Vital Expression
July 23 - August 15 1998
Earl Arts Centre, Launceston
Theatre Royal, Hobart
Queenstown
Leven Theatre, Ulverstone
Little Theatre, Deloraine
Choreographic Centre, Canberra
Choreography:
Chrissie Koltai: The Fragile Garden
Graeme Murphy: Sequenza VII
Gideon Obarzanek: While You're Down There
Rehearsal Director: Wendy McPhee
Lighting Designer: Jan Wawrzynczak
Technical Assistant: Odette Shadbolt
Sound Engineer: Anthony Lim
Graphic Design: Antonio Hodgman and Gina Donnelly
Photography: Mark Bartkevicus and Christl Berg
Dancers: Wendy McPhee, Larissa O'Brien, Michael O'Donoghue and Jay Watson
"Vital Expression is dense with intensity, style and intent - a remarkable achievement"
David O'Neile, The Examiner, July 24, 1998
"A well structured program and fine performances throughout made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening"
Martin Ball, The Australian, August 14, 1998
Vital Expression included the choreographic work of Graeme Murphy, Gideon Obarzanek and Chrissie Koltai. It formed part of the Made to Move series in the Theatre Royal 1998 dance subscription series in Hobart, and was also included in Theatre North's subscription series in Launceston. A Tasmanian Arts Council grant gave Vital Expression the chance to tour to Queenstown, Ulverstone & Deloraine in Tasmania.
Sequenza was a trio, While You're Down There was remounted on TasDance for four dancers, and Chrissie Koltai created A Fragile Garden, a rich emotive work for four dancers. TasDance developed an accessible and tourable repertoire, which was versatile and financially viable to take on the road.
An interesting and exciting program, Vital Expression encapsulated the evolution of contemporary dance in Australia over the past two decades. With this exciting program TasDance presented the best of Australian dance, and were able to premiere to a wider audience.
