... raw emotional utterance, painful, grief-stricken, aching, amused.
... focus, interplay, improvised but increasingly layered text, and very poignant, sometimes savage… ... exquisite stillness and at times breathtaking physical risk-taking."

Dionysus Molecule brings together a formidable artistic team who has delved deeply into Greek mythology, Nietzsche, their personal experiences, life, death, fathers, rites of passage, and age. As is often true of work by the company the spiritual and the theatrical are intrinsic as dance, image and sound transform your experience.

Sacret Heart ORATORY (no. 1), Abbortfords Convent, Collingwood > Click MAP

BOOK NOW: click here for TRYBOOKING

Preview – Wed 26 August 2015

Opening Night – Thu 27 August 2015 – (SOLD OUT)

Saturday 29 August 2015

Sunday 30 August 2015

Everynight @ 7.30 pm

Performers/dancers: Brendan O'Connor, Tony Yap

Visual media artist: Khaled Sabsabi.

Creative collaborator/performer: Rob Meldrum

Musician/sound artist: Tim Humphrey

Producer: Kirsth Ellem / Kath Papas Productions (http://kathpapas.net)

Utube Trailer: click on image

An observation by Paul Roberts of Breandan and Tony in an ourdoor preparation ...

"Thurs 19th June Federation Square.

I just saw Tony Yap and Brendan dance around a fire in the middle of Fed Sq.

Uncle Larry welcomed us beforehand with his words about fire - to his people it is a symbol: of welcome, warmth and of gathering. He said this festival was about the light in winter, but mostly,
"we're coming here together to share story. Cause thats what songs and singing and dancing is all about. They're full of stories.
"The light in winter is about a celebration of what gives us hope. This light, the light in winter, that we're giving thanks for, is really anything that shines a light for us, giving us hope....
"To start us off is a couple of men with their dancing and music, Tony do you want to say anything? No, ok...here they are Tony Yap and Brendan..."

Then surrounded by a circle of people watching, and in front of a sand-edged fire, Tony and Brendan started dancing. Accompanied by staccato pulses played by two men standing in the line of audience and behind, one on a trumpet and the other with a saxophone...

Tony danced at first looking to me like he was drunk, and then there was lyricism and poise and grace and strength - his training was apparent in flashes - artistry. He was calling up chaos.

I realised Tony wasn't falling over accidentally - it was part of being in a semi-trance. He seemed only partially in control, then totally in control! The contrast from moment to moment was thrilling! unpredicatable. And I didn't know for sure if he was in danger of injuring himself. It seemed very real.

Brendan was a powerhouse. He seemed totally subjugated by his trance - it cast him about, and seemingly he could only observe. Tony however seemed to remain in possession of himself even though he too was being cast about, and at times lost to his senses. Tony experienced as much unpredictability and force as Brendan but it moved through him and he moved with it, somehow differently.

Tony lay on the ground, a coiled, potent form in stillness while movement was apparent in potential, it seemed to be there, awaiting only the invitation.

I wondered what was Tony focused on? How does he organise himself, his thoughts, what motivates the movement impulses, how does he propel the dance? Does the dance propel him? I wondered if it meant anything to him, if he was being affected by what he was doing, by what was occuring/happening to him. I sensed that he was. I wondered if he could see the audience, I wondered how affected he was by their presence..."

- Paul Roberts

"Both men are also beginning to riff off each other vocally, and so increasingly the speaking is becoming a strong, textural, as well as dramatic element.  Again, without it falling into narrative, it invites us as viewers into their world, of personal responses to major loss, life changing memories, and shared grief, pain, and laughter. The overwhelming experience, as several of our invited audience remarked, is of an encounter between two evolved men, on a very sensitive, challenging, and finally cathartic level."

- R Meldrum