Through a collaboration with Indigenous Australian dance company, Djuki Mala, GOM premiered MACRO, a large-scale, opening event for Adelaide Festival and Edinburgh International Festival.
Sister festivals, Adelaide Festival and Edinburgh International Festival, partnered to co-commission MACRO, a shared opening night event that premiered in 2022 as part of the UK/Australia Season, a joint initiative by the British Council and the Australian Government’s DFAT.
GOM’s ensemble of 30 world-class acrobats collaborated with four of Australia’s leading First Nations artists from Djuki Mala, expertly wielded by Director, Darcy Grant, and Associate Director, Josh Bond, to create MACRO.
Djuki Mala’s award-winning fusion of traditional dance and pop-culture alongside GOM’s world-renowned style of contemporary circus with a focus on human connection and acrobatic virtuosity provided fertile ground for a deeply moving and uplifting celebration of humanity.
The physical storytelling was accented by a striking design, created by Geoff Cobham and Matt Adey, featuring live stream projection to allow audiences to experience the live action from different visual perspectives.
The musical score was the beating heart of the work and the focus of the collaboration between Australia and Scotland. Turkish/Australian composer, Ekrem Eli-Phoenix, collaborated with Scotland’s Aidan O’Rourke to create a genre-defying soundscape featuring the Aurora Vocal Ensemble, and the traditional Scottish fiddle and pipes and a local Yidaki (didgeridoo) musician.
We hope that MACRO is few things…
A powerful alloy of First Nations Australian physicality and Eastern European inspired acrobatics.
A Fusion of Gaelic, western classical, Turkic and Slavic musical traditions.
A virtuosic, cultural mosaic that reminds us of a world too big to see.
MACRO is ultimately about people for people and the wondrous traditions that make us proud to be human. Our muscle and music and magic.
★★★★★ “Breathtakingly poignant and spectacular” “Australian company Gravity and Other Myths felt like a redefinition of what the form can do.“
★★★★ “Gravity & Other Myths company made explicit the shared humanity that was the message of MACRO in some breathtaking and brave ensemble shapes on stage” “The sonic tapestry woven by composers Ekrem Eli Phoenix and Aidan O’Rourke for the musical forces was wonderfully varied and beautifully balanced.”
Credits
Director: Darcy Grant (Gravity & Other Myths)
Associate Director: Josh Bond (Djuki Mala)
Designer: Geoff Cobham
Designer/Production Manager: Matthew Adey
Co-Composer & Musical Director: Ekrem Phoenix
Co-Composer: Aidan O’Rourke (UK)
Conductor: Christie Anderson
Cast:
- Gravity & Other Myths
- Djuki Mala
- Aurora
- National Youth Choir of Scotland
- Fiddle - Aidan O’Rourke
- Vocals - Kathleen MacInnes, Ekrem Eli Phoenix
- Pipes - Brighde Chaimbeul
Touring History
- August 5Edinburgh International Festival - Edinburgh, Scotland