NOW IN its 15th year, QL2 Dance’s annual “Hot to Trot” choreographic project is back again with exciting dance from the next generation of Canberra’s hoofers.
This time round, QL2 Dance artistic director Ruth Osborne and independent choreographers Dean Cross and Liz Lea have joined to act as “mentors and provocateurs”— “challenging the dancers to think big and find their own dance”.
According to Osborne, “All the participants this years are long-standing members of our Quantum Leap ensemble, and have contributed significantly to our other projects,” adding, “it is an opportunity to develop their own choreographic voice, their own ideas and their own movement; and an opportunity for audiences to see them before they head off to further their studies.”
Osborne says that several of the dancers have auditioned for university dance courses, with some already offered places. Others will be auditioning next year, so in her view, the project offers a great chance to enhance their choreographic practice and learn skills that will be essential at university and beyond.
“Hot to Trot” is just under an hour, with each choreographer showing a short work, under 10 minutes, providing the audience with “a bit of a smorgasbord of ideas and styles”.
“It is always surprising to see the level of originality, ingenuity and professionalism that these young people show,” Osborne says. Each choreographer, she explains, has their own stories and their own ideas they want to portray — one is around the psychology of how we dance alone versus dancing when being watched, inspired by Dr Seuss and the non-existence of originality.
The program has, over the years, become a favourite amongst QL2 alumni, who use it to originate ideas which were further developed during their tertiary studies or their practice after graduating. Some of the alumni are making it internationally and nationally in the choreographic world, both in companies and as independent artists.
It’s both a high point and the year’s culmination for QL2 Dance, which can now boast performances in Jamaica, Thailand, Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Armidale, Bega, Narooma and Cowra.
“Hot To Trot,” at the QL2 Theatre, Gorman House Arts Centre, 7pm on November 23 & 24. Tickets at the door.
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