The PushUps is an a capella Performance Ensemble comprised of a collective of woman from around the globe. Their background consists of multidisciplinary artists coming from dance, theatre and music.
Based in Brussels Belgium, they use their diverse skills to create an act performing alternative rock and pop in their own very particular way.
Taken songs that are well known and transformed by the Pushups arrangements into surprisingly new material, comedy is the focal point in this spectacle. Their humour conveys political messages through the satirical and the surreal.
The focus is entertainment with a strong feminine angle. Looking at what it is to be women in the field of rock and pop. What is to be a woman of a certain age in this male dominated métier. What is it to be a woman in society today? How feminism has affected us. Looking at the sensual as opposed to the sexual? Can we keep it up the older we get? Do we realize how old we are getting doing this still? And are we just desperate to hang on? When we will grow up? Do we need to? Why should we? And so on…..
The effect is music, movement and skits mixed into a funny and fresh cabaretesque music theatre performance. Their infectious performance style has been taking audiences by storm in their native of Brussels, Belgium and around France.
For Links to some short trailers of the PushUps go to :
For Your Ears Only is radiophonic theatre. The spectacle is set in a traditional theatre space. However there are no actors on stage. All the action is told via sound using voice, field recordings and music composition as employed in a traditional Radio Play.
The concept of this piece is to include all the elements of the theatre-making process, from concept to critic. It makes a comment on how the artistic critique is disappearing from our main media today.
We play with this process by creating (with the Viennese/French theatre collective Superamas) an incredible theatre show that has never actually been realized.
We create scenes from this show in a radiophonic way, using field recordings, actors and music that is then discussed by these Critics.
This becomes the main narrative of the performance accompanied by the sound stories in loco.
In the theatre the audience sit and listen to the discussion of these three Critics: 2 coming from Belgium (who have worked with Etcetera magazine, De Morgan, de Standaard, Radio Klara) and 1 from the UK (and for the Guardian UK).
This is accompanied by an atmospheric Lighting design and multi-speaker spacialised sound set-up, to encapsulate and seduce the audience into this deep Listening process. Thus enabling them to draw from their imagination to create their individual show.
“How do you write? How do you tell story? How do you see? How do you get acquainted with the place? How do you read the traces? How do you go there…” Georges Perec
This one on one voice installation/performance thematic explores the questions of migration and displacement in today’s society. the Passage… constructs a mock immigration post.
Through capturing the underlying sentiments of George Perec’s rare documentary film Recits d’Ellis Isle, which tells the story of and examines the immigrants experiences who craved entry to the USA via it’s gateway, Ellis Island, New York. Accompanied with the artist’s own personal history as a migrant, Dianne Weller builds a parcour performance for four performers in four adjoining spaces.
By utilizing the numerous characteristics of vocal materials people use, it demonstrates the range and palate of colors that the voice can achieve as a means of communication and performativity. As it is a singular audience experience, it runs for a period of 5 hours per day (40mins duration for each singular spectator). Each performance space is specifically focusing on certain aspects of the voice (speaking, singing, multiple voice qualities and silence). With the audience’s own participation, it creates a curious new world.
the Passage… RE-Invented Lecture Performance: Researching an idea of recycling art, Dianne was considering the following ideas: Can we Re-Visit, Re-Work, or Re-Interpret performative material/s into a new frame? 3 years after the original installation/performance the Passage… was performed, Dianne decided to revisit the performative materials. Transforming the construction of the first performance from singular audience experience with four performers, into a solo for multiple audience members, into the frame of a Lecture performance.
The first Sproutland SoundLab was set up and Curated by artists Dianne Weller & Nicky Miller hosted by Nadine Plateau in April/May 2011.
The reason:
‘to enable varying artists of diverging backgrounds from Visual, Sound, Music and the Performance Arts to share their work and have the chance to collaborate together, in practice and theory.’
This proposition focuses on giving opportunities to artists to discuss their individual research questions and topics related to their work, open this up to a broader discussion, find networking opportunities and new collaborations.
The aim of Sproutland SoundLab was to create a platform that generates examinations concerning Sound, in it’s various forms. In this project, critical discussions, workshops or laboratories focusing on various artistic practices, strategies and working methodologies relating to Sound and Sound-Arts are proposed by Curating Artists. This opportunity to discuss & debate these practices and ideas give participants a chance to share their knowledge/s of the potential spatial and communicative properties of sound as a tool and means of practice.
These individual means and approaches of the curating artists create the foundation and structure of the each Lab. As a place to share, inform and develop your own research and projects, the lab is a place of open learning, collaboration and exchange.
In a context of self-organisation and organic movement, the Lab is a place that artists can freely make proposals for discussion/debates or practical work. The period of the each Lab can be variant depending on its structure.
Some common questions that inspired the first SoundLab were :
What does sound mean to you and your artistic practices? How do you incorporate sound in our work? What are the qualities of it? Do you have a certain working methodology concerning sound and it’s usage? How are sound and spacialization linked together? How does it affect the audience, in ways and means?
The scheduling and proposal selection is open for discussion for future SoundLabs. Each proposal will be considered by its feasibility and prepared in conjunction with Artistic Coordinator Dianne Weller and by the proposing Lab Curator/s.
Since it’s beginning Sproutland Soundlab has created 4 series of Labs each focusing on variant themes.
Past SoundLabs:
#1 Meeting your sound – Curated by Dianne Weller and nicky miller 2011 at nadine plateau
#2 Voice and Identity – Curated by Dianne Weller and Bart de Wildeman 2012 at kaai theatre and performance at Nuit de Musée, Jubilpark Museum Brussels in conjunction with the Rits Radio School
#3 Seeing Sound – Curated by Julie Pfliederer and Caroline Daish 2012 at de Pianofabriek and in conjunction with Kunsten Festival des Arts
#4 Sonic Gardening – Curated by Alessandra Coppola
#5 Performing your Field Recordings with Peter Kusack and Ruben Nachtegaele
#6 Randall Ryan talks & workshop on Voice performance and Video Games Voicing
#7 Intensive Performance Capture workshop with Tom Keegan
to some short trailers of the PushUps go to :
Dianne Weller 