Critical Path and FORM Dance Projects are excited to support the creative developments of Alex Craig, Speak Percussion and Azzam Mohamed and Lee-Anne Litton for IDEA’24.
IDEA is a new Sydney based festival of creative ideas, workshops and performances delivered by local and global leaders from First Nations practice, contemporary dance, circus, physical theatre, queer performance and disability arts.
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT 1: SPEAK PERCUSSION
23-31 AUGUST 2024
DRILL HALL, CRITICAL PATH
SHARING:
Saturday 31 August
4.30pm
RSVP
Speak Percussion takes percussive art to its physical and conceptual extremes. They shape the sounds of 21st century Australian percussion music through the creation and presentation of ambitious arts projects. Internationally recognised as a leader in the fields of experimental and contemporary classical music, Speak redefines the potential of percussion. From solo concerts to massed sound events, interdisciplinary projects to sound installations, participatory work to album releases, Speak Percussion has been responsible for 220+ commissions and premieres of new percussion works, contributing new 21st Century masterworks to the global percussion repertoire.
For their creative development at Critical Path, Speak Percussion will focus on their project – AirSticks for Dancers.
AirSticks convert movement into sound. In the form of small wireless devices that can be worn or attached to objects, the instrument celebrates the different ways we move and feel sound. For this event, three performers – Tra Mi Dinh, Azzam Mohamed and Oliver House – will create new short dance works in collaboration with composer and instrument inventor Alon Ilsar, and choreographer Martin del Amo. Alon and Martin will also present new works developed on the AirSticks.
@speakpercussion
www.speakpercussion.com
This creative development is supported by Monash University’s SensiLab, the Australian Research Council and Dirty Feet.
Image: Alon Ilsar in Air Sticks For Dancer, 2024; photo: Jack Aperture.
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT 2: ALEX CRAIG
26 AUGUST – 8 SEPTEMBER 2024
CENTRE FOR CREATIVITY, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
SHARING
Saturday 7 September
4.30pm
RSVP
During their residency at the Centre for Creativity, Sydney Opera House, Alex Craig will further explore the development of collaborative embodied systems which draw on knowledge and practice informed by Blindness / their Blind perspective in the evolution of equitable creative exchange with sighted artists.
This residency builds upon Alex’s research residency at Critical Path in 2022 which focussed on the development of Blindness-centred systems in the creation, transmission and improvisation of dance. During this time, Alex and collaborators explored the systemized use of body percussion and vocalised sounds for non-sighted spatial navigation and non-verbal communication. Sonic language and collective audio description methods were developed to equitably communicate choreography and diverse movement practice. Body and space percussive cues provided alternative means to offer / accept contact in the establishment of consensual physical contact and emotional safety practice.
In the 2024 residency at the Centre for Creativity, Alex will continue work initiated with long-term collaborator and access facilitator Imogen Yang; alongside dancers Gabriela Green Olea, Annalouise Paul, Sile Ellis & Emily Yali. Together, they carry a breadth of lived experiences, cultural backgrounds and movement languages, informing their collective ongoing exploration into how the use of sound, rhythm, and simple percussive technique within non-sight-reliant spatial navigation systems can sonically support a dancer’s safe traversal of space and moving with others.
This creative development is part of Sydney Opera House Create Space program. It is supported by Sydney Opera House, FORM Dance Projects and Critical Path.
Image: Alex Craig, 2022 Critical Path Research Artist Residency, 2022; photo: Natalie Cartney
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT 3: AZZAM MOHAMED & LEE-ANNE LITTON
9-13 SEPTEMBER 2024
DRILL HALL, CRITICAL PATH
SHARING
Friday 13 September
6.00pm
RSVP
Choreographers – Litton, a Contact Improvisation artist, and Mohamed, a Street-Dance artist, embark on a journey of curiosity, research, and investigation into their respective practices. The project stems from a shared interest in bridging the gap between dancers practicing different forms and a deep appreciation for each other’s work. Throughout the week, they will engage in an exploration of Hip Hop and Contact Improvisation, focusing on understanding where these practices align and where they diverge. The goal is not to fuse the two forms but to respect and learn from their unique histories and techniques. They aim to uncover insights, such as movements that may appear similar but serve different functions or applications in each form.
The week will culminate in an open studio sharing session, where they will present their findings and invite members of their respective communities to join in the experience.”
This creative development is supported by FORM Dance Projects and Critical Path.
Image: Azzam Mohamed (left) Photo: Anna Kucera, Lee-Anne Litton (right)