Misconduct
2015
Whilst sitting with my mother and grandmother on Wednesday mornings, watching orchestra rehearsals at the Linder auditorium, I created a drawing inspired by the question: what if the conductor was conducting dancers instead of the musicians? And what if the conductor could only hear the music and the dancers had to move only in response to his arm movements? The work ‘Misconduct’ came out of these questions. Directed and conceptualized by Anthea and choreographed by Joni Barnard, Matheu Kieswetter conducted the dancers from Moving Into Dance Mophatong. The team worked with the dancers over a period of 3 weeks, mapping out the conductor's movements to assist in the dancer’s response to his gestures and facial expressions – their only clues to the music.
On the evening of the performance for the Mozart festival, the dancers danced in silence on stage with the musicians to their right. After this, they finally heard the music for the first time – responding live to the musicians. The experience was ‘cathartic’ they said.
