Early Christchurch set to music

Press, 7 March 1984, Page 14

Early Christchurch set to music

by

CINDY BAXTER

The very early history of Christchurch has been unearthed and transferred to the Great Hall in the Arts Centre as part of the Christchurch Festival this week.

Two New Zealand artists, Michael Smither, a painter and composer, and Jamie Bull, a choreographer, are presenting their performance piece “End of Times Chimes,” which has been especially commissioned by the festival. The work follows the format of a similar piece, “Back Beach Time,” which toured the country last year.

“End of Times Chimes,” explains Mr Smither, carries a message to Christchurch citizens — that before the city, there was a swamp.

“That swamp was a natural wetland, where animals and insects lived in a harmonic society, before we humans came and turned it into a smoghole.” Mr Smither had originally been commissioned by the festival to create a pice which reflected the character and topography of Christchurch, just as “Back Beach Time” focussed on the beach of New Plymouth. However, - neither he nor Ms Bull had ever spent much time in the city, so it was decided that the evnironmental history of the swamp should be the subject.

It is difficult toexplain

just what the piece is — a son et lumiere with a third dimension — dance, but that is too vague for Mr Smither.

It is more specific than that — the combinations of light through slides projected onto the dancers, and sound are based on a theory that the notes of an octave are related to the colours in the spectrum.

The music has been composed by Mr Smither,“who plays one of two pianos in the piece; the other is played by a friend .from Auckland, Grant ' Lee Mitchell. Percussion, synthesiser and double bass are played by a local project employment band, “Hit and Run.” A singer, Annie Davis, provides the vocals for three songs, and, poet, Rachel McAlpine, wrote the lyrics for the songs.

The slides have been taken by Mr Smither, in Christchurch, and elsewhere. They are mainly of nature, water, flowers, and colours.

Ms Bull has directed the 12 dancers, six of whom are from the Moving Company, and six from Dance Incorporated. None of the dancers had seen the piece before the Bull/Smither duo arrived in the city two weeks ago. “We are extremely happy with the dancers — they are professional and have fitted in very well,” said Mr Smither.

Music has come easily to Mr Smither, who claims he composed his first piece at the age of five.

It was much later, at the age of 18, that he studied painting at Auckland university. This was to become his main source of income until, ten years later in the early 1970’5, he moved with his family to Central Otago. He received the Frances Hodgkins fellowship which enabled him to work on his music with encouragement of a Mozart fellow, Tony Watson.

Although painting was the main part of his life iur SO long, he insists it was music with which he was born.

“When you are born, you are subject to a tremendous barrage of sound and light, and often one sense is brought out more than others.”

“In our society, it has always been that the senses are totally separated, into their own little boxes, although it is the same brain into which they are directed.” In “End of Times Chimes,” he has sought to combine these senses. The environmentalist in the artist is apparent in the piece. The destruction of the wetland is shown in “The Last Foxtrot,” where the dancers are stiff, and a slide of red roses symbolising beauty and cruelty is projected on to them. The swamp is depicted with visuals of water, cool, green shades and a “frogdance.”

Before he met Jamie Bull in 1981, Michael Smither had been working on this theory, with harmonics but the idea of slides came to him when the two began

working on “Back Beach Time.” Jamie Bull was the founder and director of the Impulse Dance Theatre. From 1976 to 1981 she taught, choregraphed and performed for the company. She has guest tutored for the National School of ballet, Hawkes Bay Ballet and Dance Seminar and the Downstage and Centrepoint theatres. She has also choreographed for the New Zealand Ballet and Television New Zealand. Since late 1981, she has worked as a freelance artist, including collaborations in dance, with Lynne Pringle, and in light, sound and dance, in “Back Beach Time.” After the festival, Ms Bull and Mr Smither will continue developing their style in a series, of which “End of Times Chimes” is the first piece.