Can dance infuse physical meaning back into our literal notions of language? Vocabulary joined Restless Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre and the Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program in an exciting collaboration which explored that question. Using dancers from both companies Kat Worth, Artistic Director of Restless, and Garry Stewart, Artistic Director of ADT, presented two new works that explored how words define how we think about identity, communication and expression.

Garry Stewart’s work Present Tense was an examination of identity through its representation in written language. It used large cut-out polystyrene letters and words as part of the imaginative framework for the dancers.

Kat Worth’s piece Unspoken Outloud, explored the things that words cannot describe and the reality of the complex relationship between personal identity and language. Hundreds of books covered the dance floor with the dancers making expressive spaces for themselves.

The inSPACE program was created in 2001 by the Adelaide Festival Centre to present new works, new ideas and new collaborations from some of Australia’s hottest independent artists.

‘That the result would be a success, few doubted. But for It to be quite so good, quite so competitive by any standards, makes it something special… Stewart’s Present Tense… deserves to be seen as a significant addition to the repertoire… Worth’s Unspoken Outloud… inspired, lyrical movement… Expressive powers of this quality remind us of the transcending power of the arts. Vocabulary is not to be missed.‘

Peter Burdon
The Advertiser, August 2005

Directors:
Garry Stewart
Kat Worth

Designer:
Gaelle Mellis

Lighting Designer:
Geoff Cobham

Music Composer and recorded by:
Darren Verhagin