INTERVIEW: Choreographer and mentor Tyrone Earl Lraé Robinson on "600 SECONDS: MOVES"
This August at The Blue Room Theatre in Perth, 600 SECONDS: MOVES is taking to the stage in partnership with STRUT Dance for a showcase of five brand-new dance and movement works, as part of week two of the 600 SECONDS program.
From 12–16 August, under the mentorship of choreographer and artistic director of OFF-base Dance, Tyrone Earl Lraé Robinson, emerging artists will bring big ideas to life in short, ten-minute bursts of creativity. We spoke with Tyrone about his mentoring experience, and unpacked what makes the show so vital for local artists and audiences alike.
Can you tell us about 600 SECONDS? What makes it unique as a theatre experience?
TYRONE: 600 Seconds is like a flight of amuse-bouches; sample-sized bites of dance and theatre works that give you a glimpse into the creative minds of Perth artists. These short 10-minute works are often the start of much bigger works in development, and this gives artists the opportunity to plant the seed and start growing the idea. The unique aspect of 600 Seconds is the opportunity for these artists to share their work with the public so early on in development, giving audiences an insight into how works are started and where they grow.
What drew you personally to the 600 SECONDS: MOVES project?
TYRONE: 600 Seconds offers a platform that is sorely needed in the industry: an opportunity to create & present! For me, as a young artist, an important lesson taught to me was to just create and present as much as possible, regardless of quality; practice makes perfect. It is one thing to develop a work, but if it never gets seen, you miss out on an important opportunity to grow as an artist.
Trying to acquire funding is the bane of any artist's existence. How can you create and share your art when you can’t afford the time and space it requires? This is where something like 600 Seconds helps to fill this role. The Blue Room Theatre takes care of the administration and production behind the season, leaving the artists to focus solely on creating their art. They also bring in mentors such as myself to help guide the artists (many of whom are young & emerging/early-career artists), offering them a critical outside eye with plenty of constructive criticism to aid them in finding their unique creative voices.
What has your experience been like as a mentor to the emerging artists on this project? Have there been any moments that surprised you, or qualities in the artists’ work that really stood out? What do you find most rewarding about being part of this mentorship process?
TYRONE: 600 Seconds always tends to bring together an eclectic mix of artists that have a wide range of backgrounds, personally and professionally. A surprise for me was the nice challenge in catering to the individual mentoring styles each work and artist needed. It’s a great reflection on the variety of work 600 Seconds brings, and for me personally, I have enjoyed the diversity in each of the artists' creative practices and being able to be a part of these wildly different works.
The concepts for each of the MOVES pieces seem brimming with imagination, from an astronaut orbiting space, to time-travelling artistic movements, to a turf war between soft drink can collectors. What do you think audiences will love most about this season’s collection of stories? Are there any recurring themes or unexpected connections between the pieces that stood out to you?
TYRONE: I can’t say that I’ve noticed any specific recurring themes throughout the program, although artists tend to make work that moves them emotionally, even if it's humorous. So on that, I can say there is a lot of emotion within the program — and on the extremes of the emotional spectrum, for that matter. I think that the emotional rollercoaster will be the most enjoyable part for audiences.
What do you find exciting about a project like this, where each piece has such a limited timeframe to make an impact? How do you help artists distil such big ideas into a 10-minute format while keeping them engaging and complete?
TYRONE: The 10-minute time limit is something that all the artists involved have stated is a challenge, and my question for all of them was: “In this large idea, what is the most important aspect, emotion, story, etc., that interests you the most right now?” So instead of making a work about the large idea, they are just making a 10-minute work about that one aspect. Ultimately, this allows the artist to still get to explore their idea with a more realistic vision of what they can clearly express in 10 minutes.
Are there any key lessons or insights from your own mentors that have stayed with you? How are you weaving those into your approach to mentoring in this project?
TYRONE: A key lesson from one of my mentors, Alice Lee Holland, was the importance of the audience's emotional perception of your work. Some of the tasks Alice taught me, I passed on to these artists, helping them to understand what they want the audience to experience and feel from their works.
We explored how emotional perception differs greatly from person to person, and then how they can tap into universal emotional perceptions to create work that resonates with wider audiences. For example, if you want your work to leave audiences feeling hopeful, what colour, sound, texture makes people feel hopeful — and how can you incorporate that into your work?
How do you see Perth’s dance and theatre scene evolving right now, and where does 600 SECONDS fit into that bigger picture?
TYRONE: The arts is always in a state of survival, and it feels like Perth artists are just doing what they can to survive. Any opportunity to be able to create your art is a rare and valuable find, so it's not surprising that the number of applicants goes up each year, even for small programs like 600 Seconds. While funding continues to become increasingly hard to secure, programs like 600 Seconds become more valuable than ever for artists to develop their artistic practice and their creative voices.
After this season of 600 SECONDS: MOVES, what’s next for you?
TYRONE: Like most artists after any project, it's straight back to the grind of trying to find your next job. I will be sitting in front of a computer writing grant applications and crossing my fingers… Wish me luck. In the meantime, you can follow my company’s work at @offbasedance on most social media platforms, and keep an eye out for what we hope to bring to the public in the future.
Catch 600 SECONDS: MOVES at The Blue Room Theatre from 12 – 16 August. Get your tickets here.
