The award-winning Stephanie Lake Company brings together international dancers, Christina Chan (Singapore) and Aymeric Bichon (France), alongside a creative team of leading Australian artists for the world premiere of the dynamic new dance work, Replica at Northcote Town Hall from 25 April 2018.
Defined by whip-smart unison and wild, animalistic choreography, Replica is the non-narrative story of two people travelling a winding road together. In this study of similarity and difference, the audience bears witness to the fascinating intersection of two dancers, who need each other to create the work but also rail against their intimate interdependence. Along the way they navigate friction, aggression, tenderness and complicity.
Multi award-winning choreographer, dancer and director, Stephanie Lake founded her company in 2014 and in four short years has become an industry force. Her major works Double Blind, DUAL, A Small Prometheus, AORTA and Mix Tape have been presented locally and internationally. Lake has won the Helpmann Award, Australian Dance Award and Green Room Award for Best Choreography and most recently received the prestigious Australia Council Fellowship for Dance.
Lake has been commissioned by Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, Queensland Ballet, Dancenorth, Tasdance, Stompin, Frontier Danceland (Singapore), Sydney Symphony and the Victorian College of the Arts. She collaborates across theatre, film and TV, visual art and music video (Missy Higgins) and has directed several large-scale public works involving over 1000 participants.
Being awarded a national choreographic prize in Singapore in 2013, Christina Chan partnered with Lake to create a work for her and another dancer which ultimately resulted in Replica. Chan, who graduated summa cum laude with a B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory in 2010 and was awarded the prestigious Arthur B. Whitney Medal for highest scholastic achievement, worked with Lake in her position as full-time artist with Frontier Danceland (2012-2016).
During that time Chan also worked with other dance notables Noa Zuk, Byron Perry, Sita Ostheimer and Liu Yen Cheng amongst others and co-created Midlight with her Replica partner, Aymeric Bichon. The pair created four other works – Flux of Time, Stroboscope, Life On and the full-length work Iris – which premiered at Dans Festival 2016.
Bichon, who danced Junior Ballet for Angelin Preljocaj and Yuval Pick, worked with Akram Khan for the 2012 London Olympics and throughout his career with other choreographers Ko Murobushi, Claude Brumachon and Companies Didier Theron, Nicolas Ricchini and Kham. He has performed in the UK, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.
Choreographer: Stephanie Lake Dancers & Collaborators: Aymeric Bichon, Christina Chan Composer: Robin Fox Lighting Designer: Bosco Shaw Costume Designer: Paula Levis Producer: Michaela Coventry (Sage Arts)
Replica
Main Hall – Northcote Town Hall, 189 High Street, Northcote
Season: 27 April – 5 May 2018 (preview: 25 April)
Information and Bookings: www.darebinarts.com.au
Image: Aymeric Bichon and Christina Chan – photo by Pippa Samaya