For the second year Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Ian (Warrend-Badj) Hunter opened Vidcon Australia 2018. Uncle Ian played some didgeridoo for everyone and then gave the Welcome to Country to include all attendees and welcome them to Wurundjeri land.
In September 2017 it was the first time that VidCon was run in the southern hemisphere. Wurundjeri Elder Ian (Warrend-Badj) Hunter was given a rousing welcome to the stage by the audience as he gave the Welcome to Country.
In August 2017 we worked on the recent Insurance Dragon Awards 2017 (IDA 2017) with over 70 performers and 30 hostesses working over 3 days as well as some satellite events connected to the IDA. The following 7 videos are from the two days of the awards at the MCEC. The video below is from the first day of the IDA with the Indigenous performance of traditional dances. The dances included the Welcome and Creation dance and finished with the Celebration dance.
During the awards and speeches we had a feature Aerial Tisu performance which we created especially for the IDA. With the single Tisu and ground based ballerina combining for a beautiful piece.
After many awards and speeches the first night of IDA 2017 was brought to a close with the feature Ultimate Kylie show. The show was specially created for IDA as they asked for 15 minutes of Kylie’s biggest song and dance hits, which got the audience singing and dancing which was brilliant.
Friday was a big day of speeches and awards for the IDA 2017, so to liven the mood and peoples spirits we had the wonderful Bush Band perform a 30 minute set and then two short 5 minute sets during the midday to 2.00pm part of the day.
To usher in the teams of award winners the traditional Chinese Lions lead the winners to their seats while the musicians performed from the stage, once seated the Lions took to the stage to perform before the traditional Dragon dance.
Usually a Cancan routine goes for about 3 to 4 minutes as it is a fast paced show and very tiring for the dancers with all those high kicks.
The IDA asked for a longer performance so we created a show specially for them with the traditional Cancan music and a piece of music from Moulen Rouge’.
The final performance for the IDA was a mixed Circus show we created just for the event. Sadly the awards were running late so the show was cut from 15 minutes to 5 minutes just before the team went on stage so they didn’t get a chance to perform the bigger pieces.
The following video is from the opening of the World Public Health Congress 2017 held at the MCEC and produced by ICMS Australasia.
For this opening the client had asked for a contemporary dance piece and the Lion Heart dance troupe filled the bill very well.
The following video is from the Quest Apartments Conference 2016 at the Melbourne Town Hall with Hit Parade as a 9-piece band hitting off the first set for the night.
The video below is from the opening of the World Federation of Haemophilia Congress in 2014. The opening started with a solo didgeridoo player on stage as the delegates took to their seats. Once seated Wurundjeri Elder Ian (Warrend-Badj) Hunter gave the Welcome to Country before the dancers performed traditional dances including the Creation and Celebration dances.
Another major performance for the WFH 2014 Congress was by the Australian Girls Choir, a choir that is renowned throughout Australia and has performed all over the world to many international leaders and dignitaries.
The video below is from the 2013 Quest Apartments National dinner and the theme was the Roaring 20’s. Our dancers specially created a show stopping feature to Sing, Sing, Sing which brought the awards to a close and got the party started before the band took to the stage to get the dance floor full.
The video below is from the opening of the International Diabetes Federation Congress in 2013. We started the congress with a solo didgeridoo player onstage playing as the delegates took to their seats.
Once seated and after the Welcome to Country the dancers took to the stage for the traditional dances including the Creation and Celebration dances.
We worked directly with the Federation over many aspects of the Congress, producing the opening performances, creating videos showcasing the wonders of Melbourne and Australia as places to visit, all the static images throughout the congress and face painting 140 of the young diabetes delegates with their national flags for the opening.
To bring the IDF opening to a close the Australian Girls Choir again took to the stage performing many of the well known songs that the international delegates would know and enjoy.
The video below was from the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week 2012 Party where we started the evening at the Melbourne Town Hall with solo classical pianist in the pre function area before the guests made their way into the hall. Once settled we started the event with Barry Morgan behind the beautiful curtain on the stage at the keys of the biggest organ in the southern hemisphere. Barry started playing the Bach Toccata and Fugue as the curtain was opened, after the first few bars Barry was revealed to the joy of the guests and bringing the huge piece to the opening.
After the opening piece by Barry we were then treated by the magnificent performance of out three Divas, with Antoinette, Vanessa and Julie performing the Delibes Lakme’ Flower song.
The video below was from the opening of the Botany Conference in 2011, our client asked for a combination of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal dance. We started the opening with the solo didgeridoo player onstage playing as the delegates took to their seats. Once seated the male dancers took to the stage for the traditional Creation dance. Then the female dancers performed to a piece of music from a Wurundjeri songstress with contemporary dance.
After the Indigenous dancers left the stage we continued with renowned Opera singer Dimity Shepherd performing Advanced Australia Fair.
The video below continues the performances for the Botany Conference, we were asked to create a special piece incorporating an Indigenous story about the flora in Australia recited by Indigenous performer Gnarnayarrahe Waitairie, we then included his didgeridoo playing, bush and storm sounds so the sand artist had a full story to work with as she created the images onstage.
The final performance for the opening of the Botany Conference was another specially created piece for our client. We were asked for a question and answer piece using Japanese drummers and tap dancers. Our performers worked together over a few rehearsals to come up with the show stopping finale.
The video below was from the opening of the Miele Kitchens National Conference in 2008, we were asked to create a feature performance incorporating a ballerina made from steam to work in with their new international advertising campaign. We started with the choice of music, then the design of the costumes and finally the choreography to create this piece.