Co3 Australia launches debut season

Perth’s newest contemporary dance company, Co3, launches in October with re:Loaded 2015, a season of three works by some of the finest choreographers working in Australia today – Raewyn Hill, Larissa McGowan and Gavin Webber.

Co3 is Western Australia’s flagship contemporary dance company with performances and activities catering to both adults and youth. Re:Loaded features performances by Co3’s core company of elite professional Western Australian dancers.

This program of works will astonish audiences, with the beauty of the movement and the strength of the dancers, a historic moment for Western Australia’s dance sector.

Of the season, Artistic Director Raewyn Hill says, “I am honoured to be presenting the premiere season for Co3 and to give audiences an opportunity to see this extraordinary group of dancers, dancemakers and creative artists.

“Co3 is a contemporary organisation, driven by excellence and collaboration, generating contemporary conversations through dance. The launch season program is a true reflection of this, curating two astounding choreographers, creating new and restaging existing work, from our Youth Company to our Professional Ensemble this is our moment to celebrate some of Perth’s finest talent.”

The program will include Carnivale, Raewyn Hill’s first choreographic work for Co3 as artistic director. In Carnivale, the dancers join in celebration to create an offering of ritual and endurance lifting the roof with unmatched physical intensity.

Larissa McGowan, a renowned choreographer based in Adelaide who has worked extensively with Australian Dance Theatre, presents Transducer, a work that demonstrates the intensity of McGowan’s choreography.

The third work in the program is by Gavin Webber, co-director of The Farm and choreographer of works that have toured Western Australia, including lawn, roadkill and Underground. What’s Left is a new creation developed with the Co3 dancers.

Alongside the main performance, the 58 members of Co:Youth will perform a re-imagining of Raewyn Hill’s Fugue, which was first choreographed and produced by Dancenorth in 2012 for The Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary. Co:Youth have devised their own dance response to the movement and themes of Fugue, which have been assembled into this new version. This work encourages collaboration and generates a sense of community amongst Co3’s young performers.

For further information, visit www.co3.org.au. Re:Loaded will be presented in the Heath Ledger Theatre at State Theatre Centre of WA on Wednesday-Sunday, October 28-November 1.

Photo by Ashley de Prazer.