Myilly Point Park, Myilly Terrace, Larrakeyah, Darwin

August 7-10, 13-18, 2015
Darwin Festival

The Setting Sun

There is a tradition in Darwin that ends our day: find a spot by the ocean and watch the sunset. The red orb sinking quickly into the Arafura Sea, the boats heading home, the day birds roosting as the night birds come to life, the heat of the day is over, the sea-breeze leads us into the star-filled big sky darkness – this creates a particular Darwin narrative.

Last Light takes this unassuming story and expands it into the times immediately before and after this phenomenon. Danced upon the dry, stony land within a forgotten parkland, looking to the Arafura Sea, Last Light was set amongst old gnarly milkwood trees and remnants of concrete paving from long gone housing, demolished when the new suburb of Cullen Bay was being formed.

Twenty-five local dancers aged from 16 to 76 accompanied the setting sun. They, along with the audience, have a personal experience of the evocative and original soundtrack. This sound, received via headsets, gives a countdown to the sunset as well as audience instructions gently leading them through various performance spaces.

Audiences were drawn into this landscape wrapped in sound, whilst taking in images and actions, allowing their sunlit thoughts to melt away. Last Light moves you out of the day, past the blood-red sun hitting the horizon, and through twilight into the night.

Beginning with the transition between daytime, work and school, we get a sense of landing from the day. Then imagine a runway stretching to the horizon – towards the setting sun – as the dancers rush to finish the day in preparation for the big moment of sunset. And then? We stop. We allow ourselves the ritual of watching the sun drop below the horizon as we enter the last light. Stars appear individually at first, and then in a rush. Our Darwin nightlife begins.

Creative Team

Concept and Direction: David McMicken and Tim Newth
Choreographers: Anna Smith (guest), Kelly Beneforti, Shaan Novak,
Darren Edwards, Venaska Cheliah, with input from the cast
Soundtrack: Matthew Cunliffe
Soundtrack vocals: Merrilee Mills

Tracks’ work is created through rich collaborative processes. We are excited to draw together this year’s creative team. We have engaged four local choreographers from past Tracks’ Choreographic Programs; a guest interstate choreographer and a local composer.

Kelly Beneforti

From the 2010 program, Kelly Beneforti, who is our Dance Animateur,is now leading our participation program. Kelly started with Tracks as a youth dancer in Fast, and you may remember her as the red-haired City Girl in Mr Big. She went on to study dance at the Victorian College for the Arts. Since Kelly decided to return to Darwin, we are thrilled to be able to draw on her local and national skills.

Shaan Novak (Myall)

Shaan, from the 2010 program, can be remembered as a very young performer in the iconic Tracks 4WD Sweat Dust and Romance. She continued to sweat it out over the years, taking on a lead role in Endurance which was set within the Darwin Velodrome. Shaan is currently a director for the Department of Transport.

Venaska Cheliah

Venaska completed the 2014 program. Within that same year, she completed her Arangatram, (a classical Indian solo dance exam) and took on a solo role in Zombies in the Banyan Tree, choreographed by Desak Putu Warti and Jess Devereux. She did all this while concurrently studying to be a doctor.

Darren Edwards

Darren would be best known to most people as a lead dancer with Gary Lang NT Dancers, seen in Goose Lagoon, Mukoy, and Inspired. He finished the 2015 course. Darren has also branched out into several theatre shows in Darwin.  Having danced in many Tracks shows, notably in Crocodile Man Pineapple Woman, Eight to Eighty - The Architecture of Age, and Future Age with Darryl Butler of the Grey Panthers. Darren has just returned from performing at the Sydney Festival, and Dance Massive in Vicki Van Hout’s work, Long Grass.

Anna Smith

Anna is our guest interstate choreographer. She is based in Melbourne and works as a choreographer, educator and community artist. She has been awarded two of Melbourne’s performing arts Green Room Awards. She is best known in Darwin for her work with Casuarina Senior College dance students which has often been performed at local events such as Seabreeze Festival. Tim and Anna first worked together in 1989/90 in Tasdance, (a company of which David McMicken was a founding member,) on the works Orville’s Outing, and The Seed is On The Ground.

