Dancers 4 Events is staging an intimate show that captures the essence of the Paris theatre scene at the Wollongong Arts Precinct later this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Petit Crazy Rouge is part of the Anywhere Theatre Festival and will provide an opportunity for local professional dancers to perform in the Illawarra.
Choreographer and producer Natalie Thais Bauer described it as a cabaret event designed to bring all the glamour and cheek of Paris to life. Ms Thais said the show was inspired by the three great theatres. “It is a little Moulin Rouge, Lido and Crazy Horse all wrapped up in one”.
“The reason I am excited about this show is because it is not like the other productions or performances,” she said.
“It has has given us a challenge to create a show for a performance tent. It is going to be more raw, real and honest. From an audience perspective it is definitely an opportunity for the kind of show that is difficult to find. There are not many performances that allow you to get that up close and personal.”
Ms Bauer said there were many fun elements and a few surprises in store during the two hour long shows on August 25 and 26 at 9.45pm.
“We have a lot of international experience in the cast. It is basically a celebration of Paris, and theatre and femininity in all its forms. It is vibrant, it is fun, it is seductive and it is comical.”
Dancers include Sally Bassuni, Bonnie Arnott, Ellen Langlands, Amelia Kentwell, Rebecca Virtu, Bec Hobbs, Brittany Doyle, Jessica Kuit and Ashlee Davis. Specialty acts are vocalist Jodie O'Shea, international showgirl/pole arialist Daisy Adelle Bastick and Matt Benson as Mad Moiselle.
Ms Bauer said she loved the idea of the Anywhere Theatre Festival because the opportunity it gives for people to support independent artists.
“We have some really strong theatre companies in the area that are fantastic for young amatuer performers who are coming into the industry,” she said.
The Anywhere Theatre Festival is providing more opportunities close to home for those wanting a career professionally but often have to travel away from Wollongong to get such opportunities.
Which is why Ms Bauer always pays people to perform in the shows she produces. She wants to give more dancers professional opportunities locally.
“This festival aligns to what I have always tried to do. Which is to build and create spaces where people living in our area, who are very talented and professional, have a space to exercise their art and have a career,” she said.
Ms Bauer said she wished such opportunities existed when she was starting out professionally.
“This is where my passion is,” she said.
“It would be nice to see more people, as they do in Europe, being able to access independent artists. They are like the grass-roots of the entertainment industry. But they are often the ones that get most overlooked and the least supported.”
Ms Bauer said it was hard enough for established artists. But it was even harder for younger emerging artists with talent that deserved to have a space to perform where people could see them.
She said that was why the Anywhere Theatre Festival had her wholehearted support.
“Many performers have spent a life-time of training, often through blood, sweat and tears, and that is why I do what I believe in,” she said.
“I believe in what I do. I know when I was 18, 19 or 20 I would have liked to have someone fight for me the way I fight for the girls who perform with Dancers 4 Events.”
The reason Ms Bauer created the troupe when she came back from years of dancing professionally in Europe was to give more local dancers an opportunity to perform in the Illawarra and close to home in Sydney as well as other parts of NSW and Australia.
And she hopes people will go along and support local artists in the many other shows being staged during the Anywhere Theatre Festival which runs from August 17 to 27 in the Wollongong Arts Precinct.
Related stories:
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
