backRealTime issue #57 Oct-Nov 2003 pg. 45
© Bec Dean; for permission to reproduce apply to [email protected]
Perth is a city of skyscrapers that closes down almost completely after 5pm. Wandering the dead heart of its central business district may have provided the stark inspiration for Sam Fox, a young choreographer and creator whose most recent work to date has combined dance, music, and digital animation on the rooftops of Perth’s multi-storey carparks. The Tall Concrete Project premiered at the Artrage Festival in 2002, taking advantage of the deserted, open-air stages of the city. This collaborative work juxtaposed, improvised and prepared movement against the fractured glass skyline, accompanied by live electronic music and projected chaotic images of technology jarring against the body. Fox has recently been accepted into a mentorship program—through the Australia Council and Youth Arts Queensland he will undertake a 9 month professional creative development with Marcus Canning, the Director of Artrage. His work will focus on the development of a new hybrid performance, Concrete Junction, with his collaborators in the Tall Concrete Collective for the Midland, Urban Edge Festival, as well as the delivery of a program of contemporary performance at Artrage’s Black Box space. Fox’s pursuit of hybrid, movement-based theatre is grounded by a short, yet action-packed career. His education in different art forms began with a certificate in music theatre. Fox has performed works by artists and companies as diverse as Sue Peacock, Derek Kreckler and Kompany Kido, and choreographed Public Jargon as an emerging artist with STEPS Youth Dance Company for their season, Movement Safari.
