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.

Towards A New Australian Theatre Lecture at The Bakery Photo: Sarah Rowbottam

Last Wednesday, the 13th of April saw a talk by Joey Ruigrok van der Werven a Dutch born, Sydney based artist specialising in large scale site specific works and theatre production. Held at The Bakery in Northbridge the presentation allowed over 80 Perth creatives to experience Joey’s unique blend of creative drive and technical skill giving him an opportunity to fully explore the creation of a new genre of theatre within Australia.

The night began with a discussion of ‘site specific, performance based visual arts’, or as Joey calls it ‘theatre of the unlikely’. Joey provided the audience with a number of examples of this ‘renegade theatre’ from the art forms anarchistic roots, to the modern day mainstream embrace into popular culture. From Joey’s own work with Holland’s Dogtreop Theatre Company through to the work of European based performance organisations such as  La Fura dels Baus, Romeo Castellucci and Vis-à-vis the audience was treated to a whirlwind tour of some incredible art pieces from across the globe.

Set Design by Joey Ruigrok van der Werven for Gravity Feed’s Monstrous Body

From the outset Joey preached the importance of staging performance based art away from traditional areas of production. Instead, he believes it is an artists responsibility to engage with the general public in locations not commonly associated with any type of art form. The work should work seamlessly with it’s surroundings, and be designed to exploit the natural or man made infrastructure currently occupying the space. Everything from the middle of a salt lake to the side of oil refinery plant should be fair game to artists.

The performances must as well seek to break through traditional notions of practicality and the expected. Joey detailed the work of subversive artists across Europe using everything from hundreds of kilo’s of chicken feathers fired from air cannons, to giant walls of collapsing microwaves, ‘smell cannons’ and entire performances staged in the back of a converted WWII bomber planes. At it’s core the renegade artist should seek to delight all the senses, with wild and ambitious performance pieces, transforming landscapes and creating powerful experiences for all those present.

It is this spirit of rebellion and creation that has transfixed audiences across the globe for decades and a type of performance that Joey believes has largely not been staged in Australia…

Image courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven

Following a short break, Joey continued his talk by discussing the current state of site specific spectacle work in Australia. Despite the increasing popularity of such work within our borders it is readily apparent that much of this work is being conceived and executed overseas with the performers only touring for short bursts at a time. As Joey argues there has not been a artistic climate conducive to such productions, nor has there been organisational support for such endeavors. He would go on to suggest that with most arts funding in Australia today, the emphasis is placed heavily on pre-planned performances leaving little room for experimentation in the more extreme ideas of performance and production.

It was against this background that Joey wrapped up his talk with a series of ideas about how best to cultivate such artistic endeavors in Australia. Albeit a difficult propositions, Joey believes that such an art form can flourish in Australia and that we already have the talent to do so. From an opening of urban spaces to artists to allow for more advanced productions, right through to re-envisioning of government and private funding practices Joey implored us as creatives to be ambitious in our ideas and fearless in our creations!

Image courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven

For the past 6 years Joey has been working with a variety of theatre and performing artists within Australia on a variety of site specific performances and installations. One piece that I found particularly captivating Dream Masons a performance piece run for the opening of the 2007 Ten Days On The Island festival in Tasmania.

Joey and his team transformed the side of the Salamanca Arts Centre building with a series of massive water pipes, projectors, giant screens and cabling to create a giant ship like vessel. It was then filled to the brim with performers, a band (or two?), acrobats and at one stage a giant wall created with the help of lots of overhead projectors and some very careful planning. The spectacle attracted over 14,000 people over 4 nights setting a standard for accessible site specific performance rarely seen in Australia.

My descriptions can hardly do this work justice, check out the video and images below:

Dream Masons, Salamanca Arts Centre. Images courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven

Dream Masons (youtube)

From all of us at Performing Lines WA we would like to extend a huge thank you to Joey for presenting such an engaging and inspiring work. We would also like to thank all of those who attended the talk and hope you remain as energised as we do!

