Man Made 2017

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Frog Hollow Park, Darwin City

What makes a man? Ambition, pride, honour, competitiveness and a keen sense of adventure. Are these the attributes that shape a man? From schoolyards, backyards, streets, bars and barbeques - what messages come through to us and what challenges lie ahead?

What does a man make? A model plane, a loaf of bread, a house, a dance, a table, a quilted blanket, a bookshelf, a garden.

Man Made explores the male as an individual: his habits, idiosyncrasies, passions, talents and drives. It also seeks to understand males as a group: exploring energy, physicality, memory, knowledge, leadership, belonging, work and play.

Performed by a cast of male dancers from 16 to 70 years old, Man Made explores four states of manhood, the transition from boy to man, the forces that push and pull the sons of the world, the muscle strength factor, ageing in the skin of men.

Original scores by David McMicken, Darwin and Sydney based DJ masters, James Mangohig and Jack Prest, give the beat to choreographies by the Tracks artistic team. They are joined by D-City Rockers lead Aaron Lim and one of Australia’s most sought after dancers Josh Mu, returning to the Tracks fold, having built an extraordinary dance career as a performer with Chunky Move, Shaun Parker Company, Marrugeku and Dancenorth, to name a few.

Man Made is a full length work to be performed outdoors under the canopy of the Frog Hollow Park trees as a part of the 2017 Darwin Festival Program.

Creative Team

Concept and Direction: David McMicken and Tim Newth
Choreography: David McMicken, Aaron Lim, Kelly Beneforti, Josh Mu and dancers
Design: Tim Newth
Original Music: Jack Prest, James Mangohig and David McMicken

Click here to read interveiw with Co-Artistic Directors Tim Newth and David McMicken by General Manager Agnès Michelet about the creation of Man Made.

Performers

Aaron Lim, Anthony Burridge, Bernie Trinne, Danial Ireland, Daniel Ferguson, Darren Mccallum, Darryl Butler, David Taylor, David McMicken, Don Mackenzie Ofiaza, Drew Holloway, Ethan Bowden, Glenn Bernardin, John Sullivan, Harry Balaj, Haylen Duncan, Isaac Button, Jordan Bretherton, Josh Mu, Kai Barrett-McGuin, Mark Bunnett, Max Higgins, Will Nery.

The Cast and Creative Team were asked questions about being a man. Click here to read what they said and see them with their man made object.

Production and Promotion Personnel

Production Manager: Angus Robson
Stage Manager: CJ Fraser Bell
Promotion/Media: Agnès Michelet and Jessica Mellor
Lighting Designer: Chris Kluge
Assistant Stage Manager: Kadek Hobman
Technician: Nick Manley
Soundtrack Mastering (Subsonic Music and Sound): Matt Cunliffe
Front of House Manager: Noya Chong Wah
Head Steward: Sally Crawford, Charlie Marengo
Man Made Image and Design: Mark Marcelis
Graphic Design: Narelle Sullivan
Advertisement/Film Documentation: Dreamedia
Photographic Documentation: David Hancock

Scenario

Solo/Duet - Will Nery and Jordan Bretherton.
Choreography: Kelly Beneforti, Will Nery and Jordan Bretherton. Music: James Mangohig

Look What I Made Mum (Man Made Objects) - All Cast with Angus Robson and Kadek Hobman.

Something I Forgot - Anthony Burridge, Bernie Trinne, Darren Mccallum, Darryl Butler, David McMicken, David Taylor, Glenn Bernardin, John Sullivan and Mark Bunnett.
This work focusses on the aging male, starting at mid-life, through mature adulthood, and on to late adulthood. From a time of personal contemplation, or of wanting to give back, dad dancing and messages from our youth that survive into our aging, and then the rich wisdom that remains once memoires of our past have completed their job of shaping our future; attempting to avoid past mistakes, if only we could remember them. As questions of ‘forgettory’ arise the experience of memory changes. What is remembered and what is actually performed in the present moment through a thinking body that also forgets?
Choreography and Music: David McMicken. (Additional sound recordings: Hold your Hand Out You Naughty Boy (1913) written and composed by C. W. Murphy and David Worton and sung by popular Australian vaudeville performer Florrie Forde. Also some early sound recordings of Conan Doyle - 1930, Spoken English by Bernard Shaw 1927, and Mahatma Gandhi’si Spiritual Message to the world 1931.)

