What Makes You Happy As Larry?
PRESS RELEASE | BILL ELMS ASSOCIATES on behalf of THE LOWRY
Thu 25 August 2011 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What Makes You Happy As Larry?
Renowned Australian Choreographer Shaun Parker leaps into
The Lowry as part of first ever UK Tour
Dance Touring Partnership proudly presents Happy as Larry, the first ever UK visit by the critically acclaimed Shaun Parker, one of Australia’s foremost Director/Choreographers. This stunning dance production comes to The Lowry on Tue 18 and Wed 19 October.
Shaun Parker’s Happy As Larry is a funny, playful, poignant and intelligent investigation into what makes us happy, featuring an ensemble of nine performers - with nine very distinctive personalities - who individually, and collectively, explore the elusive nature of happiness.
Adept at creating choreography driven by human emotion, personalities and psychological idiosyncrasies, Parker’s Inspiration for the cast of characters in Happy as Larry was developed from the Enneagram - a psychological system that maps nine personality types: the Perfectionist, the Seducer, the Performer, the Tragic Romantic, the Observer, the Devil’s Advocate, the Optimist, the Boss and the Mediator. These nine types offered an insight into human behavior on a broader scale and informed the development of the nine performers’ characters and their individual quests for happiness.
Using a free-flowing mix of ballet, roller-skating, contemporary dance and break-dance, each performer constructs a unique movement expression for their character. Powerful, highly physical and layered with intricate gesture Happy as Larry is accompanied by a vibrant electro-acoustic score from Nick Wales and Bree van Reyk.
Shaun Parker has fast made a name for himself as one of Australia’s innovative choreographers/directors. He has worked nationally and internationally as a dancer and counter-tenor and across music, dance and theatre, appearing with Australian Dance Theatre, Force Majeure, The Song Company, Chunky Move, Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia. Internationally, Parker has worked with Sasha Waltz in Berlin, Meredith Monk in New York and Compagnie ALIAS in Switzerland. Parker has appeared on stage as well as in the feature films Book of Revelation, Mao’s Last Dancer and Moulin Rouge.
A brief trailer can be seen at: http://happyaslarrytour.co.uk/the-show/
“Happy as Larry is brilliantly choreographed, flawlessly and joyously performed, and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. I literally sat on the edge of my seat.” - Australian Stage
“Shaun Parker’s ‘dance’ hit is so cutting edge it actually wanders off the edge of any single-word definition... Parker is a genius.” - Australian Daily Telegraph
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
HAPPY AS LARRY
The Lowry
Tue 18 – Wed 19 October
Time 8pm
Tickets £14 - £16
How to Book: In person from The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ, call 0843 208 6005 or go online www.thelowry.com
Age guideline: 8+
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information, interview and competition requests or review tickets, please contact John Bridge at Bill Elms Associates on 0151 245 0136 | 07792 463 135 | john@billelms.com
IMAGE GALLERY
Production photographs are available to download from the website at http://www.HappyAsLarryTour.co.uk The password for the downloadable images of the tour website is happylarry
You can also obtain images For high resolution images, please go to The Lowry’s image library www.thelowryimages.com. New users need to register by clicking on ‘register’ on the left hand side of the page, fill in the required information (which includes creating your own password) and click ‘create account’. You will then have access to images via the log-in page by clicking on All Albums>Dance> Sean Parker and Company
CREATIVES
Director/Choreographer Shaun Parker
Co-Composers Nick Wales & Bree Van Reyk
Designer Adam Gardnir
Lighting Designer Luiz Pampolha
More information on Happy As Larry can be found at http://www.HappyAsLarryTour.co.uk
Posted on Tuesday, 30 August 2011 under News Press Theatre Press