Carbon Field

Blur the expanse

Of powdered bone and ash

Where softness ground grain into grain

Shines soot to stone

Where stone that cuts glass

Hums with light

Where light bends breaks

And oscillating flesh stirs the atmosphere to ring

Pure carbon, depending on the way its atoms are arranged in space, forms either graphite or diamond. At one end of the spectrum it is soft and fragile, at the other strong and hard. Between these two extreme variables, carbon occurs in all living things. It is one of the main elements comprising the human body.

Working with strength and delicacy or rigour and abandonment, duality is an aspect of existence dancers negotiate on a daily basis. There is a continuous desire to be precise and masterful but also to be vulnerable, to be real and to test the edges of possibility. It’s a vast expanse to work with. It’s a treacherous but beautiful field.

Credits

Choreography - Gabrielle Nankivell

Music & Sound Design - Luke Smiles / motion laboratories

Performed by - 40 dancers of the Queensland Ballet and EDC

Lighting - Cameron Goerg

Costume - Noelene Hill

Commissioned by - Queensland Ballet for Bespoke 2018