| 'On the Edge' was created for the 3-storey foyer and balconies of Stratford Circus as part of Theatre Venture's Up Your Arts summer festival. Part contemporary dance, part performance vignettes, our 6 dancers created 3 ten-minute pieces which took place on the ground floor, first floor and second floor respectively. The short incidental scenes were surrounded with solo performances in elevators, hallways, window ledges and stairways. A choreographed dance piece was then performed by the group in the main foyer area to finish off each piece. |
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| Stratford Circus was built for the Millenium celebrations and is a huge arts centre comprising of dance studios, media editing suites and performance spaces. However, since its opening it has faced many financial troubles and in 2006 it was incredibly underused. The building often had a feeling of emptiness about it, and it was this void of character that the group focused on in the piece. |
| 6 characters find themselves in this unknown place, lost, confounded and desperate to understand or possibly even remember, the reason why they are there and why the others are lost too. But questions lead to no answers and the characters, lost between levels, lost between worlds, remain in limbo. |
| The audience catch glimpses of emotion, touching and poignant interactions between strangers, but no intimacy remains and words soon dissolve into nothingness, along with any memories the characters have from their lives. All we see are a few flashes of nostalgia or panic when one character believes she has lost her child and starts looking for her. Another character waits for their mother to arrive, although she never shows up. But the end of the final piece brings some hope that they can all overcome their fears as one character finally crosses the highest glass walkway, even though she is terrified of heights and the path is blocked. Once on the other side, her composure changes and a sudden appearance of calm confidence takes over as she finds an exit out of the building leaving behind the others. |
DANCERS
Maria Rita Salvi
Lisa Hood
Alexandra Pauri
Maia Lloyd
Lucy Bradshaw
Ali Baybutt
TECHNICAL
Director - Lydia Fraser-Ward
Writer - Tamara von Werthern
Photography - Christian Schmermer
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Synopsis (pdf)