The starting point was a misunderstood Elton John lyric played to great comedic effect. This tension between “rightness” or “wrongness” framed a deeper, pop-cultural exploration of differences in opinion through club dancing and seamless partnering.
Limelight magazine
Get ready for a dance-off…
Hold Me Closer Tony Danza is bold, brash, non-conforming, and like a pop song you can’t get out of your head, deeply seductive. It is immersive dance-theatre that asks the audience to pick a side, show their true colours, and get ready for a dance-off as if their lives depend on it.
Rollickingly funny and deeply skilled dance technicians The Farm perform this one-hour ride, a Victorian premiere, commissioned by Monash University.
With an intensely satirical edge, Hold Me Closer Tony Danza confronts our modern world through the subversion of pop sensibilities. In a world driven by information overload, it asks how we can still connect with each other when we feel so far apart. A commonly misheard song lyric contains a deeper proposition about how we form meaning and a provocation that perhaps our understanding of the world is intrinsically flawed.
At The Farm work is made in a collaborative process where everyone brings their expertise without being confined to it. All animals are equal.
Created by: Kate Harman, Michael Smith, Gavin Webber and Anna Whitaker
Direction: Gavin Webber
Lighting Design: Govin Ruben
Composer and Sound Designer: Anna Whitaker
Visual Design: Merinda Davies
Commissioned by Monash University, Carriageworks, Dancehouse and the Keir Foundation for the 2020 Keir Choreographic Award.