James Welsby

HEX, by James Welsby, the celebrated show from Next Wave Festival 2014, returns as part of The Australian Cultural Program - AIDS 2014. After several knock-backs for government funding, we need your help to cover the costs of mounting this critically acclaimed production in this international conference. Our minimum target is $1000 (if you don't reach your minimum, you don't receive any money), but our dream fundraising goal is $8,820. Remember - you can donate beyond the minimum target.  http://thatsmelbourne.com.au/Whatson/ArtsandCulture/Dance/Pages/bcfb9d20-e93f-46f0-970f-7b49408bce2f.aspx

HEX in AIDS 2014. July 18th - 22nd. The Coopers Malthouse, Tower Theatre.

"Hex explores the pain and struggle of fighting against adversity. It is also a joyful celebration of what it means to be free." (4 STARS, Arts Hub, http://performing.artshub.com.au/newsarticle/ reviews/performing-arts/hex-243561)

"Hex is a powerful work that looks at the Aids crisis from a generation away, and explores its legacy and impact." (4 STARS, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/stage/australiaculture- blog/2014/may/08/hex-review-the-aids-crisis-revisited-through-dance)

"Not leaving a moment unconsidered, Hex had the audience transfixed. The choreography was as hypnotic as it was intelligent and the dancers moved it beautifully" (5 STARS, Toorak Times, http://www.tooraktimes.com.au/review/53/hex.html)

Part of The Australian Cultural Program – AIDS 2014.
An official affiliated event of AIDS 2014.
Presented in partnership with principal sponsor Victorian AIDS Council. 
HEX was originally commissioned and developed through Next Wave's Kick Start program for presentation in Next Wave Festival 2014.

The concept behind ‘HEX’ is to engage with relationship between Generation Y and the HIV/AIDS crisis of 1981 to 1996 through a new feature-length dance work. Created by celebrated young choreographer James Welsby (Winner BEST DANCE Melbourne Fringe 2013, and MELBOURNE FESTIVAL DISCOVERY AWARD 2013), the show is a trio performed by Welsby and collaborators. Together, they explore how the disproportionately affected queer community responded to this period in recent history, and what it means to have been born then. The integrity of the work is firmly grounded in Welsby’s lived experience, through strong connection to his inherited history, and close research with Living Positive Victoria and the Victorian AIDS Council. The work embraces humour, reverence and intense sorrow in a series of intimate, choreographed vignettes. These episodes seek to provide the audience with an experience of both joy and reflection as the show depicts evolving club-dance styles that coincided with the epidemic before effective treatments were available. Welsby was born in 1987, the year that ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) formed, and the year that the notorious Grim Reaper AIDS prevention campaign ran on Australian TV – influential history that is directly addressed in the show. His generation has never known a world where HIV/AIDS doesn’t exist, and he wants to address this through dance.

Venue hire: $3000
Staffing at venue: $4000
Equipment hire: $1200
Printing and marketing: $620

Total required: $8,820

We are setting our target at a minimum of $1,000 to help with production costs as the time frame is so short. Pozible campaigns are only successful if the minimum target is reached, however you can receive donations past your target. Please help us get closer to our real target by supporting the project as you can.

At this point in time, we have secured some financial support from The Victorian AIDS Council, however further funding is needed to meet the costs of the venue hire. We have secured The Coopers Malthouse, Tower Theatre as a venue for AIDS 2014.

We applied for government funding to support the financial needs of this project, and were unfortunately unsuccessful. Our biggest obstacle at the moment is lack of funds. That's why we are embarking on a fundraising campaign for the necessary financial support to bring this production to life.