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1997: BODIES
OF LIGHT – Darwin Entertainment Centre
1999: WALKING ON WATER – Lake Alexander,
Darwin
2000: LOVE VS GRAVITY – Darwin Entertainment
Centre |
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1997:
Bodies of Light : 1999: Walking
on Water : 2000: Love Vs Gravity |
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This
trilogy of performances conceived by David
McMicken grew out of a need to find a way for local
people to express and better understand their feelings
related to the issues of AIDS and HIV. They were all
performed on or near World AIDS Day.
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PHOTO: Therese Ritchie
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BODIES
OF LIGHT |
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Expressed our hopes and
fears, reflecting both that which links us and that
which allows us to be individual in this tropical and
topical environment in which we live. Dealing with the
often stigmatised issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, this
show takes us on a journey where we see the community
humanely dealing with people dying out of time. The
show was punctuated with images and rituals now associated
with the epidemic, such as candlelight vigils, quilts
and ‘act-up’ shenanigans. BODIES OF
LIGHT drove out the darkness that surrounds this
virus. |
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| Creative Personnel: |
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| Performers and
Choreographers |
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Gary
Lang (ex-Bangara Aboriginal Dance Company)
The extravagant Liberty Lee (well known Darwin Drag
performer) |
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| Performance
Groups |
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Darwin Dance Mob (community
group of dancers established by Brown’s Mart Community
Dance Program)
The
Grey Panthers |
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WALKING ON WATER |
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WALKING ON WATER
highlighted the need for a community to work together
without discrimination or judgement when forced to deal
with issues of life and death. It presented rituals
that sooth the passage of death and applauded the miracle
of survival in the age of AIDS. Performed on and around
Lake Alexander, the venue for the Annual AIDS Candle
Light Vigil. The cast included children, a men’s
group, AIDS positive people, carers and others. |
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| Creative Personnel |
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| Performers |
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Tim
Newth, Stanley Stanislaus, David Taylor, Glenn Bernardin,
Merrilee
Mills (8 months pregnant with Zac and Luthor), Yoris
Wilson, Elka
Kerkhofs, Karen Maxwell, Neil Ludvigson, Paul Turner,
Darren Smith, Mark Halton, Sarah Scrutton |
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Children Tessa
Calver James, Shay and Rosie O’Reilly, Timothy
and Elliot Fergusson-Calwell |
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| Performance
Groups |
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LOVE VS GRAVITY |
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All you need is love…Is
it?
Flying high on the wings of an angel, the weight of
love keeps us with both feet firmly on the ground. |
| "... the HIV
Virus stands at the cross-roads of many different discourse
communities."
Dr Mary Harriss Veeder |
LOVE VS GRAVITY
was a multimedia performance that included more than
50 performers. Together they tackled the problematic
question of the role love plays in our modern lives,
especially in a time of HIV/AIDS where for many people
love might lead to dying. |
LOVE VS GRAVITY
included a multimedia component, What is This Thing
Called Love? This combined video, photography, medicine,
science, live performance and sound to create a spectacular
representation of how widespread the idea of virus
is in our lives. |
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| Creative Personnel |
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| Performers |
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| Performance
Groups |
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Men's Group David
Taylor, Mark Halton, Darren Smith, Paul Turner, Glenn
Bernardin, Luis Rodrigues, Peter Sparrkman, Neil Ludvigson,
Joshua Higgins, Bradley Alderson, Bart Robertson
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The
Grey Panthers (our "safe sex nannas" who
let young people know that it is possible to live a
long and fulfilling life) Lucy Aylett, Kath Baldwin,
Kay Brown, Adie Bruce, Betty Chapman, Jean Dempsey,
Audrey Gorring, Crena Hemmings, Glad Morris, Shirley
Somers, Hannah Stamm, Audrey Svara, Mavis Wadell |
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Arafura Ensemble (Musicians)
Merrilee
Mills, Claire Kilgariff, Anna Faehsey Bronwyn Meyers,
Fiona Duncan, Yoris Wilson, Annette Britton |
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Corrugated Iron Youth
Arts (Jugglers) Levi Sarrand, Luke Whitworth, Ryan
McManus, Daniel McLena |
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