Research 2008

Research 2008

Gavin Webber
Coaching Project: Where You Begin

© David Bergé
Coaching Project
Week 3, 28.7.–1.8.2008
10:00–16:00
VOP1
Where You Begin In this workshop we will work together to discover movement and theatre that reflects the individuals involved, incorporating many of the techniques I use in creating new work. The workshops will encourage participants to freely explore the beginning point of creation and the purpose of movement in a theatrical setting. We will look at physical function through partner work and other devices with a desire to free ourselves from an external idea of the body and instead create intimate and personal connections to the work and each other. The workshop will be a dialogue between participants, myself and members of my company, each contributing to a group experience of creation. The day will begin with a class that will explore release and floor techniques with an intention to free up the body and allow personal expression. There will be a concentration on the function of the movement and the necessity to move for a clear result. Following class we will begin to work with various improvisational tasks and conclude with duos and repertoire from my own work with an explanation and investigation into the processes that led to the resulting choreography. Gavin Webber Gavin Webber has been working professionally in Dance Theatre for over ten years. After completing his degree at the Centre For The Performing Arts in Adelaide, Australia, he joined Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre. In the six years he spent in this company he toured Australia, North America, Scandinavia, Europe and Israel. After leaving to Europe he studied with Maguy Marin in Lyon before accepting a position with Ultima Vez in Brussels. He spent three years with the company and was involved in the creation of “In Spite of Wishing and Wanting” and “Inasmuch as Life is Borrowed”. He has performed at Theatre de la Ville, Paris, The Lincoln Center and the B.A.M. festival New York, as well as other major festivals and theatres worldwide. During his time with the company Gavin taught company classes, workshops and repertoire. He conducted rehearsals for Ultima Vez in the absence of Wim Vandekeybus. Upon returning to Australia Gavin began lecturing at the Queensland University of Technology. His teaching responsibilities have included several universities and Australian dance companies. Gavin continues to perform both nationally and internationally. In 2003, as a founding member of Splintergroup, he premiered the dance-theatre work “lawn” at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Since 2005 Gavin Webber has been the Artistic Director of Dancenorth based in Townsville and resident company of The Brisbane Powerhouse. Dancenorth has toured to Berlin, Yokohama, Stuttgart, Singapore, Sydney Opera House, Perth Festival and throughout Queensland. The new work “roadkill” has been invited to the Barbican Theatre in London and Radial System in Berlin in 2007.
Gavin Webber
© Claudia Kanik
© Maurice Korbel
© Maurice Korbel
© Gavin Webber
© MJ Lareau