News - Northern Territory

August 2005

Northern Territory
Life goes full circle for Sarah Calver, the new executive officer of Ausdance NT, and she is excited to once again be a part of the Northern Territory dance community. Her mantra is: ‘Move with purpose, move with passion and move beyond boundaries’. To date Sarah has been busy settling into the position and meeting members of the Darwin dance community. What else is happening? It’s festival time in Darwin and the dance community is preparing for a taste of dance performances within our diverse NT dance community and showcase a dance work from interstate. The Darwin Fringe and the Darwin Festival are offering a range of events designed to inspire and ignite new interest in dance: i-Moves (Independent), Baru Kadal, Angels of gravity and Australian Dance Theatre’s Birdbrain—are some highlights.

i-Moves is an Ausdance NT initiative, giving local choreographers a platform to perform their work in a professional setting. This year’s showcase will feature six unique pieces that carry influences from Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, Japan and urban and rural Australia. This will be the first time that any of the works have been performed, with some groups already planning to tour internationally. i-Moves (Independent) five choreographers present six short dance performances in a must see dance event, a performance that moves beyond boundaries and celebrates our vibrant dance community. Gary Lang / Baru Kadal; Julia Gray / Sunameke; Erwin Fenis / Style Impressions Krew; Robbie Hoad; and Jennelle Saunders.

The launching of Baru Kadal—the Top End Indigenous dance-theatre, in collaboration with Juliette Hubbard—is bringing Gary Lang’s prodigious talent and understanding of contemporary Indigenous culture into the public arena with the creation of a new vision for Northern Territory contemporary performance; Entrapment—one man’s journey into a forbidden zone, a full-length contemporary Indigenous dance production. i-Moves will perform an excerpt, and Entrapment was shown in its entirety at Darwin Entertainment Centre as part of the Darwin Festival in August. Entrapment is choreographed by Gary Lang, working with an exciting cast of talented local dancers, George Roussos, Michele Dott, Samantha Chalmers, Julia Quinn, Tara Robertson, Cassie Williams, David Senge, Mehali Tsangaris.

Tracks dance production—Angels of gravity—is a look at life from the middle, not young, not old, but right in the middle with a pull from both directions. It is directed by David McMicken and Tim Newth, multimedia by Elka Kerkhofs, with professional dancers Sarah Calver, Michele Dott and guest artist Trevor Patrick (Melbourne). Angels brings you that great Territory blend of performers, cultures, visual delights and music that you expect from a Tracks production. Our angels (NT Fire & Rescue Service, the Grey Panthers women over sixty, the Lajamanu traditional ceremonial dancers, and a young teenager) swing three forty-something performers around their middle years, knowing their futures, yet unable to interfere. Unpredictable, they change time, looking at things from a different angle, exploring the place of this certain age in our society. Wisdom from Elders who remember first white contact, Seniors who move almost invisibly through our days, or the naivety of youth.
Sarah Calver