STRUCTURAL DEPENDENCY BROOKE LEEDER & DANCERS
Image: Matsu Perth Festival acknowledges the Noongar people who continue to practise their values, language, beliefs and knowledge on their kwobidak boodjar. They remain the spiritual and cultural birdiyangara of this place and we honour and respect their caretakers and custodians and the vital role Noongar people play for our community and our Festival to flourish. Stay COVID-19 safe
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For latest health advice visit healthywa.wa.gov.au/coronavirus STRUCTURAL DEPENDENCY BROOKE LEEDER & DANCERS
YANDILUP / NORTHBRIDGE
STATE THEATRE CENTRE REHEARSAL ROOM
M T W T F S S FEBRUARY 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
MARCH 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Wed 4 – Sun 7 Mar 8.45pm Tue 9 – Sat 13 Mar 7.30pm Sun 14 Mar 6pm Duration 55mins
50
Contains smoke effects CONTENTSCONTENTS
WELCOME CONTENTS 6 Welcome 8 Credits
WELCOME ARTIST STATEMENT 10 A Note from Brooke Leeder 12 About Structural Dependency CREDITS
BIOGRAPHIES 15 Brooke Leeder & Dancers 16 Creatives 23 Performers ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 35 Perth Festival Partners 36 Perth Festival Donors BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
* Just tap the interactive tabs on the left to skip to a specific section CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS
Image: Jess Wyld
Being part of the audience in a theatre is always a magical experience, sharing together these particular moments ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST created by artists for us. In the times we are living in such experiences are even more precious after having been denied us. Brooke and her
BIOGRAPHIES extraordinary team have created a visceral and vital work of immersive intensity – the epitome of a live experience, and one which we’re thrilled to have as part of the 2021 Festival. Enjoy the show! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IAIN GRANDAGE PERTH FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Image: Jess Wyld LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO AFTER THE SHOW? Stick around Perth Cultural Centre and enjoy City of Lights. Immerse yourself in the projections, catch some tunes at STC Courtyard Sessions, drop into a local bar for a post-show drink or treat yourself to a tasty bite at one of Northbridge’s many eateries. CREDITS
Choreographer Brooke Leeder Sound Designer & Composer
CONTENTS Louis Frere-Harvey Lighting Designer Nemo Gandossini-Poirier Dancers WELCOME April Vardy, Celina Hage, Lilly King, Linton Aberle, May Greenberg, Natassija Morrow, Nikki Tarling, Noah Jimmy, Scott Elstermann,
CREDITS Scott Ewen, Tyrone Earl Lraé Robinson Headshots Hannah Laurent Photography ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME
CREDITS ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME
Image: Matsu CREDITS A NOTE FROM BROOKE LEEDER
ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST In 2018, I visited Taiwan and in particular, the Longshan Temple. In one single moment I felt a part of something I didn’t understand. I was helped and welcomed into a BIOGRAPHIES ceremony by a stranger.
He saw me and, with no words, showed me the custom and allowed me into the tradition, allowed me into the experience, a wordless open
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS invitation into the experience and I followed. I could see the ceremony unfold before me, it was simple and clear and yet, I didn’t dare participate out of respect for this place and these people.
CONTENTS Within that one gesture, this man invited me in, welcomed me to share this moment with everyone within the temple. My heart swelled and eyes filled, completely humbled to be a WELCOME part of something so sacred. I came home and made the last sections of Structural Dependency.
CREDITS This work is about people coming together to share something special with each other. Strangers entering a space and exiting with a shared experience, distinctly their own, a moment in time never to be repeated. ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST I am honoured to be a part of this year’s unique and joyous Perth Festival. To Iain, Anna, Studsy, Jenna and everyone at the Festival and the BIOGRAPHIES State Theatre Centre, thank you all so much. To the person who’s held my hand throughout these ever changing times, Jessica Darlow, I thank you so very much. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS
Image: Matsu WELCOME ABOUT STRUCTURAL DEPENDENCY CREDITS Structural Dependency is a contemporary dance work that is an immersive and participatory experience; where movement, space, sound and viewer each depend on each other, all structurally relying on each other. ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST
The most delicate of structures is you, our audience. To see the choreography as a structure or system, to understand
BIOGRAPHIES through the repetition, much like any ritual, to repeat and follow and be engaged. No interaction will be sudden, yet a long drawn out visual understanding of what is happening around you, all set within the movement, gestures and eye contact. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With long, repetitious choreography, the setting up systems and patterns, creating hypnotic, mesmerising movements that are decoded by the audience, seeing the choreography unfold and evolve before them, shifting slightly and at times dramatically.
