WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR 'SIDE B' COME FROM?
'Side B' is made up of four short works choreographed by my partner Joash Fahitua, and I. The works in 'Side B' are based on dances that we had created before but we’ve grown them from what was a very simple generic starting point. We’ve developed them into longer, more in-depth work. Last year we did a show called 'Mix Tape'. It was our debut show out at Corban Estate in West Auckland. And we toured that to Wellington and Napier, and then had another season in Auckland. From there we felt we had more stories to tell. We’re really interested in storytelling, but we didn’t feel quite ready to create full length works. So we decided to continue to tell short stories, and call it 'Side B', as a continuation of 'Mix Tape'. One thing I like about 'Side B' as a name, is it also has a bit of a link to the alternative, or something else, something different. We created 'Side B' specifically for Auckland Fringe, so that seemed right. |
The four stories in the show are all very different. Joash draws from personal experience and his culture, heritage, and background. Most of my work, comes from make- believe, fantastical imaginings, almost dream like things. Very rarely is my work about experiences that have happened to me. It mostly comes from things I imagine or dream, and the dance brings those ideas to fruition.
HOW HAVE YOUR DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS INFLUENCED 'SIDE B'?
Joash is Samoan and has a background in street dance, mainly krump. Joash was a dancer for Black Grace, and he now works as a freelance dancer and fitness instructor. He also runs dance workshops with schools and is currently teaching PolyFest sasa. So his background is definitely in cultural dance, street dance, and contemporary dance.
My background is sort of a little bit of ballet and commercial dance, but predominantly contemporary. And I’m also a secondary teacher so I’ve got a really strong focus on education and youth.
HOW HAVE YOUR DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS INFLUENCED 'SIDE B'?
Joash is Samoan and has a background in street dance, mainly krump. Joash was a dancer for Black Grace, and he now works as a freelance dancer and fitness instructor. He also runs dance workshops with schools and is currently teaching PolyFest sasa. So his background is definitely in cultural dance, street dance, and contemporary dance.
My background is sort of a little bit of ballet and commercial dance, but predominantly contemporary. And I’m also a secondary teacher so I’ve got a really strong focus on education and youth.
"Joash works from the energy between him and the dancer. He is very in the moment." |
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR APPROACH TO CHOREOGRAPHY?
Joash and I are really different. Joash often tasks his dancers and waits to see what they will do in front of him. He works from the energy between him and the dancer. He is very in the moment. And he creates a lot in his head. We both do actually. We do a lot of visualisation. Sometimes that doesn’t come out as we envisaged it, and that is okay too. Joash will have an idea about what he wants and the story he wants to tell, and he will collaborate a lot more with his dancers. I generally always start with a motif – a small section of movement. From there I develop a series of phrases with my dancers or on my own, and then I start to develop into fuller phrases from there. It’s very difficult being in your own work. It’s frustrating not being able to see from the front what it looks like. |
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR APPROACH TO STAGING WORK IN SUCH AN INTIMATE SPACE?
This is the smallest space we’ve ever worked in and we’re really excited about that. We’ve never really done intimate theatre. We started out on a huge scale, which is the total opposite to how you’re supposed to do it. So we want to be versatile, to use our faces and connect with audiences on a smaller scale.
And there are logistical considerations in this space too - there are no wings, so we need to consider how we work that into our choreography. We have used basic lighting, because we want to focus on the dance. We love simple side and floor lighting for dance - it takes you somewhere interesting. Somewhere different.
This is the smallest space we’ve ever worked in and we’re really excited about that. We’ve never really done intimate theatre. We started out on a huge scale, which is the total opposite to how you’re supposed to do it. So we want to be versatile, to use our faces and connect with audiences on a smaller scale.
And there are logistical considerations in this space too - there are no wings, so we need to consider how we work that into our choreography. We have used basic lighting, because we want to focus on the dance. We love simple side and floor lighting for dance - it takes you somewhere interesting. Somewhere different.
HOW DOES YOUR CREATIVE COLLABORATION SERVE THE WORK YOU CREATE?
I lacked a lot of confidence to do my own work until I met Joash. He was a real driving force, never waiting for other people to give permission for him to do what he wanted to do. I saw that and I wanted that feeling too. We inspire each other, giving each other confidence to do what we want to do, having each other’s back, and also bouncing ideas off each other. As a company, Trip of The Light definitely didn’t start to take shape until Joash jumped on board. Even our families see that our individual strengths combined make us stronger when we’re together. And the thing is, I’m not going to start creating work inspired by his influences, because that’s not me. So having a creative partnership where we maintain our own voices, but work together to put our work out there is what works best for us. |
"We want to challenge what the 'ideal dancer' looks like." |
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR COMPANY - TRIP THE LIGHT
I started Trip the Light in 2014 to create work on young people who maybe weren’t technically trained yet, and still had a little bit more of a rugged energy about them. We started off creating for other people, and then Joash and I didn’t want to rely on opportunities coming to us anymore – so we just started creating them ourselves. The name ‘Trip The Light’ comes from an English saying ‘To Trip The Light Fantastic’ which means to dance merrily and with joy. Our dancers include people from hip-hop dance crews, dance studios, high-school dance teachers, current dance students, fresh tertiary graduates, high school graduates. It is an eclectic mix which aligns with what we want to do – present diversity in backgrounds, ethnicities, styles, and ages. We want to challenge a little bit what the ‘ideal dancer’ looks like. Our main priority is to create conceptual work that tells stories and has clear themes, but is also accessible. We want the dance community to enjoy it, but also my mum who has never danced, or an average New Zealander to understand it. |
Photo credit: Jinki Cambrenero
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Accessibility has always been a big thing – and that includes considering where a show is, how much it costs, and how accessible it is for our dancers. We don’t want to only take people who have only had professional dance training. We want people who have an open mind, and a willingness to share their stories as well.