Peter Fraser, Shaun McLeod and Olivia Millard,
HillsceneLive Festival 2017,
Video and soundscape: Victor Renolds
Taking place in the darkness of night, in a cow paddock adjacent to Birdsland Reserve (Belgrave, Victoria) Nocturnal Calls was a response to site and community. The work featured as part of HillsceneLIVE 2017 festival, situated in the Dandenong Ranges. As a centre for artistic activity outside of the Melbourne CBD, the Dandenong Ranges community has a strong connection to experimental, site-responsive and environmental performance. Community volunteers acted as ‘lighting technicians’, following the performers with torches, and turning these on and off to light the performers. The dancers were placed in different spots across a large area in the paddock, sequentially lit, or disappearing into darkness, in a choreography of movement and light. Meanwhile the audience looked down upon the activity from the hilltop above. As the performance progressed, the performers slowly came together and in closer proximity to the audience.