Walk by Jolt Youth
Ferrymead Friendly Societies Hall, Christchurch
23/09/2012 - 25/09/2012
Production Details
Walk
Jolt Youth is an integrated dance theatre company comprised of young people with and without disabilities. Our vision is to celebrate difference and our shows draw on the unique qualities of our dancers to create truly original works.
‘Walk’ is an innovative and inspired exploration of the history of walking. Why and how do we walk: for survival, for exploration, for our rights? Performed in the grounds of historic Ferrymead Park, ‘Walk’ fuses film, dance and physical theatre in Jolt’s trademark style.
“It is the relationship between the dancers that make this show stand out. The dancers use various ways of connecting, lifting and supporting each other throughout. It is evident that the strong and supportive community that Jolt operates within is integral to the group’s success.” Theatreview review of ‘Homeland’; 2011.
Company Jolt Youth
Venue Ferrymead Friendly Societies Hall, Ferrymead Heritage Park, 50 Ferrymead Park Drive, Heathcote
Date/Time Sun 23rd September at 2,00pm and 6.00pm, Mon 24th and Tue 25th September at 6.30pm
Duration 60 min approx
Cost $15,$10 (unwaged) $5 (children under 13). Family ticket: 2 adults and 2 children: $35. From Dash Tickets, www.dashtickets.co.nz or phone 0800 327 484 booking fees apply
1 hour
Delicate, beautiful and captivating
Review by Elizabeth O’Connor 23rd Sep 2012
Jolt Youth mixed ability dance company presents their fifth show in a well-restored and maintained hall with a smooth polished wooden floor, vital for the steps, slidings and reachings which the dancers undertake in the course of this intriguing work. Harry Hawke leads the audience into the space with excellent bagpipe playing. Great soundtrack thereafter includes Whirimako Black, Hevia, Penguin Café, Howling Gael, 60 Buddhas and Crowded House.
Opening sequences are slow and reverent, respecting the Rakaihautu who settled the Peninsula, with a graceful creation of patterns of feathers and sticks, stepped over and through, then disrupted quite vociferously by colonisation.
Female settlers are presented with whimsy and respect for their hard lives. Text, movement and music work to create a tapestry performance – no one image dominates. The movements and poses of the dancers emphasise images of support, inter-reliance and interaction.
Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition, with its incredible story of survival and venture leading to rescue, is the next narrative phase of the piece, including use of sweeps of fabric, manipulation of small objects and bold use of film, light and shadow to create the Antarctic environment and predicament.
The piece concludes with more contemporary music and images of brave struggle against inexorable forces –combative movements and poses. Christchurch moving forward.
“Walk” becomes a metaphor for how humans get from one state of being to another. Cooperation and struggle vie for prime place – but in a dance company like Jolt, cooperation wins hands down. The graceful way dancers complement each others’ movements is testament to the way they must have worked together in the creation of the piece. Even the more dynamic and fierce movement sequences feel as though they are the product of careful work.
The audience of all ages are attentive to the piece, laughed at times, and seem captivated.
Come and see. This is a delicate and beautiful piece of dance theatre.
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