All Fired Up and Nowhere to Go
Arts House North Melbourne Town Hall. Next Wave Festival 2016
Choreographer- Geoffrey Watson
Dramaturge- Nana Biluš Abaffy
Performers- Geoffrey Watson, Nana Biluš Abaffy, Michael McNab, Matthew Hyde, James Andrews
Costume design- Geoffrey Watson
Lighting design- Amelia Lever-Davidson
Stage Manager- Ashlee Hughes
Filming- NON Studio
Drawing on the legend of God designing the camel from spare parts of other animals, Geoffrey Watson’s Camel exists in the choreographic hinterland between wearable design, text, dance and music performance. Using the creature’s story as a metaphor for creative intuition, this collision of artforms presents Camel as a bold contemporary emotional innovation strategy.
Five dancers are rendered unidentifiable through ‘anti-costumes’ that negate both their individuality, and the base humanity of their movement. A percussionist competes for attention against an automated voice spouting dogmatic poetry. Mixed metaphors and disparate historical influences are made to sit uncomfortably next to each other like sisters and brothers on a hotel bed – a family whose lives began together but have since drifted in different directions.
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