CONTENTS Varying speeds and tempos, movement ending and beginning, matched with the proximity to performers, the ebb and flow to the work creates a tension that is visceral and once the moments WELCOME pass, a sense of relief is, at times, quite physical for the viewer.
This piece merges a highly intimate CREDITS experience and the close proximity of dancer and viewer with the highly physical choreographic style, set within an unusual performance space.
After a time of feeling much isolation,
ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST this performance creates a bond between the performers and you the audience, a unique moment in time shared between each of you.
BIOGRAPHIES Special thanks to Matthew Thorley, Tom Müller and to the dancers in previous developments; Sarah Sim, Alex Abbot, Bridget Flint, Mani Mae Gomes, Alina Doyle and Mitch Aldridge.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Very special thanks to Lyn and Geoff Leeder, and to all my family – this is for you.
BROOKE LEEDER CONTENTS WELCOME
CREDITS BIOGRAPHIES ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BROOKE LEEDER & DANCERS
CONTENTS Brooke Leeder & Dancers are a small, independent Perth-based company of dancers and collaborators with an intent to take contemporary dance out
WELCOME of the theatre and into unconventional performance spaces. They want to connect with audiences in new ways, to be at eye level, to play with proximity,
CREDITS a sense of expanse and intimacy, set within grand and unusual spaces. The company has performed in the foyer of Crown Ballroom, to a car park and sea container, to the B Shed in Fremantle, with the stunning harbour and working port as the backdrop. ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST Brooke Leeder & Dancers are a group of core creatives making new and exciting contemporary dance works, with a drive
BIOGRAPHIES and rigour to work together on projects around connection and significant live experiences, in more unique performance spaces. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME
CREDITS BIOGRAPHIES CREATIVES ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS BROOKE LEEDER Choreographer
Brooke is from Perth and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST She has performed with Stephanie Lake, Luke George, Phillip Adams Balletlab, Phillippa Clarke, Buzz Dance Theatre, Company Complesso and
BIOGRAPHIES previously performed in Tenebrae et Lux and Midsummer Night’s Dream (As You Like it) with Perth Festival in 2013 and 2014. She has also danced with companies in Germany, London and the Trisha Brown Dance Company in New York. Her choreographic works ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS include Dancers Speak Volumes, Mechanic, Unravel and three – the experiment series from 2014 to 2017. Brooke has created new works for Taipei’s Kandu International Arts Festival in Taiwan, Co3 Australia, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and John Curtin
CONTENTS College of the Arts. She founded Brooke Leeder & Dancers in 2018 and has since presented works in galleries, car parks and last year’s work RADAR in the B Shed, Fremantle. Most WELCOME recently she was one of five artists invited within the grand, new WA Museum for their opening event and filmed an excerpt of Structural CREDITS Dependency, Structural, set within the beautiful building. ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS LOUIS FRERE-HARVEY Sound Designer
After completing studies at the Western Australian Academy of ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST Performing Arts, Louis began his career writing, performing and educating as a percussionist. After half a decade touring as a DJ, producer
BIOGRAPHIES and performer under internationally acclaimed Command Q, Louis began collaborating as a composer with contemporary dance fusing movement and electronic scores. After multiple national and international residencies, several full-length works presented ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in Perth and awards such as Best Dance Work (FRINGEWORLD 2020), Louis is finding his niche in combining his training in percussion, his passion for electronic dance music and his understanding of movement, to create
CONTENTS energetically percussive compositions, uncovering the origins of rhythm within the body and its relationship to the music. WELCOME CREDITS ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS NEMO GANDOSSINI-POIRIER Lighting Designer
Nemo has been surrounded by the performing arts industry from a ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST young age, starting his career lighting the Margaret River Circus Festival and over three years moving from the Grand Chapiteau to then Head
BIOGRAPHIES of Technical Production. In 2017 he established his production company, Complete Staging Events, supplying equipment and lighting design for Perth FRINGEWORLD, Noodle Palace 2017, Bonjour Perth Festival and Perth Arena. Nemo has designed for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS some of the top international music performers around the world including Flume, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and The Reubens. He has staged and designed for Brooke Leeder & Dancers for Structural Dependency and RADAR, working with other local CONTENTS choreographers such as Mitch Harvey and Rob Tinning. In 2020 Nemo became Technical Site Manager for FRINGEWORLD and designed the
WELCOME opening and closing ceremonies for the Woodford Folk Festival, featuring Kate Miller-Heidke and Electric Fields. CREDITS ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME
