Weereewa / Lake George Festival 2002
Each dance sequence included
poems or excerpts of Lidija Šimkute’s poetry, written on silk (suspended
by rods) at the entrance, on a mirror sunk into sand and written in sand
during the performance. The performers created dream-like cameos exploring
water and mirror themes.
As the spectators passed by,
walking in the landscape, they saw themselves reflected in the mirrors,
they saw themselves standing in the landscape - to remind them they are
the landscape. There were clay bowls, moon bells, gongs, an earth drum
and other exotic instruments played by Colin Offord, who also put Lidija’s
poetry into song during the dance performances.
During the dance-dream sequences
Lidija read her poems (mostly taken from Spaces
of Silence and also from White
Shadows) as she walked around the circle outlined in stones. The
spectators sat inside the circle.
Lidija
Šimkute was invited to the WWW Dance Instillation
(April 6-7, 2002) as part of the Weereewa / Lake George Festival (April
6-21) performed by Mirramu Dance Company
(directed and choreographed by Elizabeth Dalman along with Vivienne Rogis
and Sally Wicks). The performance took place on the bed of Lake George (a
sacred Aboriginal space and one of the oldest lakes in the world, dry in
times of drought). The performance was comprised of seven dance-dream sequences: earth, sun,
reflections, water, sun and water, a rite of passage, landscape.
