In 2000, Lucy Guerin made her debut at the Melbourne Festival with The Ends of Things.
This work centres around the life of an older man who lives alone in a small house and is slowly losing his grip on reality. Three dancers represent the central character’s state of mind and invade his small domain, finally tearing it down and consigning him to the empty expanses of an unbordered stage.
This work was more narrative in content and form than Guerin’s previous works and made use of character, metaphor and expressionistic movement.
The Ends of Things won three Green Room awards in 2001 for Best Dance Theatre Work, Best Female Dancer (Ros Warby) and Best Male Dancer (Trevor Patrick).
While this is a work that was made under tragic circumstances and deals with the disintegration of another life, it is not a completely bleak piece; there is humour and beauty in it too. Dedicated to Jad McAdam, The Ends of Things is a moving tribute to this talented composer.
Premiered at National Theatre, Melbourne, October, 2000.
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REVIEWS
“…choreography that is as precise and inexorable as a sewing machine and as evocative as a dream.”
New York Times, 2003
Images: Jeff Busby