Collective of Brisbane Creatives Brings Dance Production to QPAC This November

Award-winning Phluxus2 Dance Collective will bring together an impressive list of local creatives including Nerida Matthaei (Angel Monster, Love Stories, Boy Swallows Universe), Ben Ely (Brisbane band Regurgitator) and Lisa Fa’alafi (of well-known arts collective Polytoxic) to present a genre-defying production in QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre from 28 to 29 November 2024.

The Next 14 Seconds draws from the disciplines of dance, theatre, visual art, and sound design to explore human evolution and where we are heading into the future.

Phluxus2 Artistic Director and Choreographer Nerida Matthaei said The Next 14 Seconds began its creation process during a pivotal time in many people’s lives – the events of 2020 and the ways the world was processing distress, trauma, and being out of control.

“I have always been drawn to creative work that helps me address and unpack certain aspects of being human that are interesting, unusual, frustrating, or need to be agitated,” she said.

“This is a brand-new work, anchored in collaboration with an amazing team of performers and creatives who are responding to the choreography in real time as we create the work together. Our process is certainly multi-artform and impossible to put in a box, but dance is absolutely the hero.

“The title of the work references the notion that in this infinite cosmos our world is a small but beautiful fragment, we as homo sapiens, are said to represent a mere 14 seconds of its condensed cosmic existence.

“It draws on where we have come from: the evolution of human biology, the development of collective and community, invention, reinvention, imagination, consumerism, and creation, and importantly looks to where we are heading. What will we change in our next 14 seconds?”

The production will feature artwork by Wulli Wulli woman and visual artist Arabella Walker including fabric sculptures rigged into the ceiling of the theatre, and hand-painted dancers’ costumes. The two sound designers have purposely been kept separate from one another for a part of the creative process to ensure individual responses to choreography.

This unique, hands on, true collaboration is key to Matthaei’s creative process as a choreographer and has garnered critical acclaim for Phluxus2 including winning ‘Best of the Fest’ at Edinburgh Fringe Festival two years running in 2022 and 2023.

Alongside Matthaei as choreographer, this project brings together a talented ensemble of five dancers: Jade Brider, Hsin-Ju Ely, Georgia Pierce, Asher Bowen Saunders, and Jacob Watton alongside leading local practitioners Lisa Fa'alafi (costume design), Arabella Walker (visual artistry), Ben Ely and Haami Te Kuru(sound design), Keith Clark (lighting design/production) and Daniel Evans (dramaturg).

Matthaei said Brisbane audiences can expect a rich and layered work from this world premiere.

“I hope that The Next 14 Seconds will generate conversations about how we approach community and the philosophies for our own lives, and that it encourages reflection on where we have been to find a future that is fairer, brighter, joyful and sustainably rejuvenated,” she said.

Tickets are on sale via qpac.com.au or 136 246.

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