Fy

    

When I'm not spending copious amounts of time on the couch with a book, I am working as an independent choreographer. As a part of my challenge this month to post everyday, I thought I would share a couple of the works I have made that have had a fantasy element.

I work with contemporary dance/movement and sometimes incorporate text and a lot of my projects have been with young people (non professionals). And because I love all things fantasy (not just the books) I have tried to use that as a point of difference in my work and combine two of my passions.

I made Fy in 2010 with a cast of five professional performers and nine young people. The show was a combination of dance and text that told a story of a fantastical world named Irda.

In the beginning there was nothing but Irda in his divine form, and he was alone. Breathing into the nothingness, Irda unmade himself, sundering his spirit and matter into many pieces. With the greater piece he formed a world, a place of metal and water; his mind, heart and hands he entrusted to three immortal beings; and with the many lesser pieces of himself he created a race of people to inhabit his world, known also as Irda.

Millennia later, having lost almost all interest and desire for advancement and experiencing neither birth nor death, the immortal Irdans have become sedentary and allowed their world and race to fall into decay. While under the leadership of Din, the Heart of Irda, the Irdans retain their humanity, the future of Irda itself is still unclear ...

   

The plot is quite complex and similar to a Shakespearean tragedy (everyone dies!). To date this is still my favourite show and I think best reflects my own personality and interests - even if my choreographic abilities have improved drastically since then. 

The thing I loved about this show (and was the most challenging) was the production elements (set, costume, lighting). We built a shallow 9 by 9 metre pool in the theatre with a scaffolding structure on top. My costume and lighting designers were able to create some beautiful effects with the water and there were so many beautiful and visually stunning moments. Putting on this show was filled with so much drama that is hilarious in hindsight - the pool sprung a leak and the giant scrim-dress-train got snagged one night.

I have plans to turn this show into a trilogy of shows and create two prequels which tell of the beginnings of the world ... but I am going to need some big budgets for that!

You can see a trailer for the work below and if you want to see some full scenes you can check them out on my youtube channel.