Matt Cunliffe

Matt has created the original soundtrack for Last Light. He is the owner of Subsonic Music & Sound. Mastering. Mixing, engineering, composing, and playing for bands, Matthew’s life is music. He has worked with groups and artists such as Yothu Yindi, Gurrumul, Salt Water Band, Annie Gastin, Jillaine Jones, and Gary Lang NT Dancers. Matthew has excelled at getting the sound right in our often challenging outdoor venues like the Darwin Velodrome for Endurance and the Tanami Desert for Milpirri. We have used his talents on over 20 Tracks Dance productions.

Mark Marcellis

We love Mark Marcellis’s sunny poster image that he has created for this show. Mark is a photographer and graphic artist and is currently the editor and art director (along with Tim Palmer) of Resident Magazine. He has been the creator of the iconic images of our posters since 2001 with the first being Rivers of the Underground. In 2014, we had a Poster exhibition Our Community Is Our Company at the Darwin City Council Community Gallery space to celebrate the entire history of our work with Mark.

Performers

Angelita Gargoyles, Chloé Lauverjon, Donna Grossule, Elle Chandler, Heidi West, Jemma Stanley, Kelly Beneforti, Leanne Eltagonde, Luxmy Chandran, Natalie Hafsteins, Penelope Paton, Tully Doole and Ruttiya McElroy

Grey Panthers Seniors Dance Group: Jenni Sanderson, Ellen Hankin, Marge Duminski, Darryl Butler, Patricia O’Neill, Maria Vlastuin, Antonietta Vanzella, Janine Sutter, Carmel Alderson, Judith Allen, MaryAnn Hinton, and Val Hristova

Production and Promotions Personnel 

Production Manager: Kelly Blumberg
Stage Manager: CJ Fraser Bell
Production Assistant / Audio Technician: Angus Robson
Production Crew: Mark Gray, Kadek Hobman, Finn Williams and Jessie Davis
Promotions/Publicity: Agnès Michelet and Clancy Breasley
Front of House Manager: Sally Crawford
Head Steward: Charlie Marengo
Poster Image and Design: Mark Marcelis
Graphic Design: Narelle Sullivan
Advertisement/Film Documentation: Dreamedia
Photographic Documentation: Peter Eve

Scenario 

• Landing Pad – transitioning from the working day
• Runway – towards the setting sun
• Sunset
• Civil Twilight – retiring the day (Original Choreography: Joanna Noonan)
• Nautical Twilight – drawing the star-light
• Astro Twilight – into the dark – last light

Thank You

Darwin Festival staff, Ian Kew, Deckchair Cinema, Vilaisan Campbell and David Turbayne, Roby Taylor, Ian Liang, Darwin City Council, The Department of Lands and Planning, Temporary Fencing Hire Darwin, Palm Springs, McMinn’s Pumping, Dreamedia, Royal Wolf, Darwin Party Hire, Eyesight Security, Silent Disco King, Coates Hire, Wormald Darwin, Darwin Correctional Services, Kailey Coble, Arthur Lariosa, Michael Carr - Production Manager Chunky Move, Lizzie Webb and all of our wonderful ushers and volunteers.

Sponsors

Darwin International Airport, Dreamedia, Southern Cross TV, Brian Tucker

Government Partners

Tracks Inc is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; and is proudly sponsored by the Northern Territory Government.

Tracks 2015

Artistic Co-Directors: David McMicken and Tim Newth
General Manager: Agnès Michelet
Administrator: Clancy Breasley
Production Manager: Kelly Blumberg
Dance Animateur: Kelly Beneforti
Bookkeeper: Heather Van Anholt
Geek in Residence: Jeffrey Withaya Campbell

Committee Members: Michael Grant (Chairperson), Glenn Bernardin (Treasurer), David Taylor, Ken Conway, Stephanie Cvirn, Mary Durack. David McMicken, Tim Newth, Agnès Michelet (Ex-Officio Members)

Public Fund Trustees: Rev. Steve Orme, Dr Anita Toth, Ippei Okazaki

Patron: His Honour, The Honourable John Hardy OAM, Administrator of the Northern Territory