candidates about their stance on indigenous issues at Uni. Just to stir the pot. It seems reasonable to assume that, with the indigenous population being a minority in their own country, they would be even more outnumbered when you consider that there seems to be many international students here as well. But, still, it’s a bit disappointing that out of the three major groups, Activate (not to endorse any of the groups, by the way) are the only one that even mentions the word Indigenous in their publicity material (well, that’s from a brief scan of the election guide). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags were flying over one of the buildings near the theatre but I wonder how many of the students even noticed. Not criticising (yet!), just observing.

Tags: Monash University

JPB is coming to Melbourne tomorrow and I can't wait!!! It's an impulsive move and everything is going pretty fast considering I've been hundreds of kilometres away for a longer period of time than we have been together but I really like that. Anyway, I'm pretty excited. So far we've been having long conversations on the phone just about every day (and hundreds of SMSs) which has been great but I guess that that wasn't enough for some...

The only problem is that I seem to be coming down with a cold. Not happy. So I'm planning to load myself up with lots of drugs and stuff so that hopefully by the time he gets in I'll be on the up.

We've been to Sale and Warragul since my last post, opposite ends of the Gippsland and, while they have been quite pretty places I just can't wait to get back to Melbourne. But I was in such a happy mood today, everything just seemed to be so pretty. I had to stop and take photos of all the flowers 'cos they were all pretty. I seemed to have a sickenly contented smile on my face the whole day and I was copping alot of flak from the other dancers... hehe...

Nothing much else besides. Oh and I finished The Tipping Point and have some... er... tips for more books on the same lines. Though I am thinking of getting The Planets (by ???) next, when I'm in Melbourne.

(This post is based on a postcard that I sent to JPB)
When the fifth dancer took to the pole, it was time for us to go. She was wearing skimpy black underwear and was boring. At the very least Scary Spice, who came out before her in all white, showed us her boobies. She had the pelvic grinding action down pat and we cheered her on. Number three wore a very Posh-looking little black dress; she was very tall and very awful. Her boyfriend (pimp?) went around the club trying to get us to sit closer to the stage, probably so that we would slip her a few dollars, but this little poofter wasn’t budging. Number two dancer was very fit and very sporty-looking and she had by far the best pole technique; not very sexy but she was flying around that pole. I don’t remember the first dancer but she probably sucked.

I wasn’t really that enthused about going to a strip bar (no, really, I wasn’t!) but everyone else wanted to go, being the only place in Mount Isa that was open past midnight and it was NL’s last night with us. Also, a night out at the strip bar in the Isa, that’s gotta be worth a blog entry! But despite being told that it was a strip bar, it seemed more like your run-of-the-mill bar that featured a stage with a pole and any random person could give it a go. Either that or it was amateur night. Any which way the video projection held my attention more, at one stage I was watching Madonna sing about meeting a beautiful stranger and being interrupted by a chick with fake breasts having her filthy way with some guy.

The crowd was scruffy looking but seemed friendly enough; most of them were at the Irish Club earlier on that night. And there were quite a few female punters as well. The main attraction seemed to be pool, not pole. Still, I felt I needed to order a VB to be safe, so that I didn’t look too out-of-place. It was a bit of an experience, although I almost didn’t make it in: it was quite smoky and they were charging $10 for the pleasure.

Tags: Mount Isa, The Club.

Tonight I won ten cents at Keno at the Carpenteria Buffalo Club. And it only cost me a dollar.

Tags: Mount Isa, Keno.

With hill climbing fresh in my mind and after pondering reasons behind my sexuality, the first thing I did upon my arrival at the All Seasons Verona in Mount Isa was to run up City Lookout to get a good view of the phallic symbol that is the Lead Stack (Aka the Big Chimney). I had to run to catch the sunset but then had to wait over an hour for the “residual light” to fade to get a decent shot of the mine lit up. I called JPB and, with the sun setting in the distance, it was kind of romantic in a disconnected kind of way.

Afterwards I went down to Carpentaria Buffalo Club for lamb shanks and, with memories of my lovely first date with JPB still in my mind, where I ordered the same thing, it was extremely disappointing. A shame, really, you’d think that in a scruffy outback mining town they’d be able to get it right.

tags: Mount Isa.