Why Dance?

Nic Halliwell talks to Director of Holiday Leah Landau to ask why dance at Melbourne Uni?

This year Melbourne University Diversity Festival (MUDFest) is a little bit smaller and a little less present in the Student Union building, but it is still alive and kicking. The program has brought together a great range of mediums and styles to help showcase some of Melbourne University’s artists. Yet Holiday stands a little off from the rest of the bunch. Not only is it a Dance piece, a medium that most students would only think could convey meaning through a bump and grind approach at PAs. But it is also largely made up of and directed by non-Melbourne University students. One cannot help but wonder why would you think of coming to this University rank No. 50407838* for dance in the world to present a show to a largely apathetic student community. I briefly had the chance to speak with Leah Landau, the Director, after the show to find out what inspired her to put on a dance show in the Melbourne University (MU) environment.

“It’s about going out and see something new, there are people who never see dance.” May I add that this interview was after opening night, that had sold out. So perhaps I might be presuming a bit when I said students are apathetic. You’re not all that bad.

This desire to present something fresh to MU had been a driving force behind the production. Holiday originally was conceptualised as a play featuring dance movements. But Leah was inspired by other dance shows around Melbourne and the ability the medium had to convey meaning in a unique and creativity way, allowing the audience to break away from how they normally have to receive their information. “So much could be conveyed through the movement… rather than using voice."

However this work in progress is still evolving and may have more scripted or acted sections added before the next showing. “When you create something from the ground up it seems so much more evolving… this is just its first incarnation.” Here is one of the most important roles that Holiday plays in MUDfest, and vice-a-versa. Holiday is an opportunity for “art-interested” students to see a work in progress, (a very polished one at that). With the Director hoping to present it again in Melbourne, students can follow the development of this piece, to come to a greater understanding of how dance can progress and give insight into how it functions to create what it is. “It is really about where it can go from here… refining things. It is definitely about enjoying the creative process as an ongoing thing.”

So while there is only two nights left, I would urge anyone interested in understanding why dance? To go see Holiday, and take a break from the books and enjoy.

Political side note: It is worth noting that the Frank Tate building used to be the only spaces where dance groups could practice on campus. It is now one of the many computer labs on campus.

(*This number is approximately generated using my subconscious and the theory of automatic writing).

Holiday runs until Saturday 15 August at 7:45pm in the Guild Theatre, Union House. $15/$12/$10. Bookings: holiday.mudfest@gmail.com. For more info visit http://holidaydance.com.au