Inspired by the inexorable process of ageing, JOY illuminated a curious collision of fact and fiction as a dance work that traversed the difficult terrain of exploring ‘old’ when one is still ‘young’.
JOY was created through extensive character research, after Fiona in collaboration with Kate Stanley visited relatives, aged care facilities, lawn bowls clubs, and bingo halls, all the while maintaining a dedicated studio practice toward refining a detailed and nuanced approach to dance and movement.
A playful, poignant and absurd journey. JOY.
Season
Next Wave Festival (Guildford Lane Gallery, Melbourne) 2010
Artists
Fiona Bryant (Co-Direction, Choreography, Performance)
Kate Stanley (Co-Direction, Choreography, Performance)
Reviews
“Fiona Bryant and Kate Stanley make some of the most exciting new dance in Melbourne. I caught their short piece MAX a while back after hearing about Bryant’s work with Deborah Hay. It was, for me, a more concise illustration of Hay’s philosophy than the actual Deborah Hay show I saw around the same time at MIAF.
JOY sees the two extending their collaboration and expanding their scope. It’s less abstracted and takes as the subject of its investigation something that doesn’t get a lot of play: the Aging Woman. It consists of sequences that gently draw out and amplify recognisable images and movements, from the clomping of sensible shoes to the angry, inarticulate rage of the mind that must witness its own decay. The title’s apt, however, as this is a work that hunts out the fragile joy of our twilight years without becoming overly sentimental towards the elderly. Exhilarating stuff.”
John Bailey, Capital Idea blog