From Wednesday, THIS Ensemble travel through North Western Victoria performing/existing throughout several country towns in a semi-official/unofficial capacity.
Avoca – Wednesday 28 October
Jeparit – Friday 30 October
Natimuk Festival Saturday 31 October to Sunday 1 November
Dimboola – Monday 2 November
THIS Ensemble will perform/exist this Saturday 10 October 2015 outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (Grant Street, Southbank). We will orbit around the MARP (Malaysia Australia Rafter Project) installation. The MARP group will be giving a focussed performance at 1pm, and THIS Ensemble will probably work around that, through the afternoon and into the evening. It’s free, why don’t you drop by.
We’re are getting towards the pointy end of Improv Idol; the improvisation ‘talent show’ conceived by myself and Carmen Chan. We’ve announced our panel of expert judges and our final contestants, and it all goes down at the Wesley Anne in Northcote next Thursday night (1st of October). YOU the audience will vote for the best member of an improvising ensemble, who then go through to battle it out in a final round.
Tonight from midnight, Carmen and I will be joined by one of our judges in Carolyn Connors on The Sound Barrier on PBS-FM, chatting to host (and another member of our judging panel!) Ian Parsons about good/bad/winning/losing improvisation. Tune in tonight or listen to the programme at your leisure from tomorrow. Ian has written this post on improvisation leading up the show.
I’m taking part in this day-long performance with a number of other artists as part of the Liquid Architecture festival:
Facebook Chorus
SUN 27 Sep 2015
10am-5pm (free entry)
Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria
NGV International 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne
An ensemble of singers reciting texts derived in situ from their Facebook feeds throughout the day in this radical new performance by Irish conceptual composer Jennifer Walshe. The daily harvest of data banalities transformed into a choral social medium.
This video captures most of a Moe Chee performance given in Taiwan in July. We began in Ruh Café before migrating with our audience across the road to Birthday Park. Fang-Yi and Feng-Chen Hseih were subtle guest artists.
It’s a very long video, but if you are willing to sit with it I think it gives a good representation of the mood and feel of the performance. If it helps, there is a cute cat in it as well.
The Birds Conference is at La Mama Theatre for the next two weeks, with music by me. Times/tickets here.
The Birds Conference began life in 2014 with a short three night season as part of La Mama Theatre’s Explorations series. Now the show is back at La Mama for a two week season. The production is very different to last year’s show, with the addition of Simon Fisher on visuals, and a quite different tone and flow to the story. Rehearsals have often been jaw-dropping affairs, with powerhouse performances by our Naghal (storyteller), Elnaz Sheshgelani. I am providing music, joined on some nights by Ren Walters. Official blurb follows:
The birds of the world gather to embark upon a perilous journey to find the Simorgh, a mythical Persian Phoenix-like bird.
In the end, only thirty remain and find nothing but their own reflection in the lake.
In that moment they come to the non-dualist realisation that we are the “One that has no Other”; there is no separation.
Through her personal reconstruction of a lost, ancient, pre-Islamic form of Persian storytelling, “Naghali”, Elnaz Sheshgelani takes you through the seven levels of self-discovery embodied in this story.
A unique style of puppetry, masks, dance and Persian singing draws the audience to a magical place to experience the timeless nature of our humanity – that which connects us to one another.
Tickets are selling fast (Opening Night already sold out), book yours quick to avoid disappointment.
2-13 September, 2015
Wed 6.30pm
Thu 7.30pm
Fri 7.30pm
Sat 7.30pm
Sun 4pm
(no shows Monday or Tuesday)
La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton
2-13 September 2015 – The Birds Conference @ La Mama, Melbourne, Australia. Facebook event.
27 September 2015, 10am-5pm – Liquid Architecture: Facebook Chorus @ National Gallery of Victoria – Great Hall, Melbourne, Australia. Facebook event.
1 October 2015, 7:30pm – Improv Idol @ Wesley Anne, 250 High Street, Northcote, Australia. Facebook event
10 October 2015 – THIS Ensemble, MARP (Malaysia Australia Raft Project) @ ACCA forecourt, Grant Street, Southbank, Melbourne, Australia.
THIS Ensemble Country Victoria tour:
7 November 2015, 1:30pm – Solo performance, Antechamber @ Footscray Community Arts Centre, Australia. Facebook event.
8 November 2015, 11am-4pm – Re::set @ Abbotsford Convent, Victoria, Australia. Facebook event.
26 November 2015, 8pm – duo with Adam Simmons, 100:25:1 @ Conduit Arts, 83 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Facebook event. Tickets.
Who will be Australia’s first King or Queen of improvised music?
This idea has been kicking around in my head for a while. In some ways, it follows on from my Good Improv/Bad Improv game piece/structured improvisation that has been played a few times over the past couple of years. It was at a performance of Good Improv/Bad Improv last year that I mentioned the idea of Improv Idol to Carmen Chan (who was performing that day), who said she’d be interested in working with me to make it a reality.
I’ve always been interested in the competitive nature of some improvisers; where one player seemingly plays over the top of the rest of the ensemble, and ends up being hailed a star. I wanted to come up with a format that would push this idea to the fore and see where we end up, and have some fun along the way. I’m also really interested in seeing how performers react to the situation where they are aiming to win the vote of a majority of an audience, and also what kind of performances audiences favour.
And so Improv Idol is born, a ‘talent show’ where the audience votes for their favourite member of an improvising ensemble, who then progresses through to the next round, guided by a panel of expert judges. It will be a lot of fun, and interesting as well.
Applications are open now – get yours in before they close on 4 September. Do you have what it takes to be Australia’s first Improv Idol? I think you do!
Australia chooses its first Improv Idol at the Wesley Anne in Northcote, Thursday 1 October 2015. I will be your humble host. Judges announced soon.
Clinton Green 