BACKGROUND:
Designed for the 40th anniversary celebrations of VCA Dance, the exhibition by Sue Healey brought together a collection of dance icons Dame Lucette Aldous, Nanette Hassall and Professor Shirley McKechnie, who taught at the School of Dance over many years, with 3 outstanding graduates from different decades; Shona Erskine, Benjamin Hancock and James Batchelor.
CONTRIBUTION:
Verhagen’s role in this collaboration was to compose and design sound material to accompany 3 cinematic profiles. Because the choreography was committed before the soundtrack was written, Verhagen had complete freedom to determine the kinds of approaches – at time this involved juxtaposing lyrical composition against young contemporary dance, at others, researching how more experimental musical genres interact and support the elderly performers in innovative ways. For all, the work involved the challenge of the edit and choreography being locked off before the music was started. All of the freedoms in approach were counterweighted by timing challenges posed by the dance and the visual edit. This work presented an innovative exploration of how sound could be used to reframe the tone of visual material.
SIGNIFICANCE:
This was a major exhibition of Verhagen’s collaboration with choreographer/film maker, Sue Healey, funded by the Australia Council and Melbourne University. It premiered at the VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery. The exhibition attracted 1500 visitors.
History
Subtype
- Media (Audio/Visual)
