The Locals: Playing the West

For our second The Locals Residence, we hosted with previous _SPACE residency artist Lucky Lartey and musicians from Ensemble Offspring. The invitation was opened for blue-sky research and the collaborative exchange between western, eastern, classical and contemporary musicians.

Lucky is one of Australia’s most dynamic West African performers and is well known for his versatile and high energy dance style. Lucky hit Australia dancing in 2011 and has been wowing audiences and inspiring dance students ever since. Lucky is a Sydney-based dancer and choreographer, originally from Ghana, West Africa with more than 15 years of training in Traditional African dance, Afro Contemporary and Salsa. Lucky’s work draws on his traditional culture of rhythm and dance as well as his understanding of contemporary movement practices.

Lucky’s dance and choreographic practice looks for ways to negotiate what it means to draw on a rich history of traditional dance while innovating within a contemporary context. His methodology for developing dance work focuses on the collaboration between live percussion music and movement and is often informed by themes of social justice and the reinvigoration of past cultural forms such as cultural games and social activities. In 2016, Lucky was awarded the Keith Bain Travel Fellowship from Ausdance and the Innovating Practice Grant from Ausdance NSW to travel to Burkina Faso to work with Serge Aime Coulibaly in 2017.

Lucky has performed with countless African dance and music groups from Ghana and other African countries and is an experienced choreographer having created a number of contemporary African dance routines for Ghanaian dance ensembles including the Salaka Ensemble, Susuma and Riclils Entertainment. Lucky’s knowledge of dance includes dance routines from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, South Africa and other parts of Africa.

ENSEMBLE OFFSPRING are champions of adventurous new music. Presenting music from seminal chamber work to free improvisation, alongside the creation of striking interdisciplinary productions, the group embraces open-minded music making of all forms. Based in Sydney, Ensemble Offspring is led by acclaimed percussionist, Claire Edwardes, and features some of Australia’s most innovative performers.

The group has toured locations including Hong Kong, London, Brugge and Warsaw, performs at Australia’s favourite festivals, Carriageworks, the Sydney Opera House and even the local bowling club. Passionate about nurturing the work of emerging, as well as established composers, Ensemble Offspring has premiered over 200 works in its 20-year history.

Collaborating Partner: Ensemble Offspring led by Claire Edwardes

Choreographer & Performer: Lucky Lartey

Performers: Sally Hare and Vatsala (Mishty) Lal

Musicians: Lamorna Nightingale, Jason Noble and Bree Van Reyk

Bankstown Arts Centre, Ensemble Offspring

Kilo Osei Owusu