Kynan Hughes

Valentine

Presented by The Blue Room Theatre and Kynan Hughes

14 November – 2 December 2017

THERE IS FAR TOO LITTLE LOVE IN THE WORLD…

A brand new dance theatre work from Kynan Hughes, Valentine questions just how far we are prepared to go to fulfil our desires. Hughes, collaborating with some of Perth’s most experienced and charismatic dance artists including David Mack, Natalie Allen and Rachel Arianne Ogle, will present the world premiere of Valentine at The Blue Room Theatre in November.

The commedia dell’arte and its characters have influenced and shaped work throughout history. The innocent, the bully, the manipulator and the object of their desire are characters that we all know, that we see on screen in today’s romantic comedies and that we identify with. Forging a new narrative from the commedia, Valentine explores loneliness and desire through dance, theatre, puppetry and mask play.

Bringing together a team of extraordinary artists with experience at Sydney Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, pvi collective, TURA New Music and Leigh Warren & Dancers, Valentine is a showcase of local talent that will be both transformative and transporting.

It’s an old story: everyone quenches their loneliness whichever way they can - from birth to death, for better or worse.

Valentine has been in the works since 2015, and the creative team is really excited about presenting the show for Perth audiences. But we do need a little help to get us across the line. By donating to this Pozible campaign, you will be helping us realise our design ambitions, as well as marketing the show to the potential audiences of Perth (more details found in budget section below). With your help, we can make this season the best it possibly can be, and hopefully contribute to and do our part in the development of audiences for dance works in this city.

About the Creative Team

Kynan Hughes (Choreographer/Performer) graduated from WAAPA with an Advanced Diploma Of Performing Arts (Dance) in 2000. Since then he has worked with a range of companies around Australia including: Leigh Warren and Dancers, Dance North, the Tasmanian Classical Ballet Company and Sydney Dance Company. He has performed and toured a range of new and established works, both in Australia and overseas.  He  has choreographed works for LINK Dance Company, STEPS Youth Dance Company and for WAAPA. Most recently Kynan has completed two major commissions; one from the Education Department of WA and the other from Beijing Normal University.

Natalie Allen (Performer) is a recipient of a Green Room Award, for Best Female Dancer in Sydney Dance Company’s (SDC), 2 One Another in 2013. During her time in SDC she extensively worked with Rafael Bonachela & Guest Artists: Adam Linder, Emanuel Gat, Jacopo Godani, Larrisa McGowan and Alexander Ekman. Guesting with Leigh Warren and Dancers, Australian Dance Theatre’ Expressions Dance Company and Daniel Jaber’s Nought and Shades.  Natalie performed in the 2016 Move Me Festival in Ohad Naharins’ Decadence. In February 2017 she choreographed and self-produced Sublime.…, a work about surrealist genius Salvador Dali for the FRINGE WORLD.

David Mack (performer) began his training in Coffs Harbour with his twin sister in the early 90’s before moving to Melbourne for full-time studies. Here he trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and was awarded the Norma De Gruchy Award for Most Talented Dancer. After graduating, David worked with West Australian Ballet before moving to London to dance with Rambert Dance Company. In 2009, David returned to West Australian Ballet as a soloist under the direction of Ivan Cavallari and later Aurelien Scanella. in 2014 David moved to Sydney Dance Company where he worked with Rafael Bonachela and Visual artist and Composer Mira Calix during the Sydney Festival, performing in her sound and sculpture installation Inside There Falls. Later that year David was nominated for an Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer in William Forsyth’s Quintett and in 2016 was awarded the Green Room Award and an Ausdance Award for Best Male Dancer for his performance in Quintett and Bonachela’s Frame of Mind. 

Rachel Arianne Ogle (Performer) is a dance artist with an extensive career spanning 15 years as dancer, performer, choreographer, educator and arts worker. Rachel has performed with a range of companies and independent artists, including Melbourne’s Phillip Adams’ BalletLab, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, The Last Great Hunt and pvi collective. Rachel has created work for Sydney Dance Company, Proximity Festival, Link Dance Company, WAAPA, Nat Cursio Company, STRUT Dance and STEPS Youth Dance Company. Her full-length work Precipice was nominated for both a Helpmann Award for Best Dance Work and an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance in 2015.

Tristen Parr (composer) is a classically trained and versatile acoustic and electric cellist specializing in new music performance and sound design for theatre and dance. He has toured extensively throughout Australia, North America and Europe and has recorded for Germany’s SWR and ABC. He has won numerous WA Music Industry awards and in 2013 was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Music Direction for his work on the Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Perth International Arts Festival co-production of Duck Death and the Tulip.

Joe Lui (Lighting designer/dramaturge) is a founding member of Renegade Productions. Lui is also a regular and contributing part of the professional and independent theatre industry in Perth as a director, writer, and a sound and lighting designer. In these capacities he has worked with most Perth based companies including Black Swan State Theatre Company, Perth Theatre Company, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company and the vast majority of independent companies.

Steve Wintercroft (Mask Template designs) is passionate about handmade craftsmanship and quality. He designs card masks, builds fine custom surfboards and other unique, functional objects including Bento boxes, pots and furniture. His story continues at http://www.wintercroft.com/

This project has been in development since 2015: we started out through a STRUT SEED residency and only now are we approaching a performance outcome. It's a long way from concept to the finish line! This project is extremely fortunate to have received some funds from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) Culture and the Arts (WA) to cover a small artist fee for each team member, and to be hosted by The Blue Room Theatre however the reality of staging any production is very costly in both time and money. 

This is where you come in! We are looking for some help to cover costs related to costumes, set and publicity. At the moment the elements below are self-funded and self-constructed. This campaign will help us fully realise the design and bring Valentine to the stage!

The funds raised will be spent on:

· $400 to create the velvet floor - made from upcycled flooring materials that were being thrown away. This cost covers the cost of all other materials - from the velvet to the glue.

· $350 for materials and labour to construct the costumes

· $250 towards print and distribution of Posters and Flyers - the more people we get to the show the more our artists get paid through the split of the box office after the season. Hooray!

While we've been really lucky to secure additional funds, much of the time and effort that has gone into bringing Valentine to the stage is unpaid. For example - each mask in the production takes around 5 - 7 hours to complete: from start of construction to the last coat of varnish. Through contributing to this campaign you are not only help support local artistic talent and work, but also helping to sustain and promote a vibrant art scene here in Perth.

This project has been funded by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) Culture and the Arts (WA).

For any independent project having enough funding to cover every element is the major challenge. Finding audiences for contemporary dance and dance theatre is not easy - so this campaign will help us reach more potential audience members. Part of building a sustainable career as an artist is to present work: to do so always requires a considerable amount of personal time and money, and any help from you is of immeasurable benefit and will give everyone involved on the project a little room to breathe. Regardless of the outcome of this campaign the show will still go ahead. If we are sucessful the financial cost will be a little lighter thanks to you!