A week to go until our preview, next Tuesday 5/9 at 10pm! Things are getting pretty intense. We’ve been developing the piece in its current form since May this year, so the big decisions have pretty much all been made, but there are still dozens of smaller details to be sorted out and ticked off before we move into the theatre on Monday afternoon.

Work on what is now Instability Strip began when I asked what seemed on the surface to be pretty simple questions about perception and embodiment in performance. I was interested in exploring performance from the point of view of a female performer. What happens when a woman takes up a position as a performer, in relation to a real or imagined audience – what does she think she’s doing? What does an audience watching her see?  And what’s the correlation between those perspectives?

I put those questions together with reflections on science, art and creativity, to generate a set of short but linguistically dense texts that could be used as the basis for vocal and physical exploration of the way watching and being watched works in the context of live performance. I wanted to keep a certain distance between the text, the speech and other sounds and the actions I performed on stage. I didn’t want the text to be impenetrable, but neither should it be too easy for watchers or listeners to reach a hard and fast conclusion about meaning, bypassing the need to pay attention to what is sensed rather than making sense – to elements of performance such as space and silence, the texture and rhythm of language or the body itself as mute flesh.

Sections of the text and some early ideas about performance presentation first saw the light in 2003, in a 20 minute performance research solo I presented at the Double Dialogues ‘Art and Pain’ conference at Melbourne Uni. Since then, I have tested out ideas and approaches here and overseas, mainly through presentations at conferences and seminars, but audiences at Theatre Works      next week will see a greatly changed, substantially new and more polished work.

Well, the starting questions may sound simple but the situation they refer to isn’t simple at all. It’s been a risky – and painful – but exhilarating! exercise to make those questions active in different ways, while exploring the terrain they open up. I wouldn’t say I’ve got an answer but I hope our audience at Theatre Works will enjoy watching me – and the wonderful bunch of curious and talented people I’ve convinced to work with me -  try to find out …

The piece works as a sort of jigsaw around these questions, a puzzle made with layers of language, images, music and movement clumping, floating around together and sometimes shooting off at odd angles in space and time. It has certainly grown and changed since 2003, with each person involved contributing new ideas and material. Some of those ideas have taken off in surprising directions, so sometimes it feels as if the piece has a life and logic of its own!

For instance, I had a strong feeling that a vocabulary drawn from Tango music and Tango culture would be a good anchor for the new elements I wanted to develop for this first public season, although when the idea first came to me I couldn’t have told you exactly why. The Tango has woven itself into and around threads already present in the text, webs of reference to the canon of Western classical and modernist art and literature, to the edifices and institutions of scientific and philosophical enquiry, to histories of colonisation and to the sorry record of casual inequity and conscious aggression forming the background against which feminist consciousness has emerged in the past century or so. It’s been fascinating to follow through on that hunch and, through the expertise and cultural knowledge of composer (and my fellow performer) Guillermo Anad, to discover the richness of Tango as a metaphor for encounters and disencounters in new worlds and old, within the theatre and outside it.

Then there is Guillermo’s character The Explorer and his relationship to a landscape which might be somewhere in Australia, or somewhere in South America …  he does seem to bear more than a passing resemblance to Victoria’s first government zoologist, the wonderfully eccentric Wilhelm Blandowski, but I swear I knew nothing about the gentleman concerned before I wrote … spooky. Another metaphysical Tango encounter?

However we acquired them, the Instability Tango! concert on Saturday 9/10 at 3.30pm will give us a chance to introduce some of the ideas and influences behind the show, broaden the circle to include some of our other good friends and try out a couple of promising new ideas that, although not right for Instability Strip, just might turn into something exciting down the track … like Last Tango in Frankston, a voice piece for three women that I’ve been working on with Jackie Kerin and Faye Bendrups … love to see you all there.

