Would your gaming avatar be everything you want to be … or would it end up being what you already are? The world premiere season of renowned Adelaide choreographer Larissa McGowan’s Mortal Condition will be held in the Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre from 11-14 May. Inspired by Mike Patton’s (Faith No More) ground-breaking album Adult Themes for Voice and from observing gamers, Mortal Condition explores human interactions and what might materialise from them in a virtual gaming world. Performed by Larissa McGowan, with Thomas Bradley and Kialea-Nadine Williams,
Mortal Condition features a cinematic score by DJ Tr!p with lighting and projection design by Toby K. Steve Mayhew is Associate Director and Dramaturge. Larissa McGowan said, ‘For more than a generation now people have found ways to relax and imagine themselves as avatars transported through the medium of games, virtual worlds that we create and explore. ‘The idea for Mortal Condition came about from observing how people are absorbed into the virtual realm. I was fascinated by their intrigue with certain characters, surroundings and even the competitive nature of the game. We spent time looking at a range of games from the old pixel games through to the 3D games that feel strangely real. ‘Mortal Condition, takes us from the reality of our human interactions into a virtual world we might escape to, taking the real and raw emotion of being human and transplanting it into a made-up world of video games. Who are the avatars and who is playing who? Think of Lara Croft and Portal’s Anger Sphere playing Tetris. ‘McGowan is one of a rare species, a female Australian choreographer. As one of the precious few I hope she continues to be nurtured and commissioned in Australia and elsewhere’ – Dancelines The show is staged in two distinctive parts. Part I: Condition starts with the guttural and vocal gymnastics from Mike Patton’s experimental album. Extraordinary human yet violent sounds underpin an expressive and wordless raw dialogue between two bodies. In direct contrast, Part II: Mortal Condition uses the personas of video game characters to explore virtual worlds where there are no rules.
LARISSA MCGOWAN – Choreographer & Dancer Multi award-winning dancer Larissa McGowan began her dance training at the Queensland Dance School of Excellence, before graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts as ‘Most Outstanding Talent’. She joined Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) in 2000 and has toured extensively with the company, both in Australia and internationally. During this period she won numerous awards for her work as a dancer, including a Helpmann Award in 2004 for Best Female Dancer. In 2008, she became ADT’s Assistant Choreographer and her work, Zero-sum, made its world première at WOMADelaide 2009. Following this were highly successful appearances as a guest choreographer on two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. Larissa was one of 4 choreographers featured in the 2014 Sydney Dance Company program, Contemporary Women, for which she created Fanatic, premiering at the Sydney Opera House and recently toured nationally as part of Sydney Dance Company’s triple bill season De Novo. Her work Skeleton premiered at the 2013 Adelaide Festival and Dance Massive. It also toured to the Dublin Dance Festival and was nominated for the 2014 Australian dance Awards. Her work Transducer commissioned by Tasdance was remounted as part of Co:3’s launch premiere.
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