Performing Lines WA

Trained at The Victorian College of the Arts and The Diana Waldron Ballet Academy, Jonathan Buckels has worked for the last nine years between Germany and Australia as a dancer and choreographer. He is currently in Perth for Fuse – his new full-length dance work performed with Rhiannon Newton. Fuse explores the interrelationship between two people; through the cycle from strangers, to friends, towards cohorts, through dependents and on to parasites. Fuse runs until the 3rd of September at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts so make sure you check it out before it ends!

Performing Lines WA recently caught up with Jonathan and asked him a few questions about getting Fuse to stage and what life is like living as an Artist between Perth and Berlin.

Words: Sarah Rowbottam and Jonathan Buckels

Fuse (2011) Pictured: Jonathan Buckels and Rhiannon Newton Photo: Eva Fernandez

SR. First up, briefly tell me about yourself.

JB. I was born in Liverpool in the UK, came to Australia age 12 and by chance ended up being a walk on extra in a Perth City Ballet season when I was 16. I enjoying it and each year they got me to do more dancing and then they had a tour organized to go to Europe to perform so I quit uni, took up dance and have been dancing ever since.

SR. What is the story behind creating Fuse?

JB. Relationships, and the pursuit of them, have always loomed in my mind as one of the expected things my life should contain. Not just romantic, but also friendships. I am a naturally social person and need to be around others to feel relaxed. While the work is not really autobiographical, I have taken moments and memories form my past to make the work as honest and realistic in emotional shifts as possible. Through small misunderstandings large rifts can be created and it is looking at these moments that I find interesting.

Fuse Rehearsals (2011), King Street Arts Centre Perth. Photo: Jo Pickup

SR.You have been working pretty hard over the past few weeks upstairs at King Street Arts Centre preparing for the opening last Friday night at PICA. Take us through one of your favourite rehearsal days thus far.

JB. Once the structure and most choreography was in a completed phase, we were joined by Floeur Alder as rehearsal director. This stands out as my favorite day because I got to shift from choreographer to dancer. It was so great to work physically and get her insurmountably needed outside feedback to help with the process. After being so insulated and focused it was great to have someone come in with such positivity and freshness to bring the work to its final outcome.

SR. For Fuse you are working with one of my favourite Perth dancers Rhiannon Newton. How has your previous work with Rhiannon, specifically with Chrissie Parrott Performance Company’s development of Domestic Bliss in 2009, helped shape the movement you have created together for Fuse?

JB. Working with Rhiannon has been fantastic. We worked so well together and quickly came to trust each other in Chrissie’s work, so when we started this work I already knew how much I could get out of her and where her many strengths lay.

Domestic Bliss (2009) Chrissie Parrott Performance Company
Pictured: Stefan Karlsson, Jonathan Buckels and Rhiannon Newton Photo: Sarah Rowbottam

SR. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to watch Fuse in development at CIA Studios.  I remember there being moments of extreme physicality – pushing, pulling, and throwing – juxtaposed with very endearing slow dances and duets. How are you guys coping physically with this kind of movement? Are there lots of real cuts and bruises?

JB. Sadly yes. No major problems, but it is a demanding work and my feet are looking a little worse for wear. But both Rhiannon and I bruise quite easily, so it looks worse than it feels. Hopefully.

SR. I am always really excited when artists bring live musicians into the mix on stage. Is this something you have done before? Any insight into what DJ Massive Trav will be mixing each night?

JB. I was in a show recently in Berlin with Australian dance maker Brendan Shelper and we had music performed live by Melbourne instrumental band Bombazine Black. They were incorporated into the action and it felt so great to hear the small changes each night that give the show fresh feeling each night. Trav is also giving a feeling of keeping this show different each night. He really is understanding the show more each night and adding effects and loops to help with where we are emotionally and physically during the piece. He blends music by Etta James, Billie Holiday and the Eels with electronic tracks from the likes of Aphex Twin and Luke Hess to create a very eclectic but homogeneous soundtrack.

Fuse (2011) Pictured: Rhiannon Newton and Jonathan Buckels Photo: Eva Fernandez

SR. I know you spend half your time in Berlin and half your time in Australia. Do you have any plans to tour Fuse to your other (German) hometown?

JB. I hope so. I work with a group battleROYAL in Berlin and with their backing we are looking to get this work shown in a few places.

SR. Working as an independent artist in Western Australia (and across the world!) can be tough at times. How does getting by in Perth as a practicing artist compare to working in Berlin?

JB. Because Perth is so expensive to simply exist in, the artists here seem to have to be very organized and active. Berlin has a very relaxed supportive nature and this is reflected strongly in its relationship with independents. It could be a byproduct of this that makes Perth seems to be very serious about art and dance. This can obviously be a good thing, but I feel in Berlin they have less to prove, because dance and theatre is so much more part of the environment, which means works are created a bit more freely and openly. If a show fails they just move on, instead of tweaking and remaking existing works. I’ve tried to create fuse with this relaxed way, with humor and light and shade.

