Sweat is Branch Nebula’s new dance theatre production, a darkly humorous performance which takes its audience into the world of those who do the dirty work.

Photo by James Brown

Combining a surprising diversity of popular movement forms to create a unique audience experience, dance, parkour, Bboying, acrobatics, martial arts and football merge in a choreographic score that shifts through and around the audience. Performing live, Japanese “Noisican”, Hirofumi Uchino drives the action with a taut and dynamic electronic noise-scape.

In a 21st century economy that has evolved as primarily service-based, we increasingly deal with strangers on a daily basis. One of the biggest roles we play as adults is that of customer or consumer. We live in a society in which the wage gap is increasing. Sweat invites the audience to enter into a special contract, shifting and changing throughout the course of the show, as we explore the power dynamics between those who serve and those who are served. The service provider as an inanimate product raises questions of power, class, race and dignity.

The performers in Sweat come from ethnically diverse backgrounds: a Sri Lankan soccer player; a Columbian performance maker; a Filipino/Spanish contemporary dancer; a Thai/Iraqi parkourist; a Filipino breakdancer; and a Japanese sound artist. As migrants, or the children of migrants, they bring a richness of language, culture and experience to bear upon their work. As a group on stage, in a culture still dominated by the European experience and by white middle class sensibilities, they evoke uncomfortable questions about the hidden underclass of migrant workers in our society and about the lack of cultural diversity on our stages.

“Branch Nebula: …brings urban-youth performance modes in off the street, showcasing their artistry and technical accomplishment for an audience who may not necessarily have considered them in an arts context before.” The West Australian

See also: Concrete and Bone Sessions, Whelping Box and Paradise City

Branch Nebula

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