An urban choreographic portrait from one of the most culturally diverse region in Australia, the collective stories of six champions of Western Sydney’s underground Parkour community will be brought to the stage in Jump First, Ask Later.
Directed by acclaimed choreographer Byron Perry, Jump First, Ask Later is a collaboration between Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) and Force Majeure, and features the founders of Dauntless Movement Crew (DMC) – a parkour crew based in Fairfield.
After spending many years jumping from buildings and training in carparks and on the streets of Fairfield, PYT invited DMC indoors to turn their high-octane street dance into art. Together they created Jump First, Ask Later – a remarkable work that tells the personal stories of these young champions of Fairfield’s underground parkour and street style communities.
Jump First, Ask Later is a series of portraits with each artist introducing their history and demonstrating their preoccupations through different bodies, cultural backgrounds, genders and practices. The show merges urban freestyle forms with contemporary dance to create a physical narrative that explores the poetics of violence, migration, redemption and ultimately the collective freedom these artists discovered by mapping their city through dance.
Parkour is a physical discipline where practitioners move through an urban environment in the most efficient way possible such as running, jumping and climbing walls. At the heart of Parkour is a mindset of creativity – a notion that the obstacles you encounter shouldn’t be avoided, but rather deliberately engaged with in order to find your path. In other words, to ‘jump first, ask later’.
Director and choreographer Byron Perry has developed and performed roles with Douglas Wright, Leigh Warren, Chunky Move, Paul Selwyn Norton, Lucy Guerin, Ballet Lab, DV8 Physical Theatre, Force Majeure, Antony Hamilton Projects and KAGE Physical Theatre. Led by Artistic Director Danielle Micich, Force Majeure produces critically acclaimed dance theatre. Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) is the leading professional youth theatre company in Western Sydney.
Choreographer / Director: Byron Perry Performers: Joseph Carbone, Justin Kilic, Jimmy James Pham, Johnny Do, Natalie Siri, Patrick Uy Lighting Design: Benjamin Cisterne AV Design: Sean Bacon Sound Design: Luke Smiles
Jump First, Ask Later
Fairfax Studio – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Performance: 5 & 6 August 2016
Information and Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
Studio – Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney
Season: 22 September – 2 October 2016
Information and Bookings: www.sydneyoperahouse.com
For more information, visit: www.forcemajeure.com.au for details.
Image: Jump First, Ask Later – photo by Alex Wisser