FORM Dance Projects is an independent contemporary dance company based in Western Sydney that champions local voices in global communities. Their new dance festival, That’s Two, Thank You, feels like a clever twist on their mission statement by championing global voices in their local community. FORM Dance Projects celebrates the art of the duet by inviting performers from all around the world to show their work at FORM’s home base, Riverside Theatre in Parramatta.
As Omer Backley-Astrachan (choreographer and performer of Common Place, a work that is part of the festival) said in his interview with The Scoop, “The festival is a first-of-its-kind spotlighting duet works. In today’s artistic climate, it is exactly the thing our industry needs because a lot of works are best managed as small cast works, especially by independent artists.”
An Honest Conversation by Java Dance Theatre (based in New Zealand) is an hour-long improvised verbal and physical conversation between Wellington choreographer, Sacha Copland, and a different local Sydney artist, featuring either Vicki Van Hout, Azzam Mohamad and Hoyori Maruo. Each conversation only happens once where the dancers discuss matters of the heart while dancing, attempting to be as honest as possible.
Conversation #1, between Sacha and Hoyori, had a beautiful balance between dialogue and movement, light and dark, humour and heart, all in the pursuit of the ‘truth’. The audience is staged in a semicircle around the performers, keeping the dancers accountable, reacting and interacting with what parts of stories they liked or wanted to avoid.
Additionally, the 20-year difference in age and experience in the industry between the performers lent creative diversity to the show. Whilst there were moments of togetherness, they created a ‘split focus’ that afforded the audience autonomy to choose where they looked and who they listened to.
Each audience member could choose between listening to Sacha talk about her life back in New Zealand or watching Hoyori do a front flip centre stage. Built from a wonderful concept of juxtaposition and spontaneity, An Honest Conversation is effortlessly funny and terrifically truthful.
twobytwo is a double bill including Exoticism by Lucky Lartey (NSW) and Orígenes by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo (Spain) with AUSTI Dance and Physical Theatre (NSW).
Exoticism by Lucky Lartey is an exploration of contemporary masculinity, delving deep into the collective lived experience of people with diverse backgrounds. With a heavy emphasis on mirroring and binding, Lucky and Vincent Garcia deconstructed and reconstructed a duct-tape seesaw on the back wall, as well as three puzzles depicting animals. Both images were evocative of how this resistance work redefines masculinity for the modern age.
Orígenes, is a poetic, nostalgic exploration of humanity’s fading bond with the planet. At a time dominated by synthetic imitations, Orígenes mourns the loss of nature while striving to recreate fleeting moments of joy, connection and hope. Against the reflective backdrop of autumn, Spanish dancer / choreographer Daniel Navarro Lorenzo and dancer Madeleine Backen seek ephemeral beauty in a world forever changed. They build, rise, die out and repeat.
Meanwhile, sudden bursts of radiant orange light illuminate the possibility of renewal. Building the past and an artificial future, Orígenes reflects on origins, loss and the aching memory of a world slipping away. An attempt to recreate a world that no longer exists and can never again be as it once was.
The name given to these two performances, twobytwo, clearly a nod to their nature as two duets, is also a biblical reference. Genesis 7:9 “two by two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.” (ESV). A clever way to combine two pieces into one, and a rather apt metaphor for these dances that reimagine themes prevalent today (namely contemporary masculinity and climate change). The dancers themselves are the animals, and FORM Dance Projects, partnered with Riverside Theatres, the ark.
There are a lot of duets and incredible works being made and performed all the time. The inaugural festival of That’s Two, Thank You elevates some of these many dances to a stage where they can be seen and enjoyed in a larger, and yet still intimate, setting. Each work holds a sense of risk-taking. FORM has opened the doors, now all audiences need to do, is lean in.
An Honest Conversation and twobytwo is part of That’s Two Thank You, presented by FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres. Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres, Corner Church & Market St, Parramatta NSW 2150.
Remaining festival performances:
An Honest Conversation 3 – 4 April 2025
twobytwo 4 April 2025
Tickets: https://riversideparramatta.com.au/event-campaign/thats-two-thank-you/
Website: https://www.form.org.au/thats-two-thank-you/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/formdanceprojects/
Photo credits: Ange Maloney
About FORM Dance Projects:
FORM Dance Projects was founded in 2000 by Riverside Theatres and Ausdance NSW as an outreach program of the NSW Ministry for the Arts. Under the leadership of Annette McLernon (2011-2023), the company grew to become a professional arts organisation with a reputation for presenting high-calibre artworks of contemporary dance. Over their 20-year legacy, they have played a key role in nurturing the cultural fabric of Western Sydney through their hybrid arts model with a deep network and connectivity to the nation and the world.
An Honest Conversation
Conceived by Sacha Copland
Performed by Sacha Copland, Azzam Mohamed, Hoyori Maruo, Vicki Van Hout
twobytwo (double bill)
Exoticism
Choreographed by Lucky Lartey
Performed by Lucky Lartey and Vincent Garcia
Dramaturg Martin Del Amo
Orígenes
Choreographed by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo and AUSTI Dance and Physical Theatre
Performed by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo and Madeleine Backen
Collaborators Sammantha Yue and Adrian Blezien Pérez
FULL FESTIVAL LINE UP:
Common Place by Omer Backley-Astrachan and Jana Castillo (NSW)
The Dataset by Australian Dance Party (ACT)
An Honest Conversation by Java Dance Theatre (NZ)
twobytwo a double bill including Exoticism by Lucky Lartey (NSW) and Orígenes by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo (SPAIN) with AUSTI Dance and Physical Theatre (NSW)
Duels an inaugural duet dance competition featuring short works on Saturday 5 April. Duels supports artists planning to submit work to FORM’s new partner the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition in the Netherlands.
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