reference material

A dance show about the myth of the creative genius, delusions of grandeur and narcissism.

Director, Choreographer & Sound Designer Alisdair Macindoe

Performer & collaborator Geoffrey Watson, Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Rachel Coulson 
Visual Designer (object/costume) Andrew Treloar
Lighting Designer & Production Manager Thomas Roach

Producer Freya Waterson

Documentation Stills Gregory Lorenzutti

Documentation Video Takeshi Kondo

Program Notes

While creating Reference Material, I have been thinking a lot about my own dance lineage and the impact it has on what I make and do. The more I think about it, the more I realise that my artistic voice is shaped by those around me; choreographers making work and dance teachers sharing their methods and approaches. I love that dance appreciation, creation and training requires direct interaction and physical presence, and 2020 only made that clearer for me.

Through making this work, I have begun to wonder whether understanding dance as an abstract series of historical events and figures is a fraught perspective. The same goes for understanding the dance landscape as an endless scroll of images and short videos of what dance makers are up to at the moment. I am interested in thinking of dance lineage as a complex, intertwined network of ideas and languages shared in physical spaces and passed down through intimate experiences. 

From an outsider's perspective, dance can seem to employ regressive power structures, as it can require extreme levels of discipline for dancers to achieve excellence and depth in the form. It's a form of creative expression that requires failing at what you are physically doing in front of at least one other person to make progress. So there are inbuilt emotional and psychological barriers that must be worked through; I love this about dance. I love that it is hard, frustrating, challenging and confronting. There is no hiding behind a good marketing campaign or a snazzy post with cool effects and photography. 

In many ways, this work is a reflection on how dance is incompatible with the tools we have been using to work together in 2020 and, more broadly, the internet based systems and services that are becoming the new normal form of "connecting". It is an exploration of the conundrum of being relevant, humble, and developing a creative voice in a world saturated with media and technology, where the entire "history" of dance and "every" choreographer is one click away. 

Reference Material is dedicated to my favourite choreographer and mentor Lucy Guerin. Her support and encouragement over the last 15 years has had a profound effect on my personal and professional growth. Her impact on the Melbourne dance community since returning from New York 25 years ago is immeasurable and her contributions to the mesh of knowledge that is Australian dance culture is worthy of the many accolades she has received. 

“...maintaining its biting wit while subtly increasing its acerbic quality. The effect is both thrilling and sublime…

Reference Material is a vibrant and innovative dance performance that takes an extremely novel approach to staging and delivery.”

- Patricia Di Risio, Stage Whispers

“Macindoe brings an outstanding array of choreographic artistry to the piece.”

- Jessica Poulter, Dance Writer Australia

“Over the next fifty minutes, we are taken on a journey. A highlighting of how much dance is also acting, memorization, and gymnastics. There are scenes that remind us of the eighties television workout tapes, and others that present dance as integral to spiritual tradition. It isn’t a history, but history is recognised…

The dancers for “Reference Material” are the best in the country…They respond to each other and the world around them with such confidence and timing that you begin to accept that even things that may have been accidents were actually entirely intentional.”

- Thomas Gregory, Theatre Travels