SONGS ABOUT CONCRETE TENTS

Rip It Up, Issue 110, 1 September 1986, Page 4

SONGS ABOUT CONCRETE TENTS

Concrete Tent is a bizarre mixture of film, dance, music and theatre which presents its own view of Auckland city. Behind the production, to be presented at the Little Maidment Theatre this month, is the dance troupe Te Kanikani o te Rangatahi, with music by the Abel Tasmans’ Graeme Humphreys.

In his music for Concrete Tent Humphreys attempts to seek out the music present in noise — cake mixers, washing machines and electric motors echo rhythms heard in the urban environment: “I want to present to the audience a Chopin waltz and

the noise from a shortwave radio apart and together to make it apparent that no matter what type of music or what type of noise you make, that there is music within each of them,” he says. “All noise is music, all music is noise.”

The visuals to accompany the music, dance and theatre of Concrete Tent are designed by Brian Wills. By using mediums such as film to compare and contrast the messages of the dancing, Wills says he hopes to “weave a magical environment for the audience to be soaked in. Masks, machines, slides, costumes,

lighting and film all pull this atmosphere together.” Since their formation two years ago, the performances of Te Kanikani o te Rangatahi have attracted attention and favourable reviews. Choreographer of Concrete Tent Rozanne Worthington describes their new work as “a concept based on how material objects give the impression of strength and stability but in fact are very fragile” — hence the title. Concrete Tent is at the Little Maidment from September 25 to 28.