Perth Arts Fest presents dance exclusives

The 63rd Perth International Arts Festival promises to deliver a cultural feast for arts lovers of all ages and persuasions on February 13-March 7, 2015.

In a quintessentially Western Australian experience, over 1,000 of the world’s great artists will transform and disrupt Perth this summer as the Festival spills across unique venues and glorious, outdoor spaces. Audiences are welcome to “dive into the greatest collection of international artistic experiences Perth has ever known.”

This Festival is the longest-running annual multi-arts celebration in the Southern Hemisphere and the jewel in the crown of Western Australia’s cultural life. Artistic Director Jonathan Holloway said, “No two Festival journeys will be the same and our hope is that your travels through this Festival will include experiences both intimate and epic, experiences that whet the appetite and stimulate all five senses.”

The 2015 Festival will open in an epic spectacle of wonder with Royal de Luxe’s The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of the Giants to the Streets of Perth, the biggest arts event Western Australia has ever seen. For three days over the opening weekend, the French masters of theatrical magic let loose a modern-day fable that will transform Perth forever, as 11-metre tall giants take inspiration from uniquely WA stories and tour the city, commemorating the Anzac centenary. Suitable for the whole family, the Australian premiere promises to rekindle childlike wonder across the city.

The Festival, which also produces great music, theatre and opera programs, will produce a handful of dance performances, everything from the soaringly balletic to the exhilaratingly modern.

A sell-out sensation in New York, London and Vienna, Mozart Dances will see New York’s legendary Mark Morris Dance Group reinterpret Mozart’s masterpieces through dance, uniting the classical with the modern in an electric work as sensually gratifying as it is intellectually stimulating.

Aakash Odedra, one of today’s most exciting contemporary dancers, will thrill with Rising, phenomenally contrasting the work of Odedra and three of the world’s finest choreographers – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan and Russell Maliphant –in a vibrant, eclectic mix that spans classical Indian dances Kathak and Bharata Natyam.

Broome-based Indigenous dance theatre group Marrugeku will also explore the effects of climate change from a specifically Indigenous perspective in the world premiere of Cut the Sky. Part dance theatre, showcasing Marrugeku’s restless, disciplined and irresistible choreography, and part dystopic ghost musical, featuring the poems of dream-catcher Edwin Lee Mulligan and songs by Ngaiire and Nick Cave, Cut the Sky is a bold, imaginative and vitally important work.

Lastly, the West Australian Ballet will return with its beloved Ballet At The Quarry summer season of ballet under the stars, headlined by international choreographer Annabelle Lopez’s Zip, Zap, Zoom – a fresh and energetic fusion of hip-hop, ballroom and cabaret.

For more information on the 2015 Perth International Arts Festival, visit https://2015.perthfestival.com.au.

Photo: West Australian Ballet. Photo by Chantel Concei.