New Breed Choreographer Spotlight: Petros Treklis

Petros Treklis first danced with Sydney Dance Company in 2014 in Louder Than Words. More recently he has turned his attention to choreography, and is one of five next generation dance creators featured in New Breed 2017 this November/December.

The music is mostly classical with some brief contemporary/atmospheric moments and I would describe it as very beautiful. The whole score definitely provides the feel of a story or a world into which you can be drawn. I have used Two Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev, and moments within the sonatas are some contemporary sounds which I added in to give contrast and create a change of mood.

The concept was inspired by a collection of experiences I have had over the last several years. Those experiences vary from larger parts of my life such as letting go of loved ones when I left London, to smaller things such as working with my OCD in terms of precision and neatness. This is how I decided to play with the concept, ‘The Art of Letting Go’, which is also the title of the work.

As I am 1 of 16 dancers in Sydney Dance Company I often work with dancers as colleagues, learning each other’s material and tasking together to make material for whoever may be choreographing. However I don’t often get the chance to specifically create on dancers for my own work, but it is something I would love to do more of in the future.

I feel like I have had quite a few career highlights, but one of the most exciting was performing a duet with my colleague Janessa Dufty, in the Sydney Opera House, to what must have been more than 1000 people sitting all around us, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing Libertango live as we danced to it.

To be taken on a journey through this one mans’ mind, represented by 7 dancers all playing the same person. I want the audience to sit back and enjoy the beautiful dancing and be transported into the world that I’ve taken from my mind and brought into the physical space.

I would say my choreographic style is a combination of strong technique, interesting form and playful dynamics. I am always interested in moving/choreographing in a way that will result in something that shows strength/beauty and emotion and hopefully offers the audience a sense of dramaturge that they can potentially relate to in some way.

The freedom that it gives us as choreographers and the unexpectedness it can offer to an audience.

 

New Breed 2017 is at Carriageworks 30 November – 9 December.

 

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