The 2023 Castlemaine State Festival kicks off today with a huge opening night party under the Western Reserve Big Top with Frente!
If you missed out on tickets for the opening don’t despair as there are a myriad of events to enjoy over the 17-day extravaganza including the premiere of Punctum’s Maloya Moshpit. Award-winning Castlemaine live arts organisation Punctum will premiere new work ‘Maloya Moshpit’ as part of Castlemaine State Festival and FRAME: a biennial of dance with four very special shows at The Castlemaine Goods Shed this weekend, March 25 and 26.
Maloya Moshpit bursts with the evolutionary influence of Creole culture arising from Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
In a live mash up of dance, music, percussion, and song, Maloya Moshpit invites audiences to a collective act of creolisation where cultural collision blooms in a performance petri dish. Synching Creole performance born of resistance, with House music and dance, street procession and flash gatherings, each night performers and audiences uplift each other and give rise to a new performance form.
Maloya Moshpit combines the supreme performance prowess of Réunion /Australian Maloya expert – Muriel Hillion Toulcanon and Creole musicians and singers, with Punctum’s international renown for bold, live performance in collaboration with some of our region’s top performers, music makers, and electronic maestros.
Punctum’s artistic director Jude Anderson says from once covert struggles to public revelry and joy, Maloya Moshpit is a cultural quaking, mixing, and morphing that celebrates collective connection and shift.
“It offers a glimpse of who we might become and how we might arrive there together. Whether observing, hyping, or moving around, for every leap we take in the Maloya Moshpit together, we grow wings as a people,” Anderson said.
Maloya Moshpit has been created with the generous support of collaborating partners Dancehouse, the Community Impact Foundation, Goods Shed Arts FURTHER Residency and Creative Victoria.
The performances will feature this Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 5pm. Bookings via castlemainefestival.com.au
