Heritage, Lineage & Future
Sites, history & lineage
Heritage Lineage and Future was a process investigating dance practices, people and immersion into local history, landscape and experience.
Haunted by a wandering line of ocean and estuary, the marks of the early settlers. Our limited knowledge of history and the land through European eyes, we collected, recorded and physically mapped and experienced our Place in the Bega Valley.
Haunted by a wandering line of ocean and estuary, the marks of the early settlers. Our limited knowledge of history and the land through European eyes, we collected, recorded and physically mapped and experienced our Place in the Bega Valley.
What is a place and how can we know it? Can we dance the outdoors - dance the smells of the ocean, feel a forest become as ancient as the ocean cliffs? Through time and by experience of place a deep knowing an enlivened sense of belonging arises. So begins a dialogue with one’s locale - breathing in the space, sensing the architecture, absorbing into the living body.
images Paul Hopper,
artists Jane Mortiss, Delia Silvan, Lee Pemberton, Leif Helland, Gabriella Green, Siobhan McKenna and Kyall Shanks
artists Jane Mortiss, Delia Silvan, Lee Pemberton, Leif Helland, Gabriella Green, Siobhan McKenna and Kyall Shanks
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Heritage Lineage and Future was a Regional Artists Fellowship Grant awarded to Lee Pemberton. Through research and development it drew upon the knowledge and experience of residents and history of the Far South East region of NSW, Yuin Country, the Bega Valley.
Artists - Don Asker (danced and choreographed for many organisations including the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company and as an independent artist.His work has been presented in North and South America, Europe, Korea, and China), Colleen Meessmann nee Finneran (Royale Ballet School Graduate and founding dancer at Wupertale Tanz Theatre), Delian Silvan (ADT, Leigh Warren & Dancers, Chunky Move), Jane Mortiss (Human Veins Dance Theatre) who all have had extraordinary careers in art and culture and a strong connection with the local landscape. Their combined experience provided access to the processes of renowned choreographers nationally and internationally, and a lineage of knowledge.
Other esteemed colleagues included, Professor Mark McKenna (writerand Historian), David Hewitt(member and co-founder of the internationally recognised category-defying outfit – ‘The Spaghetti Western Orchestra’- appearing at London South Bank, the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, Montreal International Jazz Festival and gaining five star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe) and Documentary Photographer Paul Hopper.
The outcomes utilised the skills of 'young professional dancers' Leif Helland, Gabriella Green, Siobhan McKenna and Kyall Shanks . Most of whom who grew up in the region of the South East. It was an opportunity to complete a cycle connecting two generations of dancers through choreographic lineages and landscape - and contribute to the artistic and cultural heritage of the area.
This project was supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW