Australian stage

The 2010 Adelaide Festival will host the world premiere season of Frame and Circle – a masterful new two part production from South Australia’s award winning Leigh Warren & Dancers showcasing the talents of two of Australia’s most creative contemporary choreographers, Leigh Warren and Prue Lang.

Comprising two dance works – Rubicon (choreographed by Lang) and Meridian (choreographed by Warren) Frame and Circle will be presented at the Space Theatre (Adelaide Festival Centre) from 10–14 March 2010.

The production marks a homecoming for Paris based Lang and is the first time the two award-winning choreographers have worked in a program together.

“I’ve long admired Prue’s extraordinary abilities as both a dancer and choreographer and I was thrilled when she accepted my invitation to work on this new production,” says Warren. “It’s a unique event really – in that we have both individually created our own works but they are connected by the very nature of their contrasting subject matter. We also share many philosophical understandings about dance and improvisation techniques which stem from working at different times with the legendary choreographer, William Forsythe.”

An internationally acclaimed dancer in her own right, Lang is also the creative force behind some of the most ambitious choreographic works currently being made in Europe. Born in Melbourne, Lang was invited to France in 1996 to join Compagnie L’Esquisse and later joined Forsythe’s revolutionary Frankfurt Ballet (1999–2004).

Over the past five years, Lang has created numerous critically acclaimed productions including the multi-award winning performance installation Infinite Temporal Series (2006). Inspired by the writings of author and poet, Jorge Luis Borges, the series rose from Lang’s desire to create a concise yet dense format of performance, in which the complexity of an idea is explored over many years – so each work develops its own textual, perceptual and physical form, which is subsequently embedded in the next work.

Rubicon is the latest development away from Lang’s Infinite Temporal Series. For this new work, Lang has shifted her ‘frame’ of reference from a three dimensional perspective to exploring the framework within which games – be they sporting or board games are played.

“While Prue is using the concept of the ‘frame’ for her work, my piece is all about curves, intersections, arcs and orbits,” says Warren.

Taking its name from one of the imaginary longitudinal arcs circling the globe from north to south, Meridian sees Warren explore the links between his dancers’ innate sense of balance and the symbolism of the circle as it transcends space and time.

“Geometric, philosophical and unique ‐ the circle draws an invisible thread through the years that appears to connect key events in my life,” says Warren. “The circle has a significant place in mythology; from the standing stones of Stonehenge’s ‘time cycle’ to phrases like ‘the circle of life’. In the process of creating any dance, the composition of space and time form the building blocks of choreography.”

With a production team boasting two of Australia’s leading theatrical artisans – Mary Moore (set & costume design) and Margie Medlin (lighting design), Frame and Circle promises to engage, provoke and inspire audiences in this – its highly anticipated, world premiere season.

Dancers: Leigh Warren & Dancers

Choreographers: Prue Lang and Leigh Warren

Set & Costume Design: Mary Moore

Lighting Designer: Margie Medlin

Leigh Warren and Dancers

Frame and Circle