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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

EXTRA-ORDINARY

(Pic by Simon Warner: Lucy Hind and David Toole

Lucy Hind returns to SA to present dance piece with acclaimed British dancer, David Toole at NAF.

Returning home to South Africa after nearly eight years, Rhodes alumnus Lucy Hind offers her latest dance piece Extra-Ordinary at the 2010 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

A satirical duet performed and choreographed with much acclaimed British dancer David Toole, Extra-Ordinary is funny, moving and beautiful and runs at PJ’s from June 20 to 27.

Lucy wants to be famous - she’s desperate for a lucrative career in dance. But she’s just too ordinary: average looking, average talent, average age. David is extraordinary, famous for his difference and a successful performer of considerable note. But neither are satisfied. Hiding behind how they are perceived by the industry, society and essentially themselves, they struggle with self-worth as artists and as people.

Serendipitously the universe has brought them together to make a fully improvised work, right before the audience’s eyes. With performance as their tool, they have to find a way to connect with their audience. But Lucy is nervous and David is fed up. Tired of expectations and swamped with fears, how will the two of them fare? As they expose their innermost fears and foibles, the audience are forced to examine their own perception of beauty and perfection.

Lucy Hind trained at Rhodes University in Choreography and Physical Theatre and worked with First Physical Theatre Company with whom she has performed twice before at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown. On moving to the UK in 2003, she has established herself as a movement director and performer, working with established companies and theatres such as Slung Low and Red Ladder.

Famed for his astonishing physicality and the powerful intensity of his performance, David Toole comes from an extensive background of physical theatre and dance. Trained at the Laban Centre, he has been instrumental in companies such as CanDoCo and DV8 as well as a prolific acting career on stage including the Royal Shakespeare Company and on screen.

Extra-Ordinary” is a show that is very close to our hearts,” explains Lucy Hind. “It is mostly autobiographical and maps our journey to making a new piece of work. It looks at issues of being ‘ordinary’ and ‘different’ and how able-bodied and disabled bodied performers and people can find a way to dance together, and ultimately make something honest and beautiful. It’s always terrifying bringing work back home when you’ve been away, but hopefully the vulnerability and honesty of this one will touch peoples’ hearts, and maybe everyone will leave feeling a little extraordinary!”

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