Zoology
When Talya Rubin was little she would tell adults she wanted to be “a ballerina and a gorilla,” when she grew up.
Zoology is a performance lecture and dance work for one woman and two children that attempts to live up to that childhood dream. Zoology was inspired by slides found in a New York City antique shop of zoo animals in vibrant 1980s Ektachrome colours.
In the work, the animals tell their wordless story of extinction through movement that has absurdity and poignancy at its core.
There is a dream-like lecture at the centre of Zoology. It riffs on zoos, panda diplomacy, The Wizard of Oz, extinction, and Talya’s own childhood.
Presented by Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and set inside WA Museum Boola Bardip, Zoology provokes a deep, visceral re-connection with our inner wildness and invites us to sit in the unresolved spaces of the current extinction crisis.
Artistic Team
Writer / Performer / Co-devisor/Visual Concept - Talya Rubin
Director/Co-devisor - Nick James
Costume & Set Designer - Laura Heffernan
Sound Designer - Giorgos Poulios
Lighting Designer - Katie Sfetkidis
Movement Consultant - Natalie Allen
Dramaturg - Emma Valente
Costume Design Early Development - Nicole Marrington
Sound Development Assistant - David Richardson
Slide & Projection Design - Samuel James
Video Consultant - Tiyan Baker
Props Maker - Erin Coates
Executive Producer APAM - Alison Halit
Associate Producer - Jodi Donovan
Production Manager - Will Gammel
Stage Manager - Jasmyn Day
Performers -Tommy Jackson, Olivia Vidler, Zack Law & Hope Lim
World Premiere
APAM Showcase - WA Museum Boola Bardip, Perth - 25th - 27th February
Presentation
Presented by PICA, in association with the WA Museum Boola Bardip and the Australian Performing Arts Market. Supported by PICA’s Art Commissioners.
Partners
Development partners include: Performance Space, Sydney; PICA, Perth; Vitalstatistix, Adelaide; Bundanon, Illaroo; Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne; and the University of Sydney.
Support
This project was supported through a residency at Theatre and Performance Studies, The University of Sydney. Proudly supported by the WA government.