The Sunshine Coast takes centre stage at Horizon 2025, transforming into a vibrant polestar of dance, music and arts for the region.
Jag Popham is a renowned dancer/choreographer and the Director of the electrifying performance ‘BERSERK’, which premieres at The Old Ambulance Station in Nambour as part of Horizon 2025.
“You’ve got so many incredible artists on the Sunshine Coast with such a strong connection to the land and heritage of dance there, it’s just built in,” Jag says.
“There are incredible teachers who have dance schools there and a lot of retired dancers move to the Sunshine Coast, so they bring a wealth of knowledge just in their bodies.”
From postcard coastal vistas to stunning country backdrops and dense ancient rainforests, Jag says the Sunshine Coast region attracts dancers with the countless opportunities to connect and move with the land.
Check out the Horizon Sunshine Coast programme for 2025.
“You also have the landscapes, to be able to draw from,” he says.
“It depends where you get your teachings in terms of dance. You have so many varied terrains on the Sunshine Coast that inform movement, whether you’re a dancer or not, but the ability to traverse various terrains is dance.”
'BERSERK'
Jag brings that elemental approach to ‘BERSERK’, a bold movement-based piece exploring the complex axis of ancient mythology and the movement of modern bodies.
“The title relates to the Viking berserkers who went into battle, into trance states knowing full well that they are in right relation with their gods,” Jag explains.
“So, they are in alignment with the forces that are greater than them, and they are happy to go forth. There’s the shapeshifting of the performers traversing various terrains and everything. So, it’s not quite a shock factor, but it definitely starts the festival off with a bang. We draw from a very eclectic range of movement vocabularies, due to the varied backgrounds of all the performers.
“The whole thing isn’t really solutionist; it’s not pointing out the problem and saying: ‘this is the way’. It is a manifesto of the way I and the performers view the world, hence the title. We must be insane in order to be there. The whole thing is a testament to invoking and forming yourself into right relation. It’s mytho-poetic rather than mythological. I’ve been saying: ‘it’s not like the thing; it just is the thing itself’.”
'Us And All Of This' - Image © Mark Gambino
‘BERSERK’ premieres at The Old Ambulance Station on a double bill with ‘Phantom Femme Fatale’, choreographed and performed by Jenni Large. The Horizon 2025 dance programme also includes dance-theatre work ‘Hold Me Closer Tony Danza’ (also at The Old Ambo), mesmerising public space performance ‘Us And All Of This’ and The Jo Lloyd Workshop & Long Table Forum.
“I’m looking forward to seeing 'Phantom Femme Fatale',” Jag says.
“Jenni used to be a rehearsal director when I was a dancer at Australasian Dance Collective, she’s a force. 'Hold Me Closer Tony Danza' is a hell of a show, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. ‘Us And All Of This’ is a really beautiful project put on by Liesel Zink. They bring together up to 100 community who are just keen to move. It’s a beautiful initiative.”
‘BERSERK’ premieres at The Old Ambulance Station 3-4 May as part of Horizon 2025 (2-11 May) on the Sunshine Coast.