Written by Tom Cramond, Arts Management Intern, Performing Lines WA

Photo: ‘Fire Water’, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. Courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven.

If you had the chance to make a large-scale spectacle in Perth, what would it be about, what would it look like and where would you put it?

These are some of the questions 16 eclectic WA-based directors, choreographers, performers, lighting designs and all-round artists will be tackling next weekend as they enter a two day intensive workshop on creating European style spectacle and site-specific theatre for Australia.

Leading the group is an artist whose set and performance designs are more than just backdrops. Sydney-based Dutch director, designer, inventor and contraption maker Joey Ruigrok van der Werven creates performances and invents environments. His worlds perform and transform, conveying story through images and sensory experiences.

Photo: Dogtroep, Holland. Courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven.

Prior to moving to Australia in 1996 Joey was key artist and technical manager of Dogtroep, one of Europe’s renowned site-specific theatre companies, where he created images and facilitated the ideas of large groups of up to 25 professional sculptors, performers and inventors.

Marking the end of his Australia Council Theatre Board Fellowship, investigating European and Australian spectacle and performance making, Joey is now touring nationally, presenting a series of lectures and workshops which attempt to shed new light on Australia’s impasse with creating wild and epic theatre.

Photo: ‘Volta 2′, Performance Space. Courtesy of Joey Ruigrok van der Werven.

During the workshop, the group will identify an existing location in or near Northbridge where a fictitious performance could be created. Working in response to the site, Joey will teach methods of site research: its physicality, community and situation, and how to develop multiple performance possibilities relating to these.

The Perth workshop will take place in Northbridge after an invite-only lecture presented by Joey on Wednesday 13 April, in the evening at The Bakery.

For those keen on attending the lecture and hearing Joey’s vision for creating large-scale spectacles in our hometown, we have room for a handful of people to join us on the night.

To win a seat at the lecture, simply answer the following question in the comment box below or on our facebook wall.

“If you had the chance to make a large-scale spectacle in Perth, where would you put it?”

Written by Sarah Rowbottam, Communications Manager for Performing Lines WA.

Perth tactical arts group pvi collective have a reputation for engaging the community through public intervention performances and this onewas no different.

Raising their hands to co-ordinate the Perth memorial performance of Tank Man Tango, on June 5 2009 they lead a re-enactment of the Tiananmen Square protests as part of a global public performance marking the tragedy’s 20th anniversary.

Devised by Sydney based artist Deborah Kelly, the performative public art event Tank Man Tango aimed to teach the exact steps undertaken by the iconic “tank man”, who on 5 June 1989, stood face to face against the army tanks on Tiananmen Square.

“…carrying two shopping bags in his hands, trying to communicate, to correspond, to dodge and weave, to …dance… with the tanks. Tank Man Tango will be a momentary monument to the Tiananmen Square protestors, a memorial made of dancing bodies in cities around the world. An echo across time and space, multiplied against forgetting; an image, a public participatory performance; an enduring online artifact.” Deborah Kelly, Artist

pvi collective ran the Perth public event with resident CIA Studio artists Hydra Poesis. The collective lead a ‘how-to’ demonstration of the “tank man” steps at CIA studios on June 4th ready for the public performance on June 5th at Forest Place in Perth city.

“It is an honour to be a part of such a meaningful and powerful memorial. Even 20 years on, the impact of the tank man footage still resonates and for us it poetically highlights the power of the individual against impossible odds.” pvi collective

Performances of Tank Man Tango from around the world will be documented and the material exhibited at Serial Space in Sydney from June 5 2009 as part of the 649 exhibition curated by Mark Gerada.

For more information on the Tank Man Tango project visit http://www.forget2forget.net

Sarah Rowbottam, Communications Manager, Performing Lines WA

Images by: Bohdan Warchomij