Llandovery is delighted to welcome artists Jo Fong and George Orange this October. Jo and George present The Rest of Our Lives at Rhys Prichard Memorial Hall on Saturday 19th October.
Hopefully hopeful, The Rest of Our Lives is a cabaret of life and near death. A joyful dose of dance, circus and games. Two middle-aged lives come together in an eclectic, spontaneous, predictable and random decline. Jo is an old dancer, George an old clown. They are international artists with 100 years of life experience between them, armed with a soundtrack of floor-fillers and a sprinkling of eco-friendly optimism. It’s the beginning of the end, but they’re still here.
Jo and George have long histories of performing, Jo as a dancer and George as a street/circus artist - how could this possibly work? Together they have presented The Rest of Our Lives at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ageless Festival. Yorkshire Dance, Machynlleth Comedy Festival, The Place Theatre, London, Dance House, Cardiff, Chapter Arts Centre, and seven village halls across England. Previous audiences have described it as “one of the most joyful, celebratory and hilarious experiences of my life” and “quite possibly one of the best things I’ve ever experienced”.
Conceived before the pandemic, its exploration of the body and the chemistry of being together has found new resonance as we negotiate coming back together after so long. Sensational in all senses of the word, the audience are drawn in as Jo and George playfully shift the performance to a wider focus and ask the question - how are we all thinking about The Rest Of Our Lives?
Talking about the show’s inspiration, Jo said: “The show was commissioned by Rural Touring Dance Initiative. Certainly both me and George were curious about how a collaboration would go. We work in different fields yet there’s a commonality in how we work or rather play in spontaneity, liveness and in relation to audiences. In fact the show was created in grief, way before the global grief we now have upon us, and death certainly puts a few things into perspective. There’s been loss but I think both me and George were exploring how we hoped to live. I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the responses to this performance. It seems to be tapping into our mutual navigation of this “post COVID” era.”
The Rest of Our Lives is supported by Arts Council of Wales, Noson Allan - Night Out, Wales Arts International, the Rural Touring Dance Initiative, Fieldwork, Dance House Cardiff, China Plate, Yorkshire Dance, Wales Millennium Centre, Place Theatre, and Chapter.
The Rest of Our Lives
By Jo Fong and George Orange Saturday 19th October 2024, 7.30pm at Rhys Prichard Memorial Hall
4 Waterloo Street, Llandovery, SA20 0DD
Tickets: £10 (full price), £7 (concessions)
Bookings: bit.ly/TROOLrpm or contact: 07858 555938 / llandovery.lcasc@gmail.com / Llandovery Youth and Community Centre (in person)
Venue facilities:
3 Steps
Wheelchair Access to front
WC
Accessible WC
Ramp (up)
Induction Loop
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jo Fong lives in Wales and her creative work reflects the need in these times for people to come together. Her artistic practice is an evolving, collaborative approach which puts ideas around belonging or forming community in the forefront. As a director, choreographer and performer recent presentations include An Invitation..., Belonging for Hull Year of Culture, Bridge for Xintiandi Festival Shanghai, and Ways of Being Together for Cardiff Dance Festival 2017 and CAN Festival, London 2020. Jo and artist Sonia Hughes’ live art performance Neither Here Nor There was most recently presented at Summerhall 2019, Vitlycke Contemporary Art Festival in Sweden and GIFT in Gateshead. During COVID, they have been leading on a number of digital and walking projects called What Will People Need? The Sun’s Come Out, Come Rain or Shine and To Tell You The Truth, for Dublin Theatre Festival. More... A Brief History of Difference with Das Clarks, Marathon of Intimacies with artist Anushiye Yarnell, Jo contributed to Luke Hereford’s Grandmother’s Closet which is also at Summerhall this year. Jo is a Creative Associate with the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. jofong.com
George Orange is a performance artist, circus performer, outdoor theatre maker, former mascot, ex drag performer, creator of Mary Bijou Cabaret, circus director, and physical theatre teacher. But most of all, and without a doubt, he is a clown. He continues touring his one man show, Man On The Moon, against all medical advice. Last summer he did 50 outdoor performances in England, Wales and Germany. A couple of years ago he followed his boyhood dream of achieving an academic something. George is now a master of directing circus, George Orange MA, he’s an achiever, he also achieved British Citizenship. Next dreams include leading a research circus lab and initiating a graduate circus performance company. George continues to lecture at Circomedia in Bristol. georgeorange.com #NosonAllanNightOut #ArtsWales #CelfCymru #RuralTouring
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