Worldhood Dancers with Thom Buchanan [Source: Adelaide Festival Centre]
Dancers from the Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) and the Adelaide College of the Arts will dance together in Worldhood, a work choreographed by ADT Artistic Director Garry Stewart that also features visual artist Thom Buchanan drawing live during the actual performance. Worldhood debuts August 10 to 13 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide.
In an announcement from the Adelaide Festival Centre, Garry Stewart discusses his work with visual artist Thom Buchanan:
" This is the first time I've worked with a live visual artist in any of my works. What struck me immediately was the inherent connection between dance and mark making. Like drawing, dance comfortably occupies an abstracted space but can also evoke representations of the world around us."
"Thom Buchanan's images are made through a vigorous physicality and performativity that permits them to be framed within the context of dance. As part of his performance he also employs the erasure of images which mirrors the impermanence and ephemeral nature of dance."
Detour – Thom Buchanan in Action [Source: DelaideFilms]
Apparently Buchanan has also drawn live with bands and DJs in Australia. He states:
"Both dance and drawing involve movement, driven by energy and emotion. Garry and I have found we even use similar language to talk about dance and drawing. But while dancers are trained to replicate the same movement time and time again, drawing is usually done at the artist's own pace and the result is a once off experience. This is an interesting part of the collaboration for me – dynamic and subject to change, the drawing allows the audience to experience, moment by moment, the thousands of visual decisions that are distilled in the drawing."
Not only is Worldhood an interesting experiment in bringing dancers and a visual artist together onstage, it also will be a great experience for students at Adelaide College of the Arts including both dancers and technical theater personnel.
Show & Ticket Info: Worldhood
Official Sites: Australian Dance Theatre ~ Adelaide College of the Arts