CREDITS BIOGRAPHIES PERFORMERS ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS APRIL VARDY
April moved to Perth in 2013 to complete a Bachelor of Dance at WAAPA and an Honours degree as ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST part of LINK Dance Company also at WAAPA, graduating in November 2016. Since then she has choreographed and performed as part of FRINGEWORLD
BIOGRAPHIES for the past three years, including being a co-creator of the site-specific work In Cahoots, which was awarded WA overall winner of the Dance & Physical Theatre category. She also has performed at PSAS with Brooke Leeder & Dancers in Structural Dependency in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS December 2018 and in May Greenberg’s work Escapsim, which was part of the SITU-8 program this year. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS CELINA HAGE
Celina is part Australian, part Norwegian, born and raised in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. She began her tertiary ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2017 before moving to Salzburg, Austria in 2018 – 19 to study at the
BIOGRAPHIES Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD). In 2020 she performed in Hofesh Shechter’s tHE bAD, as part of the Perth Festival-commissioned work Hofesh in the Yard, presented by STRUT Dance. As a freelance artist Celina has worked with choreographer Mitch ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Harvey, Brooke Leeder & Dancers and STRUT Dance Inc. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS LILLY KING
Lilly King studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2017 with a Bachelor in Dance, ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST majoring in Ballet. Lilly has worked with Brooke Leeder & Dancers in Structural Dependency 2018, RADAR 2019, and Structural 2020 within the WA Museum
BIOGRAPHIES Boola Bardip. As an Independent, she has performed for METAMORPHOSIS RESIDENCY LISBON 2018, Scott Ewen’s Wasps At War within STRUT’s And Then Some 2019, Scott Elstermann’s and Shona Erskine’s BANG! BANG! 2019, Stephanie Lake’s Colossus for Perth Festival 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and Sally Richardson’s Muse in Strut Dance SITU-8 2020. This year Lilly was awarded the Best Newcomer in Dance Award 2019 in the WA Performing Arts Awards for RADAR and BANG! BANG!. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS LINTON ABERLE
Linton is an independent contemporary dance artist and teacher who graduated from WAAPA in 2012. He holds ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST certifications in Countertechnique, Vinyasa and Yin Yoga and is currently completing his diploma of Remedial Massage Therapy. Linton has worked with
BIOGRAPHIES various local and national companies and has performed in Perth Festival over several years. Notable performances in Perth include Decadance (2016) and One Flat Thing Reproduced (2017). He joined Compagnie Thor in Brussels in 2018 for the touring of Anima Ardens ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and We Are Woman. Most recently he performed Rachel Ogle’s Precipice in Perth and David Zambrano’s Age in Brussels 2019. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS MAY GREENBERG
May is a Jerusalem-born, Perth-based dancer and choreographer. Since graduating from WAAPA in 2014, May ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST has worked with various independent companies and artists including Natalie Allen, Mitch Harvey and performed STRUT’s remount of Ohad Naharin’s
BIOGRAPHIES Decadance. May has choreographed her own works including How To Digest an Apple as part of InSitu 2018 and Escapism for Situ8 2020. May has performed for Brooke Leeder & Dancers in Structural Dependency 2018, RADAR 2019 and Structural 2020 set ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS within the WA Museum Boola Bardip. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS NATASSIJA MORROW
Natassija was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and trained in classical ballet before moving to Perth in 2017 ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST to study at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. During her studies she took part in a semester- long international exchange at Taipei
BIOGRAPHIES National University of the Arts where she focused on a variety of Eastern and modern techniques. In 2020 she graduated from WAAPA with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) and performed in works choreographed by Stephanie Lake, Rainer Behr, Michael Whaites, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sue Peacock, Natalie Allen and Rachel Arianne Ogle. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS NIKKI TARLING
Nikki is a professional contemporary dancer and Vinyasa Yoga teacher. A WAAPA graduate, she began her career ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST working with Tasdance, rehearsing Fragile Matter with Paul Blackman and Christine Gouzelis (Jukstapoz), where she was nominated as ‘Dancer to
BIOGRAPHIES Watch’ in Dance Australia Magazine. Nikki has performed in a number of independent works in Australia, including Colossus and Multiply by Stephanie Lake and Duplex by Jack Riley presented in Florence as part of Melbourne University’s First ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Commissions campaign and in Hofesh in the Yard at Perth Festival 2020. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS NOAH JIMMY
Noah is a dancer and theatre maker who grew up in Perth. He began dancing at 10 years old and ever since has had ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST a desire to move. He has trained in contemporary, ballet and flamenco for many years, having worked in the independent dance and theatre
BIOGRAPHIES industries in Perth and India, including with Sydney Dance Company Pre Professional, Brooke Leeder & Dancers and Robert Tinning. Working with Fugue Theatre Company he discovered a love for theatre and how movement may be used to tell story. Noah has ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS most recently embarked on a research process at WAAPA, which combines his training in dance and theatre in further investigative studies. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS SCOTT ELSTERMANN
Scott is the 2020 WA Young Achiever of the Year (Arts and Culture). He is the only Australian and youngest ever ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST recipient of the Pina Bausch Fellowship for Dance and Choreography. Scott received the Palisade Award for Most Outstanding Graduate of the Bachelor
BIOGRAPHIES of Arts Dance Course at WAAPA. He has performed with the Merce Cunningham Trust, Lucy Guerin Inc, Stephanie Lake Company, Natalie Allen, Annette Carmichael, Shona Erskine, Brooke Leeder & Dancers and Alice Will Caroline. Scott won Best ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS performer Male and Best New Work at the 2019 Performing Arts Awards and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance at the 2019 Australian Dance Awards. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS SCOTT EWEN
Scott is an Australian contemporary dancer, choreographer, movement director and educator. He attained his ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST Bachelor of Arts (Dance) from WAAPA in 2010 and graduated with the Hawaiian Award for Most Outstanding Graduate. Scott has since danced and toured
BIOGRAPHIES locally, nationally and internationally with numerous companies, including Australian Dance Theatre, Expressions Dance Company, ilDance (Sweden), Buzz Dance Theatre and Tasdance, also with Stephanie Lake, Gabrielle Nankivell, Shaun Parker and Daniel Jaber. As a ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS choreographer, his works have been presented in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. CONTENTS WELCOME CREDITS TYRONE EARL LRAÉ ROBINSON Since graduating from WAPPA in
ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST 2011, Tyrone has been working as a performance artist in Perth. Working in contemporary and commercial dance, both nationally and internationally, he has choreographed and performed for BIOGRAPHIES companies and events such as STEPS Youth Dance Company, Lucy Guerin Inc, Sydney Dance and many more. He has taught at the K2 dance studios since 2013, teaching many different styles of dance to people ranging in ages of 7 –
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 40+, and engaging with youth in dance education around Perth. Most recently Tyrone lived abroad as a company member of Noism, Japan’s only full- time contemporary dance company. PERTH FESTIVAL PARTNERS
Founder Principal Partner CONTENTS
Festival Partner Civic Partner WELCOME
Visual Arts Program Partner Community Partner CREDITS
Lead Media Partner Production Partners
ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST Leadership Partners Premiere Partner
Major Partners BIOGRAPHIES
Public Funding Partner ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Supporting Partners
See Subiaco Escala Partners Boffins Books Vision Australia Radio RTRFM Shadow Wine Bar Hertz Hadiqa Alex Hotel The State Buildings Giniversity The Backlot The University Club of WA
With thanks to State Theatre Centre of WA staff, management and board THANK YOU TO ALL OUR DONORS
We couldn’t do it without your amazing support. You can view the full list of our donors online at perthfestival.com.au/support-us
PATRONS Our Festival Patrons generously lead the way in supporting the artistic development of the Festival through a three-year commitment to give $50,000 per annum.
CONTENTS CHAIR’S CIRCLE Our Chair’s Circle is a committed network of Donors who, along with our Chair, support the Festival’s long-term strategy of growing the WA arts sector for a minimum of three years with a donation of $20,000 per annum.
FESTIVAL CIRCLE
WELCOME The Festival Circle giving program provides ongoing support to artistic excellence across all we do. Donations to this fund are a direct investment in enabling us to bring excellence to our community and provide local artists with the opportunity to work alongside the world’s greatest thinkers, performers and creatives.
MEDICI Our Medici Donors make an annual donation towards enabling a CREDITS specific, ambitious Festival performance each year.
COMMISSIONING FUND Our Commissioning Fund supports the development of new Festival works over the four-year tenure of our Artistic Director. Donations to this fund enable us to develop and present Festival works that give voice to the people, artists and stories of this place.
CREATIVE LEARNING & ENGAGEMENT Our Creative Learning & Engagement Fund brings meaningful artistic experiences to young people and our local community to assist their ARTIST STATEMENT ARTIST wellbeing, whilst ensuring artistic experiences are accessible for everyone.
LEGACY CIRCLE Our Legacy Circle recognises bequestors who have left a gift in their will to sustain the future of Perth Festival.
BIOGRAPHIES Leadership Partner
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