There is something magical about watching a performance outdoors rather than in a standard theatre setting. The innovative dance production The Long Walk does just that, bringing an important story to the 2022 OzAsia festival.
Braving hostile ports upholding the Chinese Immigration Act of the 1850s, more than 16,000 Chinese miners sought landfall in South Australia over a century ago to make the 500 kilometre pilgrimage to the goldfields of Victoria. Performed by Asian Australian dancers on Robe’s same rugged yet beautiful coastline those miners first docked, The Long Walk pays homage to their tenacity in this unique contemporary dance spectacle. Streaming online via real-time drone recording, boundary-pushing choreographer Sue Healey’s new work reveals split-second decision-making between drone pilot, director, musician, and performer, as dancers move spontaneously across the extraordinary landscape.
I was fortunate to spend some time with Director, Editor and Choreographer Sue Healey to discuss this powerful piece of dance, and to find out what led her to pursue a career in the performing arts and choreographing.
“In my youth, I really wanted to be a performer; that is what I thought my career would be. I studied at the Victorian College Of The Arts, and it was the mentors and teachers at that incredible institution who showed me that there was much more to a career in the arts. I very quickly became interested in becoming a maker as well as a doer. Choreography has always been part of what I do. Of course I still love the performing aspect of it, but the choreography and then the film making, which came early in my career as well, really sustain me. It’s such an amazing thing to do. I get to work with incredible artists, technicians, performers and people from around the world. It really keeps me going.”
Sue explained to me her process in creating The Long Walk, and what drew her to the inspirational story that this work is based on.
“The story is fascinating. When I first heard about those thousands of Chinese miners, the story just completely fascinated me. In the 1850s they came to South Australia, a completely alien territory for them, and then walked all the way to the goldfields in Victoria. As I delved into the history this work really evolved from that. This show isn’t really a historical statement of this piece of history, it’s more me responding to the arrival of these miners in an alien landscape. This work really looks at the tenacity, the grit and the determination these families had. My art form is non-verbal, but very much about movement, bodies and the landscape.”
The Long Walk features an original score by world-renowned percussionist Ben Walsh.
“The process, when I work with Ben, is quite bizarre. It’s very improvised. I place Ben in the landscape, so he’s very much a visual part of this project as well. It’s not just the sonic aspect of what he makes, but he is part of the visual material as well. What he does is he is responding to my live edit and he is creating the music on the spot. We have worked together for many years, so we know what the other is going to do next. He knows what sounds intrigues me and what I want to work with, and I offer him these very spectacular and slightly crazy images to compose to. It’s a great close relationship we have. The way he creates the music is him responding in live time to my live edit. He’s watching it on a small monitor as I edit the live dance from four different cameras that are working on this project.”
The Long Walk features some incredible dancers from across Australia.
“Kimball Wong, who will be well known to many South Australian audiences, is someone I have always wanted to work with. When I was asked to do this project, he was at the top of my list to employ. I’ve never worked with Kimball before, but this has been the perfect project to start that relationship with him. Another dancer, Julian Renlong Wong, is someone with whom I have never worked before, but like Kimball, I have been keen to get to work with professionally. He has a martial arts background, which brings so much to this work. It adds a brilliant addition to the palette of movement in this project.”
The Long Walk is being presented in a highly unique way. I was keen to hear from Sue if she had to adapt her choreography when it came to filming, or was the filming process taken into account when the choreography was being set?
“The movement in The Long Walk is completely in response to what the given landscape is. The weather, the temperature, the climate affected everything. These dancers weren’t given an easy job, to navigate what I asked them to do. It’s very much interacting with the landscape, the ground, the rocks, the sand, the water. It makes for a visual experience. Dancers are so brilliant. They are so well-trained to cope with different surfaces and textures. I love to take dance out of the traditional theatre space because the movement that comes from the environment is so exciting to work with and so different to what you can do when you are confined by a theatre. I love exploring how people relate to the landscape. It’s so important we acknowledge the space around us and how we as humans integrate with it. My art is very much focused on this.”
The Long Walk will be part of the 2022 OzAsia Festival. Performing at the Space Theatre, and Online on Sunday 23 October at 2pm, 4pm and 7pm. Tickets can be purchased through https://ozasia.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/the-long-walk .
Interviewed by: Ben Stefanoff
Photo credit: Wendell Teodoro
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