Lindsey McAlister on Ocean Art Walk 2015 at Stanley Plaza

Next up in our Ocean Art Walk 2015 at Stanley Plaza series, we have choreographer Lindsey McAlister! Be sure to catch the performances this weekend (Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April) at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm at Stanley Plaza!

Lindsey, tell us about your piece!
Spoken-word poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner from the Marshall Islands, was one of four people chosen from 544 nominees to address the opening of the UN Climate Summit in New York. In front of an audience of 120 state dignitaries, Jetnil-Kijiner performed a poem she wrote for her seven-month-old daughter, in which she promises to protect the child from the threat of climate change, which she says world leaders are ignoring.

Inspired by her words, my group of dancers and I have been exploring a variety of climate change issues focusing on habitat loss due to climate change. The piece is called Drawing the Line. 

My main source of inspiration was…
Habitat loss...which has repercussions all over the world and with a wide variety of species. I was moved by seeing photographs of polar bears on shrinking ice islands and that was my original motivation for researching & using this particular theme for our dance.

The greatest challenge was...
Creating dance is abstract and so conveying a message can sometimes be tricky!

To me, Ocean Art Walk is about...
Educating and raising awareness. I hope that we pique the curiosity of the people who see the art and they want to find out more about climate change and ocean conservation.

Through my dance I hope to...
The piece is 'site specific' so unlike theatre that is performed in a theatre we are up close and personal with the audience...so I think its a very powerful experience. All art impacts on the audience and everyone has a slightly different experience of each and every piece of art that they see...art transforms lives, whether you are involved in the creative process (like the dancers & myself) or as an audience member...you draw from your own experiences.