Bats Newsletter - Wed, 03 Nov 2004

Wed, 03 Nov 2004

Hello BATS people

STAB 2004 is rocking the city with SNIPER on at the Starlight Ballroom until Saturday. This thrilling and evocative season is sold out so if you want to come let us know which night and we can add you to the waitlist.

But do not despair! The second instalment of STAB 2004 kicks off on Tuesday 9 November with the sublime multimedia and movement collaboration CERTAINTY. Come check out a transformed BATS during this three week season spearheaded by Kristian Larsen. You won't want to miss this one...

BOOK NOW - To book for any performance simply reply to this email with your name, number of tickets and date you wish to attend. We will reply to confirm your booking and you can pay when you come to the show.

STAB is commissioned by BATS Theatre with generous support from Creative New Zealand.

Coming up at BATS - UNTOLD TALES OF MAUI opening on 30 November, book now to avoid disappointment because this season will sell out. Details on www.bats.co.nz

Love x BATS

Sniper Season: Until Saturday 6 November Time: 7pm and 8.30pm Tickets: $16 full price/$12 concession/$22 STAB season ticket Where: At the Starlight Ballroom, 235 Willis Street Running the sniper gauntlet in besieged Sarajevo. SEASON SOLD OUT.

Certainty Season: Tuesday 9 - Saturday 27 November Time: 7.30pm Tickets: $16 full price/$12 concession/$22 STAB season pass

Like sculpting smoke...that¹s how choreographer, dancer and director Kristian Larsen describes his latest contemporary dance season, which will engulf BATS Theatre in November, thanks to the prestigious STAB commission. Four renowned male dancers, a projected visual artist, an electronic musician who also plays the sax, a lighting designer and set designer come together to create a new performance every night of the season. 15 nights, 15 new works. Every element is LIVE and improvised ­ lights, sound, visuals, dance.

Since winning the 2003 Best Dance Fringe Award for his improvised dance piece RADIO, performed at Wellington¹s. Adam Art Gallery to rave critical review, Kristian¹s belief in improvised dance has been ignited. ³It¹s a new dance genre that is virtually unpractised at this level in New Zealand² says Kristian. Improvisation is a very common concept in music ­ particularly jazz and hip hop and even in theatre. It is less so in contemporary dance in NZ but with Certainty this is about to change.

There is a perceived uncertainty or risk of being on stage to dance without a pre-determined set of steps. BUT the certainty Kristian and three other dancers; Guy Ryan, Stu Armstrong and Solomon Holly Massey, bring to stage with them stems from years of knowledge of; dance, patterns of movement, and of rhythms. They have been rehearsing for intensively for three weeks and have known each other for years so they know each others¹ rhythm and timing. Rehearsing doesn¹t mean dancing set choreography but rather finding ways of dancing in conversation with each other ­ this is improvisation!

Electrionic Musicans: Jeremy Mandrake in collaboration with the sound design of Bevan Smith (aka Signer) will create an improvised electronic minimal soundscape each night of Certainty by using samples, sequencing and trigger mechanisms and miking the stage amongst other tricks. He is also a jazz schooled saxophonist and he will play his sax as part of the soundscape. Smith whose electronic compositions were part of the soundtrack for the Film Festival film hit Touching the Void. With a New York label he has just co-released a new album The New Face of Smiling .

Projected Visual Artist: Robert Appierdo who has recently worked on a Barnaby Weir¹s Fly My Pretties music video and has just returned from a tour of Australia with electronic artist Rhian Sheehan.

Lighting Design: Jen Lal has been nominated for the Chapman Trip Awards for four years running in the lighting design category, she successfully in 1999 won for her work on Mapaki and Mitch Tawhi Thomas Have Car Will Travel.

Set Designer: Andrew Foster who is also a award winning theatre Director and Head of Drama at Radio New Zealand, has designed is best known for his set design work with Trouble ­ who specialised in site specific theatre installations

ENDS

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