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Aviary - A Suite for the Bird
Phillip Adams BalletLab

Venue: Dunstan Playhouse
When: Wed 29 Feb 02:20 PM - 02:45 PM
Genre: Dance
Main Audience: All Ages
Producer: Amelia Bartak
No. in touring party: 10

Aviary - A Suite for the Bird

In this latest work from dance maverick Phillip Adams, the cage is awash with life. Aviary is a soaring treatise on the impulse toward spectacle and display, a flamboyant dance performance of exotic birdlife and uncommon adornment.

What is it to be written in nature, driven by competition to the boundaries of exhibitionism?

Only from the imaginings of choreographer Phillip Adams could this fantasia of contemporary movement and exotic birdlife, set against the avian-inspired idiom of French composer, Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux (1958), come forth. Between the twitchy agitation of British New Wave, recordings of birdsong and the paradise of New Guinea jungle, Aviary is an experience unlike any other.

A work for the caged bird, Aviary builds links between Messiaen’s colourful exploration of birdsong and music, choreography and staging to produce an experimental interpretation of his scores.

Direction, Choreography and Set Design: Phillip Adams
Performed by: Phillip Adams, Luke George, Daniel Jaber, Rennie McDougall, Brooke Stamp, Joanne White, Peter AB Wilson

Aviary premiered in October 2011 at Melbourne Festival and was presented in Museum of Old and New Art’s Festival of Music and Art in Hobart, Tasmania in January 2012.

Phillip Adams BalletLab

Phillip Adams BalletLab creates unforgettable contemporary performance that defies expectation, through the artistic vision of director Phillip Adams. With over 25 years experience as a dancer and choreographer, Adams’ work defies neat and easy categorisation, scrutinising behaviour, sexuality and culture in a way that resonates with current societal concerns.

Phillip Adams BalletLab brings significant artistic partners to projects in order to create original works that are proudly made in Melbourne for a global market. Since its inception, BalletLab has toured nationally and internationally, performing in the USA, China, Denmark, Scotland, Germany, England, Korea, Mongolia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Having spent a decade performing and working in New York, Phillip Adams returned to Australia in 1997 and established BalletLab. Adams has been commissioned by leading national and international dance and theatre companies including The Australian Ballet, Chunky Move, Back to Back Theatre, Guangdong Modern Dance Company (China), Dance Works Rotterdam (Nederlands), City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong), Tasdance, and One Extra Co. Most recently Adams was commissioned through the Australia Latin America Foundation to work with Mexican dance company, Lux Boreal, creating Lamb, which premiered in Festival of Mexico in 2011 and is currently touring USA and Mexico.

Image: 3 Deep Design with Jeff Busby