Parkour spotlighted in ‘Jump First, Ask Later’

Parkour show at Sydney Opera HouseFrom the streets of Western Sydney to the Opera House, six extraordinary Sydney parkour performers bring the unlikely and inspiring Jump First, Ask Later to the Studio from 22 September for the school holidays.

 

Jump First, Ask Later embodies the spirit of parkour – the notion that the obstacles you encounter are best tackled head-on. It tells stories that are by no means unique: of young first and second-generation Australians overcoming social isolation and stigma.

 

Ultimately, however, Jump First, Ask Later, like parkour itself, is a story of triumph— frustration turned into expression, and constraint into freedom.

 

Parkour show at Sydney Opera HouseThe show is the result of an extraordinary collaboration between Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT), Western Sydney’s only professional theatre company for young people; critically acclaimed dance theatre company Force Majeure; and young performers from the Dauntless Movement Crew (DMC). After spending many years jumping from buildings and training in carparks and on the streets of Fairfield, PYT invited DMC indoors to turn their high-octane street dance into art. Together they created Jump First, Ask Later, a remarkable work that tells the personal stories of these young champions of Fairfield’s underground parkour and street style communities.

 

Encouraged by the spirit of parkour, the Opera House is tackling obstacles that prevent regional and remote audiences from enjoying the performance.

 

The Jump First, Ask Later artists are collaborating with the Opera House to develop a series of digital experiences for Korean students as part of Global Conversations: Korea 2016, which connects 18 sister schools from Korea and Australia to increase cross-cultural collaboration, funded by the Australia-Korea Foundation in partnership with the Asia Education Foundation.

 

The full performance and subsequent Q&A with these extraordinary artists will screen on ABC3, on TV and iview, as part of the recently announced three-year partnership between ABC TV and Sydney Opera House.

 

Parkour show at Sydney Opera HouseAs Head of Children, Families & Creative Learning for the Opera House, Bridgette Van Leuven said, “The remarkable thing about Jump First, Ask Later is that it portrays the very real experiences of the artists themselves. You’re not watching a performer’s interpretation of someone else’s story, you’re living the creative expression of experience in real-time with the artist. I am humbled to be able to help these young people tell their stories and hope this experience encourages our young audiences to find their own voices in the same way.”

 

For further information on Jump First, Ask Later, or to book tickets, visit www.sydneyoperahouse.com.

 

Photos by Adam Elwood.