FORM Dance Projects is excited to announce the hosting of Dance Bites Digital Masterclass series for independent dancers during lockdown.
Following the success of Sara Black’s Digital Masterclass, FORM is launching a 4-day series of Digital Masterclasses with our previous Dance Bites choreographers. Showcasing a range of Australian choreographic talent, dancers will be able to take class from these leading dance creators from their own home and “Stay in FORM”.
Masterclasses will run on Wednesdays in September, 10am – 11:15am aest on Zoom and are $10 per class.
September Schedule
Wednesday 8 September 2021 – Craig Bary
Wednesday 15 September 2021 – Omer Backley-Astrachan
Wednesday 22 September 2021 – Lucky Lartey
Wednesday 29 September 2021 – Vicki Van Hout
A Zoom link will be sent to registered participants before each masterclass. Places are limited to 16 participants per masterclass so book your place early to avoid disappointment!
*We have a 24 hour cancellation period, all cancellations made within 24 hours of the masterclass will not be refunded.
CRAIG BARY
Craig is a committed and active member of the dance community in New Zealand and Australia. He has worked with many companies and choreographers over his 20+ year professional life. He has been a founding member of key organisations such as Catapult Dance Choreographic Hubs professional company, The New Zealand Dance Company and Garry Stewarts Australian Dance Theatre. Craig has worked with many different companies and choreographers, some of which include, ADT, Tasdance, KAGE, Leigh Warren and Dancers, Chunky Move, The Farm, Bangarra, Douglas Wright Dance, Footnote New Zealand Dance, Michael Parmenter’s Commotion Company, Raewyn Hill, Sue Healey, Shaun Parker Company, Legs on the Wall, Tanja Liedtke, Lisa Wilson Projects, and Sarah Foster-Sproull.
Craig is interested in connecting with the professional and pre-professional community through creative practice masterclasses and by creating work that comments on current social issues. His choreography includes his own independent works, works on Sydney Dance Company, Footnote New Zealand Dance, Catapult Dance, and the iOU collective. He has also made works for key training institutions such as the New Zealand School of Dance, Unitec, UNSW, Link Dance Company, NAISDA, and the SDC Pre-Professional Year. Craig is a highly regarded and passionate teacher, teaching for many companies, independents and universities and was the Training Delivery Coordinator at NAISDA Dance College.
Craig’s ongoing relationship with Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub sees him performing with the company, engaging in Propel Residencies and choreographing on the company, he is currently an associate artist and the company producer.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Craig’s masterclass class will consist of a gentle contemporary release and yoga inspired movement practice that Craig has been using to keep himself moving during lockdown. It is suited for small spaces so participants will be able to do the full class in their lounge space.
OMER BACKLEY-ASTRACHAN
Omer Backley-Astrachan is an independent artist based in Sydney, Australia. His artistic practice spans across choreography, installations, film, multimedia and movement research. Originally from Israel, Backley-Astrachan is the course coordinator of Sydney Dance Comapny’s Pre-Professional Year program.
As a dancer Omer has worked extensively with an array of choreographers and dance companies such as Kamea Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company 2, Idan Cohen Dance Company, Jerusalem Dance Theatre, Jerusalem Ballet, Maya Levi, and Rotem Tashach. In 2014 Omer relocated to Australia where he based himself as an independent artist. He has worked and collaborated with Australian and international artists such as Kay Armstrong, Dean Walsh, Vivienne Linsley, Mel O’Callaghan, Sue Healey, Marina Abramović and Nick Cave.
As an artist in residence Omer’s choreographic works have materialised through the support of various arts organisations such as Bundanon Trust, BrandX, FORM Dance Projects, Catapult Dance and PACT.
His works have performed in venues and festivals both in Australia and overseas such as Carriageworks, PACT, Sydney Fringe Festival, Fringe World Festival, Suzanne Dellal Centre, Tel Aviv Summer Dance Festival, Newcastle Art Gallery, The Lock-Up Gallery (Newcastle) and State Theatre Centre (Perth).
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Experience Omer Backley-Astrachan’s research-based movement practice in this exciting one-off masterclass. In the session Omer will discuss key issues and questions on Improvisation & Intuition and take us through his movement practice followed by an open sharing.
LUCKY LARTEY
Lucky Lartey is a Sydney-based dancer and choreographer, originally from Ghana, West Africa. Lucky’s practice combines dance, choreography and photography to explore intercultural dance practices and transcends the notion of dance only existing in black box theatre environments.
Lucky’s work is at the forefront of generating a dialogue in intercultural dance practice and its meaning in Australia. Lucky’s dance and choreographic works explore a rich history of traditional rhythm and dance whilst engaging with contemporary movement practices. His work is informed by themes of social justice what it means to live as a person of African descent in a Western culture. Lucky’s current investigations include the exotification of non-Western bodies and subjectivities, the relationship between hip hop culture and African oral traditions and environmental issues such as plastic consumption and waste.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: The class will start with an Afro – contemporary warm up and will move into exploring Lucky’s new work in development, Sankofa Moving Architecture. Lucky will share some images and film relating to investigations of Sankofa Moving Architecture and then head into making movement investigating bodies and objects in space, and the fine line when these meld into one, where both positive and negative space become the dance.
VICKI VAN HOUT
Vicki Van Hout is is an Indigenous independent artist with Wiradjuri, Dutch, Scottish, and Afghan heritage, and over 20 years’ experience as a director, choreographer, performer, dramaturg and mentor.
A graduate of NAISDA Dance College and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York, she went on to perform with major Indigenous dance companies, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, before joining forces with Marilyn Miller as a founding member of Fresh Dancers. With Marilyn, Vicki performed Dear Carrie for Oneextra Dance and Quinkin for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Her show Briwyant was the first ever show by an independent Indigenous choreographer to tour nationally and was nominated for an Australian Dance Award for Best Achievement in Independent Dance. Vicki was awarded the 2014 NSW Dance Fellowship for established and mid-career artists – the first Indigenous winner of the Fellowship. She has also completed various residencies in Australia and overseas, including in Austria and Singapore.
FORM Dance Projects premiered Vicki’s award winning solo plenty serious Talk Talk in Dance Bites 2018 and she was the recipient of The Australia Council Dance Award in 2019.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Come kick up the dirt on the carpet with Vicki Van Hout as we navigate our new ‘country’ of interior topographies. Vicki’s practice is based on her 30 plus years as an advocate of Australian indigenous focussed contemporary dance, exploring all the many potential manifestations that spring to mind and body.
