When one thinks of the 2015 blockbuster film Mad Max: Fury Road, ballet isn’t something that comes to mind. The movie, which stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, tells the story of a post-apocalyptic desert world where water is scarce and war-inspired terror reigns. Although many ballets are tragic, Mad Max: Fury Road isn’t something that one would typically associate with classical dance—unless you are an artistic filmmaker named Kate Duhamel. She is the mastermind behind this weekend’s multimedia event Fury.
“Fury is an immersive concert that has a prominent dance element, with seven dancers from San Francisco Ballet and Lines Ballet, and Mad Max: Fury Road inspires it,” Duhamel told Haute Living in a telephone conversation earlier today. “We have the band and the dancers, which are acting to portray a story through music and dance in an immersive environment. It has projections around all four sides, and it’s performed in the round, so the audience will surround the stage and feel inside the concert experience.” There are two showings of Fury: Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15 at the Midway. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the hour-long performance starts promptly at 8:30 p.m.
Although she’s made many films about dance—including two movies for the San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival—this is the first time Duhamel has tackled a production project of this proportion. She came up with the idea of Fury about a year ago and initially reached out to the band, Yassou, to see if they would be interested in creating an exclusive score for this sort of event.
“I had this idea to present dance and music together in a concert setting,” she says. “Most musicians are looking for ways to layer and add to the experience they’re putting on stage for their fans. Ballet is looking for ways to present in a new context as well. So from both the music side and the dance side, we’re putting this together and presenting it in a way that appeals to a younger, broader audience than typically might go see ballet in a big theater, and also appeals because the story is very contemporary, and the band is very contemporary.”
After securing the band, Duhamel reached out to choreographer Danielle Rowe who eagerly jumped on board. From there, it was easy to find dancers—San Francisco Ballet’s principal dancers Dores Andre, Frances Chung, Luke Ingham, and Jennifer Stahl-Weitz, and Lines Ballet’s Adji Cissoko, Babatunji, and Michael Montgomery—and get the ball rolling. Brandon McFarland is serving as art director and beloved local Russian fashion designer, Vasily Vein has created the costumes.
This dream team of creative minds and movers promises to put on a thrilling and not-to-be-missed event. “The opportunity is to broaden and open up the way that dance is presented. So the collaboration on creating a new work with a band is an opportunity waiting to happen. Audiences are looking for more layered live experiences. They want an experience that stretches them, that feels new and like new partnerships are happening, and with new elements added. It’s an exciting thing to do in person.”
Tickets for Fury are now on sale.
All photos courtesy of Fury.
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