MEDIA RELEASE

Project NEXT 2019: Presented by Co3’s Act-Belong-Commit Co:Youth Ensemble

 

Co3 Contemporary Dance is WA’s flagship contemporary dance company and proudly supports young West Australian talent through the Co:Youth Ensemble program.

A new generation of West Australian young dancers, who are members of Co3 Contemporary Dance’s Act-Belong-Commit Co:Youth Ensemble, take to the stage in July as part of Project NEXT 2019, an impressive contemporary dance performance jam-packed with youthful energy, creativity and local talent.

Project NEXT 2019 brings together young dancers from across Perth to collaborate on a new artistic project. Students involved attend Applecross Primary School, Bassendean Primary School, Floreat Primary School, Hampton Senior High School, John Curtin College of the Arts, Melville Senior High, Mount Lawley Senior High, Perth Waldorf School, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, School of Isolated and Distance Education, St Brigid’s College and St Mary’s Anglican Grammar.

Project NEXT is an annual program for the Co:Youth Ensemble, where the young dancers reimagine and produce their own version of Co3 Contemporary Dance’s dance repertoire, creating an important artistic dialogue between generations, and producing fresh and original dance works, proudly made here in WA.

Co3 Artistic Director, Raewyn Hill, says that the inclusion of the youth program is central to her vision for the state’s contemporary dance company. “At the heart of Co3 are our young people and to honor that Co3 provides pathways for young West Australian’s, giving young people a platform to express themselves and to reflect the world around them. It is vital that we support a framework of creativity and positive self-expression; in this instance using contemporary dance as the tool for communicating new ideas” Hill explains.

For 2019, the Co:Youth Ensemble have crafted a work, occurring in multiple segments, inspired by the permanent collection at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), exploring themes of light and shadow, what’s hidden and what’s revealed and the public behavior of ‘us’ in the gallery. These themes are aligned with and stem from Artistic Director Raewyn Hill’s exploration through her Reason For Being AGWA residencies from 2017 – 18.

Combining movement, text, props, light and design the youth, guided by choreographic leaders Laura Boynes, Brooke Leeder and Scott Elstermann have crafted an imaginative, bizarre, sometimes elaborate but always energetic journey through their gallery created on the stage.

Reinette Jordaan (15 years old from Nedlands) says of her experience;

“Project NEXT is a chance to be creative. Choreography isn’t just given to you. It’s created by you and transformed by you. As a young person it is an opportunity to be a part of a collaborative choreographic process driven by our own ideas. This year it’s been exciting to watch one small idea inspire the creation of characters and multiple movement qualities. Our group was drawn to the dramatic effect of light in paintings. We have been working with hand held light sources as a prompt and prop. I’ve enjoyed creating an aesthetic and exploring the different illusions light can cause.” Reinette Jordaan, CoYouth Ensemble dancer (John Curtin College of the Arts).

Project NEXT 2019 celebrates a new generation of contemporary dance and creative thinkers and is on at Centre for Performing Arts, All Saints’ College, Friday 19 July, 7.30pm and Saturday 20 July, 2pm & 7.30pm.

**ENDS**

 

Media Contact: Rosharna Femia, marketing@co3.org.au or 08 9226 2322.

 

Project NEXT 2019

Dates:     Friday 19 July, 7.30pm

Saturday 20 July, 2pm & 7.30pm

Venue:   Centre for Performing Arts, All Saints’ College, Bull Creek

Tickets: General Admission $20

Booking: https://www.trybooking.com/BCXIX