DON’T MISS OUT! Ausdance NSW is offering all members a FREE workshop with international guests:
József Trefeli, Victoria Chui and Rudi Van Der Merwe from
Hot from Switzerland!
Jozsef Trefeli is an award winning, internationally acclaimed performance artist.
Check out Jozsef’s work:
Limit of 15 participants, register to avoid disappointment! Participants who turn up on the day will be treated on a first come first served basis.
When: Wednesday 7 July, 11:30 – 1:30 (after Ausdance Contemporary Dance Class) Where: Seymour Centre, Studio 1 (entrance via Stage Door, see the following for directions http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/images/content/general/seymap02_800_2.jpg) How Much: $20 for Ausdance NSW members, $25 for non members Register: call Ausdance NSW on 02 9256 4800 or email administration@dance.net.au to reserve a spot, limited places available. Register for the workshop and be put forward in a draw to receive a FREE double pass ticket to watch STARSTRUCK on Friday 9th July. STARSTRUCK is showing at Riverside on the 9 – 10 July, see below for more details.
Company Sum of its Parts members Jozsef Trefeli, Victoria Chui and Rudi Van Der Merwe will lead a 2 hour workshop based on character development for dance in relation to movement and text.
What skills/repertoire/practices/tasks will the workshop address? The participants will first engage in repertoire in the form of movement phrases and qualities created by different characters in the StarStruck.
Participants will then be given time and assistance to imagine their own character as someone who is influenced by the mass media to their choice of degree: ie: third of the population who suffers from mild celebrity worship to the extreme 3 percent who are pathological sufferers.
Several movement based tasks will be led by Jozsef and Victoria for the participants to find the first steps of a movement language their character could embody.
Rudi will then lead a short task to find small textual phrases or sentences that each character would be likely to speak.
A final collaboration and showing of the characters will conclude the workshop and participants will have a chance to discuss problems they encountered and give and receive positive critical feedback.
What will participants gain from the workshop? Phrases chosen will differ in dynamic and quality so participants gain an understanding of the sometimes significant and sometimes subtle changes in movement quality that create depth in character.
The open and exploratory nature of the the tasks will encourage the participants to let go of preconceived ideas of what movement should be and any notions of what they think may be the right way to find movement or text. They will be in a completely creative environment and focus will be on the process of finding or not finding the right 'flavours' for their character. The showing is voluntary depending on what the participants want to share, the sharing environment is not a stressed one, and all ideas are welcome to be shared.
What type of methodology does Company Sum of its Parts work by? Sum of its Parts strives to maintain the integrity of the concept and allow every question to be explored and answered without censoring the material found. They are bold and innovative which comes from the greater wish to seek and respect the truths a project demands. They work as collaboration; no artist is greater than the other, each has their own part to play and each plays it with gusto and passion for creation to give art to the community.
Chateau Rogue Website: http://www.chateau-rouge.net/site/saison-2009/index.php?s=364
Artist Bios:
“József Trefeli is intriguing, amusing and deeply moving without sacrificing a sense of simplicity that is synonymous with great talent.” - Tribune de Genève
József Trefeli is an award winning, internationally acclaimed performance artist. Australian born and bred with a Hungarian heritage, József has worked out of Geneva since 1996. József draws on his talents in numerous styles of dance to create innovative and pertinent contemporary dance theatre. In his eight years with Alias Compagnie (one of Europe’s premier dance companies) he created roles that challenged and charmed critics and audiences worldwide.
On 6 continents, 30 countries, and over 100 cities, József has achieved critical acclaim for his many and varied dance performances and numerous choreographic works.
“Victoria Chiu’s work reveals itself as very readable.“ - Le Courrier, Geneve.
“The character created by Victoria was well built, the decoration and the accessories useful and well used. The text and its diction were fascinating with a good rhythm.”
- Myriam Kridi, Theatre de L'Usine Geneve.
