DanceLife Blog

Construct is a sharp, rigorous and curious look at the concept of ‘building'. It starts with an empty theatre full of possibility - a space in which to construct. Effortlessly shifting between the physical act of building and the emotional construction of lives, Liedtke explores with wicked humour the curious connections between building a home, a life, a relationship, and a future.

construct was choreographer Tanja Liedtke's final work, It was commissioned by London's Southbank Centre and premiered there to critical acclaim in May 2007 followed by a U. K. tour; and sell out performances at the 2008 Sydney Festival.

The work won two Helpmann Awards in 2008: Best Choreography (Tanja Liedtke) and Best Male Dancer (Paul White).

In August 2007, at the age of 29, Liedtke was accidentally killed in a road accident. She had been about to take up the prestigious position of Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company.

Artistic Team: Conceived and Directed: Tanja Liedtke | Choreographer: Tanja Liedtke in collaboration with Kristina Chan & Paul White | Creative Co-ordinator & Remount Direction: Solon Ulbrich | Set and Lighting Design: Ben and Geoff Cobham, Bluebottle | Sound Design: DJ TR!P | Dramaturgy Consultant: Joshua Tyler

Performers: Kristina Chan | Lisa Griffiths | Paul White
Toured by Performing Line

TOUR DATES
Caloundra | The Events Centre 1 July 07 5491 4240 or www.theeventscentre.com.au
Toowoomba | Empire Theatre 4 July 07 4698 9900 or www.empiretheatre.com.au
Brisbane | Brisbane Powerhouse 9 - 11 July 07 3358 8600 or www.brisbanepowerhouse.org
Hobart | Peacock Theatre 15 - 18 July 03 6234 8414 or www.salarts.org.au
Adelaide | Adelaide Festival Centre 22 - 25 July 08 8216 8600 or www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au

WIN TICKETS!
To win a double pass to Contruct in your home town email win@dancelife.com.au with your Name, Age and Postcode.

As a child, all I had my eyes set on was being a professional dancer. It's always been my chosen profession and it's kept me earning cash for the last 12 years. What I had no idea to expect though was the thrilling, and unusual nature of the lifestyle that comes with.

As an independent contemporary dancer in Australia I have a life that I love, and I wanted to share with you a little about this exciting way of living.

To start with, the contemporary dance industry is very different from the commercial scene. Most contemporary dancers don't have agents to represent them and employment is usually based on reputation. As an example, even though I've been working almost non-stop since, the last audition I went to was in 2004 in Paris for DV8 Physical Theatre in London.

Mostly a choreographer will see you performing and contact you to be in their next show. Projects and shows are scheduled months, sometimes years in advance. At the moment I am scheduled to work with six different choreographers, on seven different shows, in four different countries all the way up until January 2010!

A show can take up to six months full time to create, and can be spread out over a year or two. Currently, Meryl Tankard and I are making a solo work that won't be performed until May next year, which we started work on in April this year!

Shows are mostly funded by the government, and are approved by an application process. Each year there are a number of funding rounds. Approval can sometimes take months and is never assured, so juggling one's schedule to have consistent work can be an art in itself.

We train a lot. Most projects are run on a full time schedule. Sometimes up to 46 hours of dancing a week. For contemporary dance, we train in classical ballet, modern, acrobatics, yoga, and quite often specialist classes in a particular martial art or dance style.

We also travel more than most professionals I know. Up until two months ago, I hadn't signed a housing lease since 2003! I'd been living in hotels and accommodation all over Australia and Europe. For example in May and June of this year, I lived in Scotland whilst creating a show with a company there. Depending on the contract, employers usually pay for my accommodation, travel, and also pay my wage plus a daily allowance for food etc. Pretty good deal huh!

Although it's exciting to travel so much and work with many different people, it can take it's toll. My suitcases wear out, I sometimes get sick of not being able to cook in my own kitchen, or use my own laundry and I am always having to say goodbye to great friends. Now I still travel all the time, but I have a great house to come home to.

I hope this has given a little insight into what it's like as a professional contemporary dancer. If you want to know anything else - just be in touch.

Until next time,
Paul White.

Paul White's Blog Is Proudly Sponsored By IKIN DANCE

Ikin Dance is a well established organisation owned and directed by SYTYCD star Anthony Ikin. It provides dance and fitness programs for young people, industry professionals, and for those who just love to dance and get fit for life.

