Felicity Castagna was the writer on the Sydney Festival piece, Encounter, which premiered at Prince Alfred Park in Parramatta. Description here:
ENCOUNTER
FORM DANCE PROJECTS, SYDNEY YOUTH ORCHESTRAS AND FLING PHYSICAL THEATRE | AUSTRALIA
WORLD PREMIERE
You’re in a place where the eels lay down and the cars light up. Where the Maccas sign is the biggest moon in the sky. It’s Parramatta. Summertime. Early evening. ENCOUNTER is your invitation to the neighbourhood.
This joyful, site-specific work of music and dance, set in the parklands of Parramatta’s Prince Alfred Square, is an exploration of the everyday extraordinariness and power of young people living in Western Sydney and regional Australia.
Directed by Emma Saunders and developed with a cast of 16 dancers and 48 musicians, in collaboration with award-winning artists, composers Amanda Brown (The Go-Betweens) and Jodi Phillis (The Clouds), writer Felicity Castagna, conductor James Pensini, and associate artist Rob McCredie, ENCOUNTER invites you to celebrate the indomitable spirit of youth and the world they find themselves in.
Arrive early at Prince Alfred Square Park and bring your picnic blankets to enjoy PRELUDE, a warm-up to ENCOUNTER, featuring a rotating showcase of short performances by local dance revolutionaries and community dance leaders.
PRELUDE artists include flamenco diva Pepa Molina; Bharatanatyam dancer Aruna Gandhi; Polynesian Cook Islanders Pacific Dreams; hip hop sensation The Buggy Bumpers; Feras Shaheen and his Dabke dancing mother; Diane Busuttil’s Feisty Femmes; Forge Tap Quartet; the rocking contemporary Dance Makers Collective; and international Sharp Short Dance alumnus Billy Keohavong and more to be announced.
Commissioned and produced by FORM Dance Projects
Supporting Partners: Sydney Youth Orchestras and FLING Physical Theatre