SR. I know a key part of creating Fuse was to appeal to a large audience. In fact, I think it might be working because my mum (who isn’t a core dance supporter) called me after reading The West Australian newspaper article wanting to buy tickets. What is it about Fuse that appeals to non-dance audiences?

JB. Fuse is understandable by a wide audience because it is based on something we almost all know of, probably first hand. Anyone that has had a relationship will see moments in the work that they will relate to. The work is focused on the journey the characters make and the changing of roles, dominance and emotions.

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Fuse
26 August – 3 September 2011
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA)
Bookings through PICA on (08) 9228 6300 or ONLINE BOOKING
$30 Full $22 Concession

Concept and Direction by Jonathan Buckels with dancer Rhiannon Newton.
Live music by DJ Massive Trav
Presented by STRUT dance.

As a dancer, Jonathan has worked for the last nine years in numerous dance groups in Germany including the Oldenburg Staattheater, MSSchrittmacher, SETanzthaeter, Tanztheater Hagen, Sabine Seume.Ensemble and the Mark Sieczkarek Company. In Australia 2007 he performed in Strut dance’s season of Schreibstueck and in 2009 was engaged as a dancer with Buzz Dance Theatre for the work Genie(us). Jonathan created his first full-length work in 2003 with Gaello Morello, co-choreogrphing the work “Amor und Psychose” for the Globe Theater, Hagen. His short works have contributed to performances including the ball is round (Oldenburg Staattheater) and Love… more or less (Tanztheater Hagen). In 2007 Jonathan choreographed a full length, modern dance version of Carmen, for Perth City Ballet, Australia. His work “solo”, created with Carsten Clemens, has been performed in numerous festivals in Germany as well as in Perth, Australia. This work has since been reworked into the full length “Oddeesee” which premiered at LOFFT Theatre’s Tanzoffensive ’09, to critical acclaim.

Pictured: Aimee Smith Photo: Traianos Pakioufakis

Perth choreographer and dancer Aimee Smith is currently gearing up to present her first full length solo work Breakings next month at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Performance Space. Working with Sound Designer Ben Taaffe, Lighting Designer Mike Nanning, Audio Visual Artist Jerrem Lynch, Set and Costume Designer Fiona Bruce, Set Designer Bryan Woltjen and with outside eye of LINK Dance Company Artistic Director Michael Whaites, Aimee’s Breakings gets to the bottom of how the media influences our perception of the world.

You recently bumped into PICA for your final rehearsal stages, how are you feeling about getting the show up and running for opening night on April 8th?

Well its crunch time right now. Less than 2 weeks from Opening Night always means long hours and hard work mixed with a burst of adrenaline and excitement at seeing all the elements finally come together. It has been so wonderful to be able to spend some time in the performance space prior to production week, where we can still be creative and adaptable to the space. It’s not very often you get this time in a venue. It’s a real luxury.

Why did you choose to both choreograph and perform in Breakings?

There’s something unique about a self devised solo that you just can’t re-create in an outside choreographed work. Not necessarily better, but just different. In some ways I think it lends itself to be more intimate. Also, the themes of the work grew out of a personal reaction to living in an increasingly mediated world. As I started to realise that I was not alone in these feelings I decided to make this work, but it made sense to me to base it in a personal framework.

How do you access news about the world?

Just like everyone else – through the multitude of globules and streams that get thrown at me – internet, television and occasionally, very occasionally, newspaper. I guess what I seek most is balance. I want to feel like I’m getting told all sides of the story so I can make my own judgments about things, so this leads me to the internet a lot. I think the internet is an amazing tool, that yes, can be overwhelming, but is also been so revolutionary and empowering in how it has re-opened and democratised news and information.

Do you dance alone when you are at home?

Ha! Actually I dance at home all the time. My kitchen floor is well worn. I always have. My brother will tell you that his friends knew me as ‘the dancing sister’ as I spent entire summers dancing on my back lawn. So yeah, I dance at home…still….as a 27 year old(!)… though not necessarily alone.

Who influenced you to become a choreographer?

I think the question for me really is ‘what’ not ‘who’. As a child I loved to dance and I loved the magic of the theatre and the emotional transformations, and space for imagination that the theatre offered. As an adult I am interested in using arts as a way of sense-making, of sharing stories and ideas as a society, in order to find our way through this world as best we can. I think the body is a storehouse of extremely valuable information and a carrier of very rich and grounded wisdom. This inspires me daily.

If you could change just one thing about your industry with the wave of a magic wand, what would it be?

I would like the world to realise how magical and powerful art can be to human wellbeing and social happiness. I would like Australians to dare to put down their footballs occasionally, and to pick up a paintbrush or a guitar or a go to a dance class instead. I think this is the answer for our industry!

Breakings
PICA, Perth Cultural Centre, James Street
8 – 11 April
www.pica.org.au
Tickets