Meryl Tankard is one of Australias most influential and important dance theatre directors.

Originally from Darwin, her many talents have taken her worldwide. From training and performing with the Australian Ballet, to being one of Pina Bausch's leading performers. Tankard has had her own company, and was Artisic Director at Australian Dance Theatre. She's starred in television productions, and documentarys.

Meryl has been commisioned as a choreographer by many great dance companies including The Australian Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dance Theatre, Berlin Ballet and also has an impressive choreographic history in commercial events, musicals, feature films, operas and youth productions.

The list of her achievements, experiences, awards and recognitions goes on and on and on - get the picture? She's notoriously outstanding. So, I interviewed her for you all this month. Enjoy, and don't miss out her website:

www.meryltankard.com

Cheers,
Paul White.

Meryl, you've been creating work in theatres and on film across the world for many years now. What has you continually inspired to create work? What do you say is the biggest driving force for you to continue?

I can't really say any one thing. I just keep getting ideas, sometimes the inspiration comes from a person, sometimes from just observing nature, music ,an incident, a feeling. I sometimes feel because I never had children I am making up for that by creating shows. I also like to encourage the people I work with to discover new skills, talents they never knew they had, develop their own creativity. This is a great joy for me when I see them expanding as artists. I believe the world would be a happier place if people were able to create more and use their imagination. Once you have 'tapped' into that life is somehow more fulfilling.

When creating a show, what do you mainly have your attention on? Are you thinking of what people want to see? Are you trying to please your audiences, challenge them, entertain them? Or are you expressing something for you?

I guess I create shows for people to be touched/moved, inspired in some way. I really try to give them something they haven' t seen or experienced before and I try never to repeat what I have done before. I know I could make it easier for myself sometimes and give people easy happy lyrical works but that seems boring to me so I 'try' to create something both original and challenging for myself also.

Is there a difference you hope to make in the world with your work? What do you want people left with?

That's a tough question. Its a big world and I feel very tiny in it but I guess if you can touch/inspire a few people sometimes , make them think or see things in a new/ different way then that's what I hope to achieve. It's a little like a sort of drug I guess, i.e. giving people a 'hit' somehow.

You've worked with so many brilliant artists. You briefly lived and work with Sylvie Guillem. What was your experience of that?

I spent two weeks in Sylvie's home in France working everyday with her. She is amazing, so down to earth, so focused and very funny also. She is really in control of her life. She works about 7 hours everyday 6 days a week. She is keen to learn new things .

Is there one thing you are most proud of about your history in the arts? Any career highlights?

Many of the performances with Pina Bausch I will never forget. It was just the time when the world was discovering Pina's work and I felt very proud to be a part of a company that was changing the perception of dance and theatre and breaking down all the rules . The time in Rome when Frederico Fellini came back stage and complimented me was pretty unforgettable! The first shows in New York with Pina when the water we were dancing in was cold and we (and the audience!) waited 1.5 hrs for it to be heated. Andy Warhol was there, David Bowie, Robert de Niro, Bianca Jagger etc. It was very exciting and also when I returned to the same theatre (Brooklyn Academy of Music ) with my own company 12 yrs later and the great reception we received. We were the first Australian company to be invited there.

What do you think of reality TV dance shows, and how they've impacted the arts ?

"Reality" ?? dance TV shows can be very entertaining but sometimes I feel it is at the expense of the young vulnerable dancers involved. It can be great exposure but sometimes I feel it can undermine the integrity of dance, i.e. asking someone to learn a new dance technique in just a few hours and present that live on national TV. That is really scary and doesn't do any service to professional dancers who spend so much time perfecting their art. As long as the dancers know what they are in for and are paid well and looked after during the process then it's fine. This is one area of dance which is based on competition and continues the tradition of the eisteddfod and talent quests and it is fun and entertaining. I don't really think it has much influence on the other forms of dance practised by individual artists around the world. The 'reality' is we are watching a 2-3 mins choreography (which the dancers have struggled to learn in few hours) through the 'eyes' of several cameras editing the action. Creating and dancing in a full length work is something completely different . I find watching a dancer 'live' on the stage for an hour or more a much more 'real' experience than the so called 'reality' show.

What qualities and strengths do you look for in dancers? How do you think students should be focusing their energy and training?

