For their Critical Path Responsive Residency, Kirk Page and Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal will spend time at Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) and Critical Path to develop the choreography of movement and vocal duets for SMOKE*. Asking what is the pivotal role of smoke in spiritual health – landscape, body and ritual, the research explores indigenous approaches to wisdom and how to revive vitality, burning off the physical waste and promote finding new pathways together.
During their week-long residency at NORPA, Jade and Kirk reflected on archetypal movements, images, writings, and sounds collected during SMOKE cultural encounters in Indonesia and Australia. Moved by their direct experience of present diabolical fire climate crisis, they researched myth and prophecy inspired by stories from ancient Buddhism, as well as the creation or birth of the Tobacco plant, its demonic intentionality, the neurosis it has caused, and how it accumulates in body and on country.
For their time at the Drill Hall, Kirk and Jade will be collaborating with Matthew Doyle to have conversations about their research and to hear his perspective on connecting to smoke in culture and ceremony.
For SMOKE, Jade and Kirk are working with contemporary choreographic practices that encompass very physical, sensorial and imaginative deep listening improvisation, dancing, sounding, offering, witnessing, reflective writing, script development, composition, video recording and image making. The artists have been creating physical rituals inspired by the power and stamina of Gods/Deity’s, focusing on body and mind training to reach trance like state of high awareness similar to a sustained fight or flight response.
*SMOKE is a new Indigenous dance theatre production co-authored by Kirk Page and Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal. Preparing for premiering at international art festivals in 2021, the creative process thus far has journeyed throughout Indonesia and Australia and embraced an international cast of First Peoples dancers from Australia, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Ache and Java. Other SMOKE collaborating creatives are; Anna Liebzeit – Sound Design; Ria Soemardjo – Music and Song; Shae Terese Swan Duncan, Jayman Leigh Drahm – Dance; and Karla Dickens, Aris Prabawa – Visual Arts.
Click here to view a short video of Jade and Kirk’s development of SMOKE at Bundanon NSW 2019
Image credit: Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, Kirk Page & Helen Tyas Tunggal