Women dancing, moving, sweating, breathing, bleeding, dying. There is silence and poetry, the sea, and the sounds and shades of fear as Juanita Finestone-Praeg, in collaboration with Tanya Poole and a cast of 11 extraordinary performers, explores the subliminal space where “the inside and outside collide”.
Finestone-Praeg, in association with the First Physical Theatre Company is presenting 37 degrees of Fear at the 2005 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. The piece, originally commissioned by the Dance Factory for the Women in Arts Festival 2004, is choreographed by Finestone-Praeg. The set is designed by Brett Kebble Award winner Tanya Poole, and the musical score includes work from, among others, South African composer Ronald Peterson.
Poole’s set is minimal but intriguing, and works with Finestone-Praeg’s concept. “The theme was around a particular violent incident,” explains Finestone-Praeg, “and how it affects three women. I explore how they try and translate the experience and how it changes them as people and kind of becomes part of who they are”.
37 Degrees of Fear has quite a clear narrative, but the text is fragmented, splintered and broken up. Material from Greek poet Elytis is woven in with a more literal text, spoken by a different dancer, and also incorporates ideas from the performers themselves. “The body texts”, however, says Finestone-Praeg, “are the ones that take you into the surreality of body memory and show that nothing is that clear, nothing is that ordered”.
“What was very powerful about the process and the concept was that it was a collaboration” explains Finestone-Praeg, “I think the idea was let’s share what we all know and see how it changes us”.
Dancers from diverse training backgrounds, ranging from physical theatre to classical ballet, come together in 37 Degrees of Fear, resulting in a dynamic clash of styles. “I normally work with more natural body,” explains Finestone-Praeg, “with individual idiosyncrasies and gestural languages so the tensions between these and a more designed body are interesting”.
For Finestone-Praeg, the power of the piece comes from working with the spirit and energy of the cast, who Finestone-Praeg describes as “so different, so individual and so potent”.
“Watching these 11 women inviting you into a world and saying come and see how we think and move and respond to things” says Praeg, “is extraordinary”.
First Physical Theatre Company is involved in three other productions at the 2005 National Arts Festival; New Voices, Red Crushed Velvet, and Brave New Leaps, the official launch of their Youth Company. -RU-NML