Drumroll……I made my first choreographic work this year!
Through the Melbourne Fringe’s COMPASS mentoring program, I choreographed a dance piece called Distraction Society for the Melbourne Fringe in September. Using Banksy’s graffiti artwork Mobile Lovers as a reference point, Distraction Society is a highly visual and physical dance work which examines the forces of attraction, attention and distraction in relationships.
As a choreographer, I wanted to create a piece that was very physical and visual with no spoken text as I wanted to make this accessible for as many people as possible and make it something that almost everyone regardless of age and background can relate to i.e. that we now live in the Age of Distraction where we all are expected to participate in.
Things evolved very quickly and what are the consequences for us? I created a series of duets with my collaborator Amanda Lever, exploring giving attention to the distraction, the attraction of distraction and using distraction as focus. It was a successful season with full houses each show and positive reviews. I was paired up with a mentor, Vanessa Pigrum who is the Executive Director of Chunky Move.
Here is a short (2mins) trailer of Distraction Society; Distraction Society
Here’s a review from Plus Ones: