Youth festival Fast+Fresh Dance is calling choreographers under 21 for 2013 season!

Now in its sixth year, Fast+Fresh Dance is returning to Riverside, Parramatta, in November 2013 to showcase short dance works choreographed and performed by Sydney’s finest young talent in dance.

This year, FORM Dance Projects is excited to announce a new partnership with Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Heats will be held at Casula and Riverside with finals taking place at Riverside on Saturday 16 November 2013.

Part of the Short+Sweet family of festivals, Fast+Fresh Dance presents short, new and innovative dance works that are up to five minutes in length. There will be three rounds of heats judged nightly by a panel of industry professionals. The renowned Creative Director of The Voice, Marko Panzic, will be on the final panel of judges.

Fast+Fresh Dance cultivates talent and performance by choreographers and dancers under 21. The festival inspires and educates young performers to strive for their own artistic excellence and encourages active participation in dance at all levels and styles including contemporary dance, ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, krumping and cultural dance.

In keeping with the Short+Sweet tradition, all participants in Fast+Fresh Dance are eligible for sponsored awards such as Most Outstanding Choreography, Best Male Dancer, Best Female Dancer and the Audience Choice Award. In 2013, additional awards will be offered for Best Solo, Best Duet and Best Group. There is a swag of industry sponsored awards and cash prizes to be won.

This year will see the return of previous sponsors Ausdance NSW, Ars Musica Australis and Sydney Dance Company, plus support from arts companies including Flatline, Anything Dance, Bloch, Dance Central, Urban Dance Centre, Brent Street, Hills Adult Dance Company, DirtyFeet and Dance Australia Magazine.

Many participants of 2012’s season of Fast+Fresh Dance­ are currently training at some of the most elite institutions for dance, including the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the New Zealand School of Dance.

Last year’s competitor Kei Ishii was selected as a mentoree in the creative development of a new work Puncture by Legs on the Wall, FORM Dance Projects and VOX, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. The winner of Most Outstanding Female Dancer in 2012, Demi-Jo Manalo, is currently studying at the New Zealand School of Dance and has said of the program:

“I think Fast+Fresh has definitely opened some doors... The whole experience was nerve-wracking but also very thrilling. Performing a choreographer’s first ever work was a little daunting due to not knowing how the audience and judges would react. Thankfully it was a success!”

FORM Dance Projects and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre are now seeking submissions from young artists to participate in this year’s season. All genres of dance will be considered, as long as the choreography is innovative and original. Submission are accepted via the post in DVD format, or can be sent via email with links to YouTube or Vimeo.


HOW TO ENTER:

Go to http://form.org.au or www.casulapowerhouse.com
to download an application form. A registration fee of $12 is required.

DVD, Vimeo and YouTube entries close
Monday 14 October 2013

SEASON DATES:

Heat 1
Tuesday 12 November, 7:30pm
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC)
1 Casula Powerhouse Road
Casula NSW 2170

Heat 2
Wednesday 13 November, 7:30pm
Riverside, Parramatta
Cnr Church & Market Streets Parramatta
Parramatta NSW 2150

Heat 3
Thursday 14 November, 7:30pm
Riverside, Parramatta

FINAL
Saturday 16 November, 7:30pm
Riverside, Parramatta

Supermodern - Dance of Distraction

SUPERMODERN - DANCE OF DISTRACTION – now showing at Riverside Theatre Parramatta from 28th-31st March 2012

On a bare stage in plain clothing, four dancers hypnotically extend and contort their bodies with precision and poise to a backdrop of pulsating music and a fantastic lighting display.

They appear faceless and drowned out by their own movements as well as the trance-like musical accompaniment which surrounds them. Don’t you recognise them? They are us.

SuperModern – Dance of Distraction is the brainchild of experienced teacher, director and choreographer Anton, who together with Form Dance Projects has expertly arranged a performance that embodies life in our current, highly technological society, where people and words whiz by so furiously the lines between what is natural and what is human have become blurred.

The seed of Anton’s concept was planted when he found himself in a chaotic lifestyle, dependent on phones and emails and timetables. He recognised that the rapid change of society has pulled us in a thousand different directions.

The performance starts with an ascending, monotonic chant of “while this is going on, something else is going on”, prompting you to picture your own life and question if it bears resemblance to what is on display. The dancers rarely focus on each other and while they separate and each deal with the external struggles of what is being thrust at them, they are also working and moving as one in an attempt to the absurdity of being surrounded by so much technology.

Three notable aspects of the highly skilled performance highlighted the use of mobile phones, tablets and what I interpreted as Facebook. Combining break dancing, funk and contemporary dance we are forced to consider that our dependence on these gadgets and concepts are building barriers rather than opening doors.

The use of props in this performance is outstanding, especially when making a mockery of a person using a tablet and posting photos online. The props brought humour to the performance and when coupled with sounds and speech from call centres and computers the audience were laughing at the truth behind how silly we must look, sound and feel.

The original music score was composed by Jai Pyne, Nick Wales and Timothy Constable and reminded me of the eclectic bands and DJs featured on TripleJ. If there is an album to this performance I would definitely buy it. Both the music and lighting accentuated the performance and was in perfect keeping with Anton’s concept of “pondering the pace and speed in which we communicate and multi-task while living in close quarters”.

As this piece is only showing for another three days I strongly urge you to see it. If not to support the arts culture than to challenge yourself, your ideals and question how you are living in this modern world.

We may have endless access and opportunities to maintain our incredibly busy lifestyles, but what are we really giving up? Are we becoming the machines we so heavily rely on? Is this what it now means to be human?

Reviewed by Lana Hilton
Pictures by Maylei Hunt