Exploration through music has added so much to the way Instability Strip has developed this year. Today’s big excitement was listening to and signing off on the electronic soundscape by our other wonderful composer Natasha Moszenin. Natasha, Guillermo and I started music workshops in late May – Natasha’s 11 original tracks create an extraordinary set of atmospheres for the show to highlight and link individual sequences, while all the music you will hear played live in performance, has been composed by Guillermo.

I’m immensely grateful for the astute suggestions made by Yoni Prior as dramaturg throughout this development process. Her sustained input over many months has helped me to ‘see’ new possibilities and find fresh ways of putting existing and new material together.  I can’t wait to see how the video sequence I shot a few weeks ago with cinematographer John Cumming will look in the theatre, when it’s meshed in with live action, Zoe Stuart’s costumes and design ideas, Bec Etchell’s staging inventions and Lucy Birkinshaw’s lighting!

And I can’t wait to see your faces when you … when I …  What will you see, I wonder?

Alison Richards Melbourne 27/9/2010

22 September 2010

The plight of asylum seekers in Australian detention centres is the subject of a new play being performed in Melbourne.

Listen to the podcast of Hoa Pham and Shalini Akhil speak about I Could Be You on ABC Radio.

Date: 05 Oct 2010 – 09 Oct 2010
Time: 10.00pm: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Oct / Concert 3.30pm: 9th Oct.
Preview: Tues 5th October @ 10.00pm
Price: $25 Full / $20 Conc. / $15 Tuesday, Matinees & Grp 6+ / $75 Season Pass [+bf]

FUNDRAISING PERFORMANCES:

Friday 24th September’s performance of “I could be you” is a fundraiser for The Greens Victoria, the only political party to stand up for refugee human rights. $5 from each ticket sale will go to the Greens for the Victorian State Election Campaign.

Tuesday 5th October tickets will be $20 with $5 per ticket will go to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, the largest asylum seeker aid, health and advocacy centre in Australia.

To Book your tickets, head to our website.

The Dawning – A Retrospective by Sally Smith- Parts 1&2
Meet ‘The Diva’ Sally Smith as she takes you on a visceral journey, harnessing the timeless ‘power of the dance’. Discover the joys of your pubic symphysis and experience modern dance like you never thought possible. This melodramatic, highly stylised dancing and singing icon, evokes another era, but crashlands into our contemporary world, with surprising results.

Undone by Trudy Radburn with musician Rob Campbell
‘Undone’ explores the peculiar predicament of lounge room love.

The Pane Of A Filthy Window by Tirese Ballard with musician Andrew O’Grady
A woman is awakening to the realisation that perhaps hope is nothing but a cumbersome obstacle. This morning’s view is no different. She can no longer see the outside world, just the filthy pane in front of her. The situation is hopeless, she must take the next step. Just direct your feet…

Rochelle Carmichael is the Director of Liquid Skin Peninsula Performing Arts Company. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Arts & Educational Schools in England, Rochelle Carmichael MA, is a director & choreographer of contemporary dance and physical theatre. Rochelle has choreographed works for VCA undergraduates, Ausdance Victoria, and the Greenmill Festival.

Her works have received awards, such as the Choreographic Innovation Award for Study at Ground Level presented by Dancehouse; Melbourne Fringe Festival Movement Award and nomination for Artzmedia Antenna Awards for her work Aoroi presented by Theatre Works; Young Choreographers Award for The Plumbing of Venus beneath the Surface of the Vanity Basin from the Greenmill Festival; Audience Choice Award for her work RUSH slips Sex & marbles. Rochelle has been the Artistic Director of Liquid Skin since 1994, she was director of the Melbourne Fringe Fashion Festival 03/04 and runs a successful Pilates business specializing in workshops, intensives, national and international Pilates retreats.

Her upcoming show ‘PaPer Man’ & ‘The 499th Day’ premiers here at Theatre Works as part of our GIRLS AT WORK season.

A double bill of physical theatre and contemporary dance. Two premiere performances.

PaPer Man delves into one day in the life of a very methodical and sensible man. His achromatic & ordered life is suddenly changed by the delivery of an express post red helium balloon skirt. The arrival of the skirt heralds the appearance of colour, chocolate and of woman. Will he expose himself or forever be filed away under “3D glasses ineffective.

