'FORGE' premiere May 2016
FORGE is a metaphor for the human soul that is beaten and shaped through life. Reckoning with self, creating new place, forging new form, torquing the vertical spine, disarming the meter, claiming rite of passage toward self-sovereignty. Many years ago, I sat at the wall in the garden of the Alcazar in Seville and cried, no idea why. I recently learnt this wall was part of the Juderia, the ghetto of the Sephardi peoples sent away some 600 years before. They fled to Arabia and further to India to where I now know my ancestries lie. FORGE reveals fragments of memory, my life with flamenco, love of Lorca, the pentagram, seguriyas rhythm and Guernica. Outside the wall I build a new city.Spoken and sung text: There is no safe life when freedom is lost. Antonio Enriquez Gomez, Spanish Jewish dramatist, poet.(1600). Cielo Vivo (extracts) Federico Garcia Lorca. Puncha La Rosa Sephardi folk song.
5 MIN VIDEO of FORGEhttps://vimeo.com/167880857
Photos by Heidrun Lohr
FORGE Creative Team
Choreography, Concept and Performance Annalouise Paul
Composer, Pianist, Sound Design Marianthe Loucataris
Vocalist Helen Rivero
Costume Designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller
Lighting Designer Roderick Van Gelder
Producer Anne-Louise Rentell
Stage Manager Susan Abau
Premiered 5-7 May 2016. Presented by FORM DANCE Projects at Riverside Theatres Parramatta. MATCH funding partner Creative Partnerships Australia.
Super special thanks to Juan Carlos Lerida for his wonderfully insightful Flamenco consultancy as an outside eye in Seville, the gorgeous Geraldine Balcazar for her additional rehearsal support in my 11thhour, to Sally Hillier and Alana Canceri for the costume construction of such an amazing design and no less to Kay Armstrong and Sebastian Marquis, Chilled Piping for untold amounts of free rehearsal space and Leland Keane, Merrigong Theatre Co. for free rehearsal space during the conceptual stage.
Photos by Heidrun Lohr
REVIEWS and INTERVIEWS
Dance Informa interview with Annalouise Paul and Pepa Molina:http://danceinforma.com.au/articles/flamenco-works-premiering-at-riverside/Arts Hub:http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/lynne-lancaster/forge-and-bush-bailando-251232Sydney Morning Herald:http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/dance/bush-bailando-and-forge-review-double-bill-of-flamenco-works-proves-engaging-20160506-gonxjq.html
Sydney Scoop:http://sydneyscoop.com/arts-entertainment-features/contemporary-flamenco-riverside-theatre/
Vicki Van Hout for FORM Dance Projects:http://form.org.au/2016/05/she-stood-still/
Writer Sarah Menary posted this beautiful response to the work on her own blog:https://samenary.com/2016/05/16/writing-inspired-by-performance/
Photos by Heidrun Lohr