News, analysis and comment - performing arts |
What's the best venue for independent Australian dance artists - Dancehouse? Carriageworks? Try YouTube.
Australian dancers David Corbet and Jacob Lehrer recently performed their work A little dig in New York as part of the Movement Research Festival. As independent artists, they have been harnessing the Internet to help them promote their work. So what can their success teach others?
"The proliferation of cheaper technology and faster Internet access means that we can provide video materials quickly and easily for producers around the world," says Corbet. "Being independent means we have to manage our limited financial resources incredibly tightly, so anything that cuts out costs is good. Fortunately we have easy access to the equipment we need to produce the videos."
The pair has used YouTube to post excerpts of material to provide access for producers and promoters, but it’s not the only aspect of their approach.
"We’re also interested in how to develop and expand audiences for what we do and for contemporary dance in general. Some of the videos we have posted on YouTube have been getting thousands of views,” adds Lehrer. "In fact one has been getting more than 50 views each day since last September."
An extract from a performance titled 'Hurry up and weight', featuring Lehrer, Corbet and colleagues. Lehrer says the video has been popular - at today's count, the total views were up to 8,230.
You can't sniff at an audience of near 8,500 watching Australian contemporary dance. But would these artists enjoy that kind of season in 'real life'?
And of course, there are many differences between a virtual and real world performance. But can those 8,230 views translate into ongoing, tangible success for the creators? How many people actually would come to see contemporary dance inthe flesh after watching a video online?
Corbet admits it's not clear, yet. "It’s not an easy question to answer,” he says. "Perhaps having a small video of dance on a screen won’t convince someone to come out to see live dance, but it certainly is possible that it could. I think today’s audiences are more diverse in how they watch and take in artwork. And, as an artist, having people seeing and responding to my work in whatever form I can find is always going to benefit me. It also offers us a way of documenting our process and development, albeit in a very exposed manner!"
"Something we have noticed," observes Lehrer, "is that there is a lot of tightly edited video material of live performances that is like a highlights, or promo video, on YouTube. While this sort of material gets attention and is exciting, it doesn’t really give a sense of what the performance itself might really be like. We’ve always tried to put up un-edited or very minimally edited live performance videos so people can see what we do, rather than what an editor can make us do.”
Having used YouTube as a way to secure their performances in New York the pair have now, in very satisfying circularity, uploaded their New York performances in their entirety. Who knows, perhaps these latest videos will get them a gig in London?
Tomas Boot 7 Feb 2012
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: This 40th anniversary screening of the iconic surf flick, accompanied by live music, proved that it's still as relevant today as it was back then.
Siobhan Argent 6 Feb 2012
STUDIO 246, BRUNSWICK: While showcasing the promising and consistent offerings at Studio 246, Here, In the Sugarcane could perhaps do with a tweak.
Patricia Maunder 6 Feb 2012
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: This local version of the BBC's Doctor Who Proms is a treat for Doctor Who fans, but not as much for classical music fans.
Rebecca Butterworth 6 Feb 2012
COMEDY THEATRE, MELBOURNE: It was always going to be difficult to live up to the beloved TV shows, but Yes, Prime Minister the stage show is still entertaining.
Angela Perry 6 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: A tantalising mix of circus, music, dance, cabaret and burlesque combine in the Burlesque Garden.
Nerida Dickinson 6 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: John Conway demonstrates the power of madcap positivity to generate further antics in his high energy Fringe World comedy mishmash.
Matt D’Silva 4 Feb 2012
BONDI PAVILION: A quirky, slapstick comedy in the manner of Month Python, The Jinglists will make you laugh.
Chloe Papas 4 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Ali Kennedy-Scott's play chronicling the stories of everyday heroes who fought Victoria's ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires takes audiences on unrestrained emotional ride.
Astrid Francis 3 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: LA-based writer Brian Finkelstein weaves together tales of the US Writers' Strike of 2007 and Haymarket Massacre of 1886 into an ultimately gratifying whole.
Astrid Francis 3 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: If you want to have a dream interpreted in an unusual context, this is the show for you; if you are looking for something more theatrical, not so much.
Jennie Sharpe 4 Feb 2012
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: The Metropolitan Opera's The Magic Flute, reproduced by Opera Australia, does everything possible to bring it into the 21st century.
Angela Perry 1 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Cirque Appetit is a collective from Perth’s circus and theatre schools, who used comedy, performance art, circus, dance and physical theatre to delight the audience.
Mariyon Slany 31 Jan 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Good old-fashioned entertainment, Barry Morgan’s World of Organs is an innuendo-filled 1970s spoof on sales pitches, organs, bad polyester suits and organs.
Jessica Keath 31 Jan 2012
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: Meow Meow's sold-out festival closing night performance was a rare pleasure and a delight.
Patricia Maunder 30 Jan 2012
VICTORIAN OPERA: Outgoing musical director Richard Gill put on an unexpected yet entirely logical addition to his outstanding legacy with this all-too-short season of Cinderella.
Victor Kline 30 Jan 2012
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: A presentation of the classic West Side Story with music performed live by the Sydney Symphony, this was a fun multi-media night fit to win over the cynics.
Astrid Francis 30 Jan 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Winner of last year's Best of Amsterdam Fringe, Bye Bye World is a beautifully crafted tale of the desire to reject one’s accumulated existence.
Marcus Costello 28 Jan 2012
COMPANY BELVOIR/CARRIAGEWORKS: A radical modernising of Seneca’s play, this production of Thyestes is harrowing but quite brilliant.
Suzanne Yanko 28 Jan 2012
MELBOURNE ZOO: The second in the Zoo’s 2012 Twilight Series had something for everyone, and left the mixed audience applauding and wishing there was more.
Gareth Beal 28 Jan 2012
DARLINGHURST THEATRE: A musical rom-com with an excellent cast, Ordinary Days boasts a strong narrative structure, but also leans towards sentimentality.