Chailight Productions

 Infundibular is a provocative and absorbing work inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Sirens of Titan". Featuring the work of Menagerie dancers Ashlee Bye, Moriya Rosenberg, Rachel Heller-Wagner and artists from the Rival Dealer Design Collective, Infundibular offers a delicate and challenging dance experience in which the audience is immersed within a unique interactive audio/visual set.

Traversing Earth, Mars, Mercury and Titan, Infundibular is a performance which spans the solar system, Drawing on Kurt Vonnegut’s ground-breaking satirical novel “Sirens of Titan”, Infundibular examines themes of freedom and control on a cosmic scale.

The work profoundly engages the tension between humanity and the technology we surround ourselves with. Featuring an interactive audio/visual system and a digitally fabricated dynamic set designed by Dr Stanislav Roudavski, Infundibular is a rich sensory experience that offers a glimpse of what our future urban environments might be like to live in.

“Working with the responsive audio system made everything feel so immediate and physical – like an extension of myself”, says choreographer Moriya Rosenberg.

“One of the themes that emerged as we created the work was the way that the technology enables dancers to directly control the sound and visuals, and yet they are also still controlled by it – there’s a kind of feedback loop”, adds Mark Pedersen, a member of the Rival Dealer Design team.

Yet the heart of the show remains focused on the human element. “There’s a unique feel to each chapter of the performance,” says co-creator Ashlee Bye. “In creating this work, we found ourselves imagining what it would be like to actually be in each of these different environments, and what that would mean for how we relate to each other and our surroundings. I have a solo set on Mercury, which draws on a scene from the book, where even my most subtle movements have a profound impact on the creatures that are living in that space. It was a really fresh way to approach creating the work.”

“Working with Stanislav’s air structures was also something really new,” says Rachel Heller-Wagner. “Moriya and I found the new ways of interacting because of the way the set works. We’re really looking forward the audience response.”

Infundibular has been made possible so far by some amazing supporters. Andy Howitt from AusDance and Roger Alsop from the Victorian College of the Arts generated the initial residency opportunity, which was generously supported by Jeremy Gaden with access to the Newport Substation.  Dr. Stanislav Roudavski developed the amazing inflatable set pieces we'll be using and Newport Substation has given us another residency in which to bring the work to full production readiness. 

We've already received $1100 in grants and in-kind support to cover start up costs like Fringe festival  registration, set design and tech customisation but we need your help to get Infundibular onto the stage.  Not surprisingly, launching a sci-fi dance production is a tech-heavy endeavour. To make this show really shine we need to cover the following costs:

Venue Hire:                                $3500
High quality projector hire:    $   500
Additional costume design:   $   200
Publicity costs                           $   500
Production costs                      $   300
Total:                                            $5000

We expect to get approximately $2,500 in ticket sales, and we're actively applying for additional funding, so that we can be sure that the show will go ahead. By adding your support, you will help set Infundibular up to really standout at Fringe, at thus set the stage for the show to tour regionally as part of the Fringe on Tour programme if selected.

With over 5000 artists and over 400 shows in this year's Fringe Festival, our biggest challenge is getting the word out so people come to the show.  To help with this, we're engaging a dedicated publicist to help us get the story of Infundibular into all the right places. Having you on board and spreading the word through your networks is also a great way to help. Choosing to work with Dancehouse also helps us access a dedicated contemporary dance audience.

Of course there are potential technical challenges with a show like this. We've just spent an additional 2 weeks of development time rehearsing and running through technical design and plotting to ensure everything is set to go. Everything ran smoothly in our last two tech runs, we've got more time in at Dancehouse to make any final adjustments, and we've built in lots of failsafe options so that the show runs without a hitch each night.  Working at Dancehouse, we have access to in-house technicians throughout the season, and of course our own production team from Rival Dealer will be on-site solve any unexpected issues.