Sydney born Victoria Chiu trained at VCA Melbourne. She has performed and toured with European companies Companie Nomades, Cie Gilles Jobin, Micha Purucker and Jane Turner. In Australia she has performed with Fiona Malone, Bernadette Walong and Australian Dance Theatre for TV show Superstars of Dance. She has choreographed three works in Switzerland and will shortly be finishing work on Sydney/Geneva collaboration with Jozsef Trefeli for new work StarStruck. In Sydney Victoria has taught for many dancing institutions and festivals. Dance film ‘Don’t Look Back’ evolved from work with students at EvandBow, Right now Victoria is working on a new creation with Micha Purucker in Munich.
Rudi van der Merwe grew up in South Africa where he studied physical theatre and French at the University of Stellenbosch. In 1999 he received a scholarship by the French government to study dance, literature and cinema at the University of Strasbourg. He also studied contemporary dance with Mathilde Monnier in Montpellier before starting his career as a professional performer. Rudi has worked with Anne Lopez, Gilles Jobin (4 pieces, performances in over 20 countries), Cindy Van Acker (a solo) and Estelle Héritier. He has collaborated with Ayelen Parolin on Troupeau, voted one of the 40 best choreographic works of the past 40 years in Brussels, Victoria Chiu on Jezabel Velvet (text) and Marie-Caroline Hominal on Ass Town (a self-produced publication). In 2009 Rudi started the company SKREE WOLF with Susana Panadès Diaz, ‘I’d like to save the world, but I’m too busy saving myself…’ is their first creation.
World premiere of Starstruck at Riverside!! Western Sydney Dance Action, Riverside Theatres, Company Sum of its Parts and Company Jozsef Trefeli are presenting the International world premiere of the darkly funny dance theatre work Starstruck on July 9 and 10 at 8pm.
WSDA and Riverside Theatres are proud to be hosting the only Australian season right here in Parramatta which marks the start of Starstruck’s international tour to eight European summer festivals across 2010/2011including: Festival Dansez-Theatre du Chateau Rouge Annemasse France; Dresden International Tanzwoche Projekttheater Germany; Stu Summer Festival Estonia, Theatre du la Parfumerie Geneva Switzerland, Tanz in Winterthur Theater am Gleis Switzerland, Tanz in Olten Switzerland, L’Heure Bleue Theatre Poulaire Romande and LaChauxDeFonds Switzerland.
Jozsef Trefeli is an Australian ex-pat ( originally from the ACT with family from Western Sydney) who is now based in Switzerland with his own dance company Company Jozsef Trefeli- this will be the first time he has performed his work in Australia since leaving 15 years ago. Other company members include South African dramaturg and performing artist Rudi Van Der Merwe, established performing artist and choreographer Victoria Chiu who grew up in Sydney metropolitan, and musician/dancer Roland Cox originally from Melbourne.
“Victoria Chiu’s work reveals itself as very readable.“ - Le Courrier, Geneve.
“The character created by Victoria was well built, the decoration and the accessories useful and well used. The text and its diction were fascinating with a good rhythm.” Myriam Kridi, Theatre de L'Usine Geneve.
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“József Trefeli is intriguing, amusing and deeply moving without sacrificing a sense of simplicity that is synonymous with great talent.” - Tribune de Genève
“The dancer Rudi van der Merwe hypnotises the audience.“ - Philippe Noisette, Les Inrockuptibles
“Dancer Roland Cox is also a pianist, and a talented one at that!“ - 24 Heures, Lausanne
Brief History
All four performers first met in Switzerland. 5 years later collaboration between ‘Company Sum of its Parts’ and ‘Company Jozsef Trefeli ‘ has evolved. WSDA supported Company Sum of its Parts in January 2010 for their second stage development of Starstruck at Connect Studios Parramatta, receiving excellent peer industry feedback from Sydney’s Independent dance sector. Within this unique project they are utilising their collective years of experience in European companies and giving Australian audiences exposure
to a brilliant combination of European and Australian artistic flavours and humour.
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