Short Stories: dance with live 3d animated digital scenography

Brian Curson: What is dance? What is space? What is movement? Everything?

Robyn Stuart: slightly bizarre…juxtaposed poetry metaphoric unfolding journey of a story

To suspend reality and set fantastical images alive onstage, enticing and surprising viewers with each unfolding twist of the performance, yet to maintain the 'special feeling' that live visual/movement based theatre offers.

Robyn Stuart

Robyn obtained a first class honours degree in Science in 1981, and a commonwealth PhD scholarship. Subsequently, she then worked as a Research Fellow for Professor Peter Jarman and joined Kafui West African Dance & Music Ensemble. She co-authored two papers and gave scientific advice for the award winning film 'Faces in the Mob'. She worked as a research assistant for Jarman through a BA(Dance). After graduating she worked as an independent dance artist, danced with Viola Da Gamba Dance, in the Adelaide and Sydney Fringe Festivals, and taught Pilates. She set-up her own Pilates gym with a partner in Sydney in 1996. In 1997 she spent a month in Solo, Indonesia improvising with a range of international dancers. She moved to London in late 1997 to dance with Ground Effect Physical Theatre company in London and Europe. In 2000 Robyn set up 'al'Ka-mie' , a dance company with Brian Curson .In 2003 she returned to academic studies to complete an MA (collaborative Arts) Dance, and also wrote a review article on PARIP 2003 for the journal Research in Dance Education.

Robyn has been choreographing pieces since 1991 when she started the dance degree. She creates and designs pieces that are molded to their environment and incorporates bizarre props and costumes. She works with improvisation as well as tightly crafted movement. In 'al'Ka-mie' both she and Curson combine live dance and animated digital art in a way that creates a seamless world between the two. Surreal plot and imagery are fused together with filmic editing techniques to create fast moving theatre.

Bryan Curson

Brian has a rare synthesis of movement art, artistic skill and technological expertise. In movement he combines professional contemporary and classical training, regularly augmented with professional release based classes and training in martial arts, (both of which he also teaches), with regularly workshops in CI and others. Artistically he has created and performed in dance, theatre and film pieces since 1996. He has collaborated with many artists such as musicians, and sculptors to create performances. Technologically he is skilled in electronic, computer and software engineering, and has become a skilled digital artist in his continual questioning of the body and technology. In 2000 he co-founded al'ka-mie, a digital dance company working in the groundbreaking area of virtual onstage worlds. Brian has a passion for dance and for what it can be, for both himself and for others.