“The 499th Day is an intensely powerful & consuming contemporary dance, exploring the adventure of death. With vigour & heat experience the moment before the fire takes hold and transformation begins.

“To die will be an awfully big adventure?”

J M Barrie

Director/Choreographer: Rochelle Carmichael
Organic Director: Jenny Robinson
Design costume: Sera Margaret
Performers : Taurus Ashley, Anna Simm & Kelly Way.
Date: 23 Sep 2010 – 02 Oct 2010
Time: 7pm – 23rd, 24th, 25th Sept / 8.30pm – 28th, 29th 30th Sept, 1st, 2nd Oct / 3.30pm – 2nd Oct.
Price: $25 Full / $20 Conc. / $15 Tuesday, Matinees & Groups / $75 Season Pass [+bf]

LIQUID SKIN

Rochelle was recently profiled on ArtsHub [Monday 6th September] See Below.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A ballerina or a fighter pilot

When did you know you would work in the arts?
Age 7

How would you describe your work to a complete stranger?
Movement and Emotion all wrapped up together full of images that you recognize from the past but with the future in mind.

How hard is it to be authentic in the arts nowadays?
Easy everything everyone does is authentic, just follow your heart.

Is there a mission to your work?
It gives me and others a voice. Most of my works speak on matters of relating to others. My work helps me to understand more about this and I hope that it also helps others to see new ways of relating.

What’s your background – are there studies that prepare you for this?
Dance full time studies at The Victorian College of the Arts and The Arts and Educational School in England – Post grad and Masters Degree in Choreography and Directing. Living throughout the world, leaving home at 14 to dance and learning from my mistakes.

What’s the first thing career related you usually do each day?
Wake up. Get excited. Wish I was working full time at it.

Can you describe an “average” working day for you?
Teach Pilates to pay the bills and then prepare for rehearsals with the performers. Get their lunch organized, check I have everything I need for the day in my ‘bags’, do my own exercises and jump in the car and arrive early to warm up the studio for the performers. Warm up the performers and then start creating together. Finish at a reasonable hour – depending on how much studio space I can afford and drive home. I call my husband and tell him about the rehearsal and arrive home make a cup of tea and think about what my plan of action will be for the next rehearsal. OR if I am not in the middle of a show I will be writing and researching the next shows.

What else do you do to pay the bills?
Teach Pilates, Run Pilates Workshops, Retreats and Intensives all about town and at my own small studio.

What’s the one thing – piece of equipment, toy, security blanket, – you can’t work without?
Trust in myself and amazing performers.

What gets you fired up?
Talking about my work.

Who in the industry most inspires you?
People who are not afraid of other creative energies.

What in the industry do you despair about?
The challenges of funding.

What is the best thing about your job? Playing with the way a body can move and emote. Watching how it all unfolds on stage.

What’s the worst?
Wishing I had the resources to work full time.

What are the top three skills you need in this industry?
Desire, Passion, Drive.

What advice would you give anyone looking to break into the field?
Go for it. don’t be afraid and always treat others with respect, no matter who they are.

How do you know when you missed the mark?
It feels wrong. My body stops moving.

Which of the below phrases best suits your career development to date and why?

a. “The road to success is always under construction. “
b. “Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.”
c. “Success is best measured by how far you’ve come with the talents you’ve been given. “
d. “No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself.”

When do you know you’ve made it?
I have already made it. Now I just would like to ‘make it’ better.

On this first day of spring, we thought we’d introduce you to our very own Fringe artists as part of our Girls At Work season over the next few days. First up we have Isabel Hertaeg, our wonderful cabaret artist who is currentlyy wowing audiences overseas at the Edinburgh Festival with rave reviews of La Petite Mort – The Orgasm.

“This is a truly original, delightful, accomplished show (and) another of the shows that remind you why you love the Fringe so much.” Kate Copstick, The Scotsman, 2009.

