FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres presents That’s Two, Thank You, FORM’s inaugural two-week dance festival, celebrating the art of the duet at Riverside Theatre’s Lennox Theatre from Friday 28 March to Saturday 5 April 2025.
That’s Two, Thank You showcases how two bodies can dance a whole world of stories from the epic to the intimate. The festival’s innovative, five show line-up features some of Australia and New Zealand’s best contemporary dance artists, including renowned dancer / choreographer Omer Backley-Astrachan and Sydney-based contemporary dancer Jana Castillo.
The Scoop sat down with Omer Backley-Astrachan ahead of the festival to discuss the work he will be performing at the festival, entitled Common Place.
Let’s start by talking a little bit about the festival. I know that it’s brand new and it’s going to be annual moving forward. What else can you tell me about it?
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.
There are a lot of duets and incredible works out there that need the appropriate stage, and sometimes that’s hard to slot into festivals that do grand-scale productions. Also, in my opinion, dance is best enjoyed in an intimate setting.
What can you tell me about your piece, Common Place?
For a choreographer, being asked to describe a piece is the hardest thing; it’s almost like being asked to describe a colour. It’s something that needs to be experienced by the senses.
But I can say that the title of the piece, Common Place, is explored on two different levels. One is the exploration of commonality between Jana Castillo, my collaborator and I. Jana is a multi-award-winning dancer and performer. She was in The Hobbit and so many different productions. She’s bringing a wealth of knowledge to this project.
For this work, we decided that we were not going to start with a pre-prescribed concept or a story. We started by not knowing what the work was going to be about. We just danced together and through that process found the essence of what it means to find common ground.
Jana and I could have spent time talking about our histories and our backgrounds. Instead, we just created the work with movement at the centre and tried to find moments where we clicked together. And when magic was happening, we knew that we were on the right path, and that was the first step.
I think we have about ten hours of material. We had to distil all of that to find moments where our energies or movement languages connected the best, and that became the work.
The other way of looking at the title is in the term ‘common place.’ We tried to find a sense of exhilaration or a profound experience through very simple, very commonplace beginnings. So rather than trying to create something complicated and highly technical, we took on a sensibility, almost inspired by folk, where it is something that anyone could do. That’s what we started with to create a platform for connection, enjoyment, and a sense of euphoria. And that was our base. It had to be simple; it must not tell a story.
As soon as the work became something that could be narrated, like, here’s the guy, he’s feeling this. Here’s the girl, she’s feeling this. This is the love scene. We knew that it was not the right thing. Staying in an ambiguous, grey area allows the audience to have a personal interpretation of the work.
What message would you like to give audiences before they come along about what can they expect?
Common Place is a work that floods the theatre with a sense of exhilaration, joy, and connection. If I had to give audiences a reason to come, it would be because it’s a great work of art. Jana and I have made something we’re both very proud of. I think audiences can expect to be swept into a love of movement, and I hope people will come out of the theatre and treat themselves better. I hope they will be inspired to take steps to make a better life and contribute to a better environment.
Can you talk to me a bit more broadly about what leading a creative life means to you?
I think about this a lot because I’m a father of two. To be an artist and to be working creatively is something that you have to fight for in this world. Having to do the conventional things like making money, drop-offs, pickups, and daily chores leaves little room for self-exploration and indulging in your creativity.
But once you don’t have it for a while, it’s very clear just how important it is. I feel like in my life, I’ve always been creativity-driven and I’ve never made any decisions because something will bring me more money. Maybe I should have done that. But I am 37 now and to this day, whenever I stop thinking about responsibility, my brain immediately goes into choreography. That’s just where my brain lives.
We live in an age where we are bombarded by information, continuously hearing what people think, either on Instagram, TikTok or the news. We continuously watch people deliver messages and content all the time. I don’t want my creative practice to be another producer of content.
That’s why I think it’s really important that whatever art I put out in the world provides a place for people to pause and actually have an experience of self-reflection. Developing self-awareness, rather than being wowed by yet another thing to be excited about.
I think every dance work needs to correspond with a sense of risk-taking. I need to know that something can go wrong, and it also needs to correspond with boredom. A door needs to open, and the audience needs to be able to lean in. But if there’s a kind of force-feeding of information through the work, that means I’m not letting the audience be lulled by the world we’re trying to create.
Common Place runs as part of That’s Two Thank You from 28 March – 5 April, Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres, Corner Church & Market St, Parramatta NSW 2150.
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.
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/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/omer.backley.astrachan/
Hero image photo credit: Omer Backley-Astrachan and Jana Castillo, by Wendell Levi Teodoro.
