Q&A with Anna Olivier (pictured left) co-choreographer of LAMTA’s hit rock musical Spring Awakening (created together with Naoline Quinzin, right), at Theatre on the Bay:
Tell us about yourself – your LAMTA journey, the shows you’ve worked on at LAMTA and elsewhere, your inspirations and aspirations?
I studied triple threat at LAMTA from 2020-2022, taking part in all their productions such as Come Together, Mephisto, Being Steve. I am passionate about performing and storytelling, I have been since a young age. In my third year I started Duane’s choreography elective which led to Naoline (Quinzin) and I choreographing Come Together for different numbers. We were often dance captains and assistant choreographers for musical numbers throughout our time at LAMTA and then got offered Spring Awakening. I am so unbelievably grateful for the opportunities Anton and Duane have given us as performers and most importantly as choreographers. To be under the guidance of the Duane Alexander is something baby Anna choreographing in her room would never have believed would happen!
Expand on the Spring Awakening choreography?
Spring Awakening is structured with a ‘story world’ and a ‘rock/song world’ which really allowed for imaginative and fantastical choreography. This was our first time choreographing a musical. Our fabulous director, Sylvaine Strike was amazing in helping us remove limitations and tell the story in our own way.
How did you do it, together- can you share a bit about your duo process, which is certainly unusual and very intriguing.
I absolutely love working with my co-choreographer Naoline. We speak to each other in our own ever developing language and have been friends since 2019 before our LAMTA days and always had a shared passion for choreographing. When Duane paired us up to choreograph in Come Together (LAMTA’s dance production in 2022), we were beyond excited. Our process starts with listening to the music and expressing our visions to each other then we start to play- we move opposite each other and physically express the story through our bodies. After we’ve created the language we sit down and map it all out. A fun fact is that we never know the choreography on the same side because we create it mirroring each other and the cast have a mixture depending on who took the session. This becomes quite funny when a cast member asked if it’s the left or right leg and our recall to if it’s a right Anna or left Naoline kick.
What informed the style?
At the core of it, our choreographic style is simply the way our bodies move. We have similar styles of moving but our movement is rooted in breath and emotion. How I see emotion is energy in motion and pulling that apart can help you find a physicality that allows the actor to express the characters feelings. Our style has been influenced by a plethora of choreographers and teachers we have worked with over the years and both of us gravitate towards a more contemporary feel.
The music is incredible; expand more on that- how it inspired you and informed your approach in general?
The Spring Awakening music by Duncan Sheik (with lyrics by Steven Sater) has a strong pulse throughout and it speaks to the rhythm of the show in its entirety. Each song focuses on a different theme of the show and we used that to develop the language of the story the song is telling. The lyrics can be hilarious and cheeky with a hard hitting pulse like in ‘Bitch of living’ and we tried to make sure the choreography was hitting the same notes, whereas the music in ‘Mirror Blue Night’ is emotive paired with poetic lyrics which encouraged us to move more to a lyrical movement quality to express where the protagonist ‘Melchior’ is in the story.
How long did it take you to work out the choreography and how many weeks to implement?
The process for the Spring Awakening preparation was a little different because working with the LAMTA students we didn’t have full days (because of existing lectures and schedules) so we only rehearsed in the evenings and had the days to prepare. We prepped a lot of the show before we started rehearsals but the process was very collaborative and we kept altering to make sure we were in alignment with other creative departments. It was essential we were all telling the same story and that the show had its own voice. The story came before any aesthetics of the choreography.
What inspires you about this show?
I think it’s important for young people to see Spring Awakening because it unpacks and explores the themes and topics of adolescence … which are no different from the late 1800’s when this play was written, to now. More importantly it’s about the relationship between adults, mentors, teachers and children. Teenagers today have more of a voice and are more often included in adult Conversations and I think it is important to see how this empowers teenagers and gives them more autonomy over their lives. My hope is that young people feel seen and heard through this story.
What’s next for you?
I am currently performing at the Kalk Bay Theatre in Wild and then I will be doing a short run of Another Day with the same theatre before I take some choreographic pieces over to Croatia for a competition. Performing holds equal weight to my choreography and juggling it all has been a challenge but I am so grateful I have had the opportunity to do both. Naoline and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us, here’s to all the stories we will get to tell and here’s to Spring Awakening blowing audiences away in Cape Town and Joburg!
What: Spring Awakening
Where and when: Theatre on the Bay until 6 April 2024 | Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino from 12 April 2024
Tickets: Webtickets
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