“Adelaide Fringe Top 3 Shows”- The Advertiser, Australia.

“The biggest draw here is Hertaeg’s powerful voice, she quickly sets a sultry mood and is well on her way to becoming one strong cabaret diva” – Australian Stage Online.

“Not only a cabaret extravaganza of sexual and sensual songs; it was highly sex-positive, provocative and feminist.” - Pleasure Activism Australia.

We asked Isabel a few questions about her work…

What did you dream of being when you grew up? When I was four I wanted to be an opera singer and stubborn creature that I am, I’m still singing and usually include at least one classical song in all my shows.

How would you describe your work to a complete stranger? The first and biggest challenge for me is explaining to people the difference between cabaret and burlesque, which is of course that burlesque artists take their clothes off on stage and cabaret artists sing.  Subtle difference, I know, easy to confuse the two I guess… It’s something which does get tiring for me. Cabaret for me fuses theatre, song, comedy and storytelling. It’s a powerful medium where a solo actor directly addresses an audience and attempts to take them on a journey.  Cabaret is a high risk medium because not every audience is prepared to come with you and consider your ideas and if an audience remains collectively stubborn and shy it can be a tough slog for both themselves and the performer.  Depending on the materiel of the cabaret artist it can take a broad range of skills to read the audience and then coax them along on your journey and every audience is different so the same techniques don’t often work 2 shows in a row.

In my own work I like to remind people of our past and the world in which our ancestors used to live in, particularly the social roles of women in different times.

What themes do you  think are important for your work? I don’t like to use my cabaret platform as a soapbox but I do like to use satire and humour to remind my audiences of the social and cultural privileges or rights which are so new and precious but are easily taken for granted.

What’s your background – did you do formal study? For my practical skills, yes. I studied dance and singing for years and then took a bachelor of acting.  As for my politics, no.  I think I was just born stubborn and opinionated.

Describe an “average” working day for you? It depends on whether I’m in or out of season.  Out of season I spend a lot of time producing the upcoming projects. In season I tend to wake up exhausted, chip off the remaining eyeliner that I couldn’t scrub off the night before, wash the half can of hairspray out of my hair from the night before, eat like a soldier, stretch, warm up, talk myself through the intentions of the show, set my hair in rollers, perform, Network post-show and then collapse in a heap before it all starts again the next day.

What else do you do to pay the bills? I do a lot of work as Marilyn Monroe

Who in the industry most inspires you? I love the work of cabaret artists Sarah-Louise Young and Meow Meow. I am also learning a lot from stand-up comedians these days.

What is the best thing about your job? The privilege of being allowed to take an audience on your own self-created journey.

What advice would you give anyone looking to break into the field? When I met Eddy Perfect at the equity graduates day he said he’s lost money on every show he’d done to date.  I’d repeat the sentiment and say, ‘Don’t let it scare you’.

Check out Isabel here…

PaPer Man

Stay tuned for some behind the scenes tidbits about our very exciting GIRLS AT WORK season during the 2010 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

We have 4 premier seasons of work by some of Melbourne’s finest female performance artists including a double bill of dance/physical theatre PaPer Man & The 499th Day, a new work by award winning author Hoa Pham I Could Be You, a triple bill of dance by Sally Smith, Trudy Radburn and Tirese Ballard in The She Sessions, a cross-disciplinary collaboration work by Alison Richards  Instability Strip, a return season of the hugely popular La Petite Mort – The Orgasm, 5 MistressClasses and An Afternoon Delight!

Phew! What an incredible busy and exciting three weeks we’ll see here at Theatre Works.

Tickets go on sale from the 1st of September.
Follow us on Twitter or FaceBook to take advantage of some wonderful ticket offers, including a value packed season pass which includes all 5 shows at just $15/show.

With three shows a night, you can make a night of it and get your cultural fix in just one place. Arrive early and have a wine or a coffee before the show in our welcoming foyer bar.

We look forward to seeing you in our foyer…