Action / Reaction - a conversation with Lucy Guerin

Two dancers, two giant hammers, one eerie glass orb, a thumping soundtrack by experimental duo CS + Kreme. We go inside the new contemporary dance work One Single Action with its creator, award-winning choreographer Lucy Guerin ahead of its arrival on the Her Maj stage.

WHAT WAS THE FEELING OR IDEA THAT INITIALLY MOTIVATED ONE SINGLE ACTION?
I knew I wanted to make a new duet with these two dancers, Geoffrey Watson and Amber McCarney, who are both really wonderful dancers, but also have this quite enigmatic quality about the way they perform.
When thinking of what I wanted the content of the work to be, I actually kept jumping from one thing to another. I had a lot of ideas, but I was having trouble just landing on the right one and feeling a lot of pressure from a lot of different stakeholders, audience and peers I have.
So, I thought that I would like to use that sense of layered information as a driver for the choreography. This idea of excess stimulation, excess information became a very strong part of the work.
IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE STAGED A SHOW IN BALLARAT?
It is!

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING OR EXPERIENCING WHEN YOU'RE IN TOWN?
I've heard so much, and I'm just so excited to see the theatre. But also — normally we travel to the capital cities, so I'm really looking forward to bringing our work to audiences outside of the major cities.
ONE SINGLE ACTION HAS PLAYED IN MELBOURNE AND JAKARTA. HAVE DIFFERENT AUDIENCES RESPONDED IN UNIQUE WAYS TO THE SHOW?
People had quite interesting takes on it in Melbourne. I think it is one of those works that does feel very metaphorical. So, some people saw it as this kind of assault on the planet, as a kind of attack on the earth, as a sort of environmental work. Others saw it as a destruction of an ideology or a society. There were lots of different responses to it.
With dance, people can sometimes feel compelled to find a story in it. And I think in Jakarta they were surprised by it, they were intrigued. But mostly they were very keen to have souvenirs — to meet us and get their photo taken with us afterwards, which was a really different response to what would happen in Australia.

WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING OR HOPING AUDIENCES WILL TAKE FROM IT?
I can't predict it, but I hope that people would be able to appreciate the skill of the movement and the drama of the piece, and to take away something that might reflect their views or where they are in their own lives. I believe that one of the interesting things about contemporary dance is that each individual's history will cause them to see it slightly differently.
TICKETS FOR ONE SINGLE ACTION ARE ON SALE NOW
