A meditation on funeral marches, preparing for the after life, ultimate endings, and death.

“OK, bye!” marks Alisdair Macindoe's latest collaboration with his mother, xanya mamunya, whose harp playing is attributed as the reason he is in dance. A musical and choreographic reflection on ultimate departures, “OK, bye!”explores the cognitive dissonance brought on by mortality.

"In one unforgettable scene, the dancers crawl across the stage, silhouetted against a stark background, their robot lords riding high in the saddle – slaves now and forever to the burden of the rhythm."

- Andrew Fuhrmann, THE AGE

"OK, bye!" opens space and time to meditate on death. Borrowing from the rituals of concert dance, we follow two performers through a gruelling choreographic gauntlet of unison choreography reminiscent of funeral marches. They migrate across a barren stage, release their physical burdens and fly off into a mirage of dream-like floating choreographies.

There is, of course, a second equally captivating duet within the funeral march giving shape to the sound of “OK, bye!” and that is between the acoustic instruments played by robots built by Macindoe and mamunya, whose (recorded) harp playing sparkles like moonlight’s silver trail.

- Gracia Haby, Fjord Review

Featuring ethereal harp recordings coupled with live robotic celestial toy piano and robotic percussion instruments, the sound design meets in a middle ground between the everyday rhythms of life and the sounds of an imagined afterlife unbound to meter and pulse.

"The score is very effective and includes a gentle harp score (composed and played in recording by Macindoe’s mother xanya mamunya), a tattoo of drum sounds and escalations and decrescendos of sound. This work is playful and engaging."

- Susan Bendall, Dance Australia

...extraordinary,  maybe my favourite 20 minutes of live performance this year! I was so delighted and energised by the choices, the sound design, the choreography, everything." 

- Stella Charls, Senior Arts Programmer, City of Darebin 2024

"Along with the dancers’ white overalls, the music summoned thoughts of an alien world in which thoroughly enjoyable enigmatic dance was on offer."

- Deborah Jones, Limelight

Program Notes

This piece is dedicated to my mum. Her love for music, which she shared with me during my childhood, has profoundly shaped my worldview throughout my life. In this work, I wanted to focus on her contributions as the central inspiration, particularly her harp playing, and how it intersects with my interests in sample manipulation, electronic music, robotic acoustic instrument building, and my ongoing development of choreographic language. The music for this piece is composed from recordings we made together over the years, featuring her performances of mediaeval music and her own original, improvised compositions.

My love for music and dance predates my earliest memories, giving me a unique perception of them as endless and innate, without a specific starting point. Recently, I've been contemplating how something without a beginning doesn't necessarily lack an end, and I've come to realise that I must accept this. Creating this piece is a gesture made in coming to terms with the inevitable end of things. It is an expression of what it might feel like to let go—with levity, preparedness, and love.