I look for a great openness of mind and body. Generosity and the ability to have a sense of humour is so important. A certain vulnerability which means an ability to forget the ego while working. I still think yoga is a great training to compliment one's own dance technique. For me what's important is WHY we move, so I like dancers who are involved emotionally, i.e. have a 'commitment' to each move they make. I'm not really interested in a whole lot of great technical moves if it doesn't touch you somehow emotionally. So I guess it is about being honest and true to yourself.

If people wish to expand their knowledge of contemporary theatre, what shows or companies would you recommend seeing/researching?

Pina Bausch has really been the biggest influence on dance and theater in the last 30 years. There is still no one like her. Its worth researching the company, watching docos of her work. William Forsythe in Germany (classical), Ce de La B are interesting too. Subscribing to the European Magazine Tanz-Aktuel is really worth it as it has all dance companies and schools in Europe, their seasons , auditions, articles, and reviews. You may be able to get this online as it takes a while to post to Australia. I recommend you save your money and visit Europe. There is so much happening in Holland, Belgium and Germany and so many dancers from all over the world. Go to auditions there even just for the experience and just check out the scene. Ticket prices are much cheaper than here !

Paul White's Blog Is Proudly Sponsored By IKIN DANCE

Ikin Dance is a well established organisation owned and directed by SYTYCD star Anthony Ikin. It provides dance and fitness programs for young people, industry professionals, and for those who just love to dance and get fit for life.

Hello DanceLife Readers,

Clint has asked me to join DanceLife as a blogger so to kick it off I thought it necessary to introduce myself and give you a little background info on where I've popped up from.

I am a 25 year old performer, choreographer, and lecturer. I grew up in Mackay Queensland and did most of my dance training with Lynette Denny at Theatre Arts Mackay. I've now studied Classical Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, National Dance, Acrobatics, and Voice for twenty one years.

In my twelve years of professional dance I've worked in many different fields. From the commercial industry with Robert Sturrock and Jupiters Casino in my early years, to more recent employment in physical theatre companies like DV8 Physical Theatre, London.

Other career highlights include international touring with Australian Dance Theatre, performing a DV8 theatre piece at the London National Theatre (Madonna who loved it so much bought one of the duets for her tour!) and collaborating and performing around the world with my dear friend Tanja Liedtke who was last year appointed the director of Sydney Dance Company, not long before she passed away.

Aside from performing, teaching is another of my passions. In the past few years I've taught for ADT, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Ausdance NSW, Australian College of Physical Education and many more including teaching workshops alongside So You Think You Can Dance star, Anthony Ikin.

This year has been a chocka-block, great year for me. For a show named construct which I performed at the Sydney Festival, I was awarded the 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer in a dance or dance theatre production, and for a piece named Honour Bound the 2008 Australian Dance Award for Best Performance by a Male Dancer July 2006 - December 2007.

The rest of my 2008 and 2009 are already scheduled with some exciting commercial and theatre projects which I will be sharing about in future blogs.

Also in my blogging I'll be keeping you up-to-date with some of what's going on in Australian contemporary dance, sharing about the process of creating theatre works, as well as interviewing lots of Australia's best contemporary choreographers and dancers!

Until next time,

Paul White

In a world premiere, Spring Dance presents The Oracle - the latest work from renowned Australian choreographer Meryl Tankard.
Performed by Paul White, winner of the 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer, The Oracle is inspired by the haunting work of Scandinavian painter Odd Nerdrum. Driven by the powerful score of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, this thrilling new production takes on the conflicting forces of Nature and Man.

One of the most controversial works in performance history, The Rite of Spring was choreographed by legendary dancer of the Ballet Russes, Vaslav Nijinksy. Its 1913 premiere literally caused riots in the aisles of the theatre.

In this Sydney Opera House and Malthouse Melbourne commission, Tankard explores the world of Nijinsky to create an oracle for our times.

‘We are rewarded by Ms Tankard's gift for digging deeper into basic instincts.' THE NEW YORK TIMES

Concept and Direction: Meryl Tankard
Choreography: Meryl Tankard and Paul White
Visual Designer: Régis Lansac
Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper
Performer: Paul White

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and by the Keir Foundation. Original development assistance through Critical Path's Responsive Program.

Duration: 50 minutes with no interval

MORE INFO