Seven dances for two people
Seven dances for two people
Seven dances for two people is a duet led by the desire to embody lucky number seven; two dancers explore the world of this auspicious number.
The duet was presented as part the 2024 PIECES program, a season of short dance works commissioned by Lucy Guerin Inc and University of Melbourne Arts and Culture. Tra Mi’s work was presented alongside works by Alisdair Macindoe and Joel Bray at UMAC’s Union House Theatre from 28-30 November 2024.
PIECES is an annual performance program presented by Lucy Guerin Inc and University of Melbourne Arts and Culture, offering choreographers the opportunity to make 20-minute works that premiere in a season at the Union Theatre.
Three artists develop their work at WXYZ Studios and University of Melbourne, where studio space is offered in-kind. A strong focus of LGI’s support is directed towards interrogating the process of conceiving, making and rehearsing to develop bold, new ideas that challenge existing notions of dance as well as refine the artists’ own choreographic practices.
An excerpt from the program note :
“In classical antiquity, the number 7 is significant as it represents the union of the spiritual (number 3) with the physical (number 4). I’m really drawn to this idea; for me this equation can be interpreted to explain the sensation of dancing - a corporeal, transcendent experience. Across religion, mathematics, folklore, music, and more the number 7 returns again and again. Caught up in the sacred repetition of this insistent symbol, this duet unveils itself as a reverent meditation to the number 7.“
Creative team:
Choreographer/Performer : Tra Mi Dinh
Performers : Rachel Coulson and Tra Mi Dinh
Composition & Sound Design : Tilman Robinson
Lighting Design : Rachel Lee
Costume Design : Geoffrey Watson
Produced by Estelle Conley (LGI) & Rosie Fisher (UMAC)
Images by Gregory Lorenzutti
“‘Seven dances for two people’ opened the program and showed within seconds why Dinh is so quickly making a name for herself….. could have been watched again immediately and still not have revealed all its beauties”
Deborah Jones, Limelight
“The fascination of this work is its relentlessness. The upright deportment and quick steps, the constant movement and high arms give the performance a sense of lightness and clarity even as the mists swirl and jet”
“… a duet created by Tra Mi Dinh to cooly atmospheric composition by Tilman Robinson. Shrouded in billowing stage smoke, the dancers move like black-faced cloud creatures: fluid, graceful, and a little menacing”
Andrew Furhmann, The Age
