dance&choreography
Me^^^ Photo by Sarah Saxon
03 A SMALL SPECTACLE
2020,2021
Phaedra Brown in performance of ‘A Small Spectacle’
A Small Spectacle is a solo show, created and performed by Phaedra Brown in a small inner-city share house.
An eclectic mix of dance, architecture, costume and sound, the work attempts to convey the idea that a spectacle is as much created in its re-telling and re-imagining than in the event itself. A Small Spectace re-purposes text and sculpture and appropriates video-call and social media formats. The costumes have been repurposed from what was already in the house, and the house itself has been repurposed as stage and set.
This work also explores the self-spectacularisation that comes with shaping oneself within a frame. Particularly in reference to the hyper-curation of self, seen in social media, the screen becomes the tight frame through which some things are accentuated while others are hidden. The frame of the house also plays a role in curating the way the body is perceived; the architecture and its connotations as a domestic space can constrict movement but also offer up a space to be reclaimed.
Finally, A Small Spectacle is an ode to the common experience of lockdown and mundane days in isolation. The willingness of humans to imagine, create and share, even while facing collective upheaval, has been, and continues to be, spectacular.
This show was presented as a live streamed, digital show at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2020 and March Dance Festival 2021.
"Concentrated, intimate and revealing.” – Lynne Lancaster, Dance Informa
Choreographed and performed by Phaedra Brown
On trumpet & tech help: Aidan Bondfield
On guitar & speedy composition: Gabriel Sinclair
Voiceover: Paul Brown (my dad)