DAVID GOULDIE’S “40”

Flatfoot Dance Company and artSpace (Durban) presents David Gouldie’s 40 one-off installation choreographic event, on June 8. This marks Flatfoot’s second 2012 collaboration with artSPACEdurban.

Simply titled 40, this work is a retro-spective of “40 things”, “40 people”, “40 events” and “40 small moments” in the life of the dancers and in the life of the choreographer – who himself has just turned 40. Known for his neoclassical turn-around of classical ballet and contemporary dance, Goudie’s award-winning dance theatre work has been hailed as breathtakingly beautiful and conceptually dangerous.

Gouldie, an independent choreographer and events organiser, has collaborated and been a guest choreographer with Flatfoot Dance Company on numerous occasions over the company’s past nine years. Works like Bloodlines and Premonitions with Lliane Loots, artistic director for Flatfoot, have won both of them KZN DanceLink awards for their choreographic work. Gouldie and Loots’s collaborations have also seen them jointly creating site-specific works and most recently, collaborating on the Jomba! City events.

Loots says of Gouldie, “working with him is like watching a magician conjure spells and spectacles. I have learnt to let his brand of theatrical dance magic journey along wherever it goes because I have come to realise that in his absolute genius is also a very astute dance theatre maker who makes sure he brings the audience along!”

40 also features a special guest performance by Durban songbird Karen van Pletsen playing and singing her original work. Her long-time friendship and working partnership with Gouldie, is also paid homage to in this work as Durban gets the rare and unique chance to hear van Pletsen sing her own breathtaking sometimes sad, sometimes witty compositions.

About 40, Gouldie has said, “what better way to be 40; to work with some of Durban’s best trained and most gifted dancers in the form of Flatfoot, making a show that challenges audiences to look at art galleries and art spaces differently, and, hopefully, have a glass of wine as you are doing it!”

Watch carefully as you walk up the stairs to artSPACEdurban, enter into another state of consciousness because sometimes the rabbit hole is not down …

David Gouldie’s 40, one-off installation choreographic event, takes place at artSPACEdurban on June 8 at 19h00. Tickets R50 through Clare on 082 875 6065.

Flatfoot Dance Company thanks ncpalcohols and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) for support towards realising their performance dance work and all their dance education and development work in KZN.