Youthful resilience in the face of lockdowns and finding ways to reconnect are two of the themes running through the contemporary dance duet Waiting Game, which is now featuring in Footscray as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Choreographer and dancer Phaedra Brown said the performance dealt with reconnecting after isolation.
“Waiting Game is a response to experiences of anticipation, repetition and monotony that we have become familiar with after long periods of lockdown,” she said.
“Waiting Game uses comedy, dance and a youthful point of view to respond to ongoing global upheavals.
“The work paints a picture of hope and resilience, aiming to offer spaciousness, clarity and conversation.”
Brown said the show highlighted the joy, humour and tragedy within the minutiae of everyday life and took small interactions between the two dancers and made them significant.
“Waiting Game is a show dependent upon camaraderie and togetherness,” she said.
Brown, in collaboration with dancer Sarah Saxon and a team of emerging artists, said the dance drew from the team’s experiences.
“Twentieth century absurdism began as a reaction to global catastrophe,” she said.
As young people, we might now feel ourselves growing into a similar period of confusion and disillusionment.
“However, this work offers a re-imagining of absurdism for today, providing a picture of resilience and spirit, that our generation has found necessary to cultivate.”
Waiting Game is on at the Bluestone Church Arts Space at 8A Hyde Street in Footscray until Sunday 23 October.
Details: melbournefringe.com.au/event/waiting-game