Solo - Aaron Lim
Choreography: Aaron Lim with Josh Mu. Music: Jack Prest

Becoming - Ethan Bowden, Haylen Duncan, Isaac Button, Kai Barrett-McGuin and Will Nery
Becoming deals with the transition from boy to man. What lessons have been learned, and how prepared are our young men for the life ahead? Cause and response, action and reaction, protection and projection. Who do we look up to? Who's with us along the journey? Where was I before and where and I going? Will I become a hero or a monster, or just myself?
Choreographed: Aaron Lim. Music: Jack Prest

Sons - Danial Ireland, Daniel Ferguson, Don Mackenzie Ofiaza, Drew Holloway, Harry Balaj and Max Higgins
Over time, those that we view as ‘sons’ have shaped themselves and been shaped through laying down many layers of memory, thought, experience, action and belief. This work peels back the outwardly-projected image of a group of young men to reveal the labyrinthine pathways of their hearts and minds, and explore the forces, both tangible and intangible, that push and pull against them. In a contemporary world, how does each son navigate the challenges, risks, opportunities, and conflicts that arise in his lifetime? Choreography: Kelly Beneforti and the participants. Music: James Mangohig

Solo - Josh Mu
Choreography: Josh Mu. Music: James Mangohig

Prime Time - Aaron Lim, Jordan Bretherton, Josh Mu And Will Nery
With male muscle strength supposedly peaking at 25, it is said that it is all downhill from there. Four professional dancers, ask what does it mean to reach your prime, how does it feel from inside the body, and how does this present to the outside world? Choreography: Josh Mu, Aaron Lim and dancers. Music: Jack Prest

Midnight Snack - All Cast
The sixteen year old comes to the fridge and announces he is hungry. The fifty year old stares into the fridge not knowing what he came for. In our own worlds away from the group who are we?

Project Partner

Darwin Festival

Government Partners

Tracks Inc is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; and is proudly sponsored by the Northern Territory Government.

Thank You

Wormald Darwin, Palm Springs NT, NT Department of Correctional Services, Arts NT, City of Darwin, Jo Parish, Lillian Mann, Marg Lee, Julia Quinn, Luther Wilson, Zachary Wilson, Allain Gumapon, Daniel Ferguson, Marita Smith, Putu Warti, Fiona McManus, Gail Evans, Mary Beneforti, Alan James, Darwin Entertainment Centre, Northern Territory AIDS, Hepatitis Council, David Taylor, Brown's Mart, Frog Hollow Tenants and the generous support of our volunteer stewards.

Donors

The generosity of our donors has enabled us to bring back Josh Mu (a Tracks alumni) to perform in Man Made.

We greatly thank Sylvia Langford, Brian Tucker, Katrina Fong Lim, Barbara Bauert, Barbara Pitman, Barry Thomson, Darryl Butler, Don Whyte, Encore Pilates team, Graeme Cheater, Heather Hyde, Joanne Hilliard, J.L Hills, Judy McKerr, Nicole Cridland, Noya Chong Wah, Roslyn Henry, Sally-Anne Mason, Shannon Beneforti, Virginia Burrow, Jan Conti, Ian Landon, Diana Leeder, the Grey Panthers, our Deckchair Fundraising night audience, the Board of former Ausdance NT and the Board of Charttes.

Wish to support Tracks and join our giving program? Go to http://www.tracksdance.com.au/giving-tracks

Tracks 2017

Artistic Co-Directors: David McMicken and Tim Newth
General Manager: Agnès Michelet/Adelaide Wood
Administrator: Clancy Breasley/Jessica Mellor
Production Manager: Mathew McHugh
Dance Animateur: Kelly Beneforti
Bookkeeper: Noya Chong Wah

Committee Members: Mary Durack (Chairperson), Glenn Bernardin (Treasurer), Michael Grant, David Taylor, Ken Conway, Stephanie Cvirn, Venaska Cheliah. David McMicken, Tim Newth, Agnès Michelet (Ex-Officio Members)

Public Fund Trustees: Rev. Steve Orme, Dr Anita Toth, Ippei Okazaki

Patron: His Honour, The Honourable John Hardy OAM, Administrator of the Northern Territory