Around the World and Back to Wellington in a Wine Glass

Around the World and Back to Wellington in a Wine Glass

Java Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Sacha Copland travelled all the way to France and back to discover that both French and Kiwi winemakers have mud on their boots and poetry on the tips of their tongues. Now she brings Java’s critically acclaimed dance theatre show The Wine Project to Wellington’s Circa Theatre in February before flying off to Edinburgh again in August.
http://www.circa.co.nz/package/the-wine-project/

Choreographer Sacha Copland

Dancer Emma Coppersmith

Sacha talks about grapes, civilization, lust and the god of Wine

"I have to admit that The Wine Project is a little more outrageous than my previous works. I got a bit of a fright when reviewers described it as ‘naughty, lascivious and lustful’. I guess that’s what happens once you are over 30! Either that or it’s the French influence.

The Wine Project is a fusion of dance theatre and live music. There is a story, a set made of barrels, a smoky tango and a Dionysian violin player. Sacha Copland began fermenting The Wine Project in a French vineyard and now uncorks the bottle of dancing wine for in Wellington (Java Dance Theatre's hometown!)

"The simplicity of a grape transforming into the complexity of wine fascinates me as a metaphor for how people begin with basic human needs and form layered societies and hierarchies, creating art, war and all sorts of other things along the way.”

The Wine Project is the second of five in the Civilisation Series which began with RISE , a work where the audience kneaded bread and enjoyed it fresh from the oven and 40 kilos of flour fell from the sky as part of the show.

“My favourite thing about The Wine Project is how amazing the show smells! We are using some of the flavours in red wine so we have piles of coffee beans, star anise and cinnamon sticks and that’s just the beginning…” This delicious approach to fantastical winemaking is very tactile and fun. “It’s a world where all the senses are stimulated.”

After the Circa season in 2016 Java will return to Edinburgh with The Wine Project. In 2014 Java sold out their Edinburgh season of Back of the Bus (a dance show on a moving bus) before returning to tour the UK in 2015.
Copland is passionate about expressing the nuances of humanity through dance. With Java, she captures audiences all over the world, clambering into the senses and sparking the imagination. Founded in 2003, Java is an internationally touring company performing to over 90,000 people in NZ, Australia and the UK.

“Layers of history and old cultures are abundant, Greek, Russian, Spanish, French, Eastern European. I'm watching a hedonistic replay of the history of the grape through metaphor.” Kim Buckley reviews The Wine Project at the Hawkes Bay Arts Festival for Theatreview, 2015

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