Black Coffee: Fully caffeinated dance in a fifties jazz club brew

Presented by Move Through Life Dance Company, With the Charlie Horst Jazz Orchestra
March 2009, Marion Cultural Centre, for the Adelaide Fringe Festival
Drawing on the cool of jazz, the aroma of coffee and the buzz of 1950s subculture, ‘Black Coffee’ recreates a living 1950s jazz club. But more than that, it immerses performers and patrons in a thriving world of live music, movement, human drama, and espresso.
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Black Coffee was a completely new kind of project for Move Through Life (now Dragonfly Dance), set in another time and world.
The aim was to create a 1950s jazz club, called Black Coffee, and to draw our audience into the club to see the floor show, and catch a glimpse of the lives of the performers in the club through a series of short and unrelated vignettes.
The performance included a live 11 piece jazz band, complete with horn section, which was exhilarating to dance with. We wanted to create an experience where our audience felt as if they were inside the club back in the fifties, witnessing the inner thoughts of the dancers and seeing what really went on behind the façade. We had a beautiful 1950s bar built by Craig McDonald, where our costumed front of house team served drinks and coffee (suppliedby Vittoria Coffee)
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Credits
Concept: Jo McDonald
Plot: Jo McDonald, Kirsty Duncan, Louise Durrans
Director: Jo McDonald
Assistant Director: Kirsty Duncan
Music Director: Dave Blackmore
Assistant Musical Director: Steve Long
Horn Arrangements: Nick Weston
Scripting: Paul Ransom
Graphic Design: Kirsty Duncan
Costume and set design: Alia Guidace
Lighting Design: Dave Blackmore
Choreographers
Kirsty Duncan, Melissa Hill, Karen Humphreys, Jo McDonald, Effie Saloniklis, Daniel Turbill
Dancers
Kirsten Alexander, Jenny Allard, Joel Anderson, Nadya Baryshnikova, Lia Cocks, Catie Cullen, Kirsty Duncan, Louise Durrans, Melissa Hill, Karen Humphreys, Jo McDonald, Kelly Moritz, Chelsea Nickels, Daniel Turbill
Actors: Brendan Blue (Sugar Daddy), Eddie Morrison (Charlie), Paul Richardson (Club Owner/MC)
Musicians
Vocals Simone Lee, Sandy Milburn, Paul Richardson
Guitars Steve Long
Double bass Dave Blackmore
Piano Nick Weston
Drums and percussion Greg Nightingale
Trombone Chris Koto
Bass trombone Matt Bald
Trumpet Brendan Hill
Tenor and alto saxophone Dave Ross
Supporters
City of Marion, Dance Informa, Directions Dance Academy, Plush Hair and Makeup Studio, Vittoria Coffee, Woodform Furniture and Kitchens
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Use the chapters to go straight to each item:
Part 1
0:00 Opening
0:43 Lipstick, blush, mascara, costumes (Black Coffee), by Jo McDonald
5:56 Showpiece 1 (Come fly with me), by Effie Saloniklis
9:03 Breathe deeply, focus, by Jo McDonald
10:45 Showpiece 2 (Fever), by Melissa Hill
14:16 Showpiece 3 (Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps), by Jo McDonald, performed by Lia Cocks and Nick Weston
17:35 Cooking, cleaning, sequins, glamour, by Kirsty Duncan
23:07 Showpiece 4 (Willow weep for me), by Jo McDonald
29:55 My ticket to the good life (You’d be so nice to come home to), by Kirsty Duncan
Part 2
33:55 I’d do anything to get into Black Coffee (Round Midnight), by Jo McDonald, featuring Joel Anderson
37:17 What about what I want, Charlie, by Dan Turbill, featuring Kelly Moritz and Eddie Morrison
44:00 Showpiece 5 (Sing Sing Sing) by Kirsty Duncan
47:29 Anxiety, fatigue, elation (Aafrican Flower), by Karen Humphreys
51:53 There is no greater love, sung by Sandy Millburn
53:46 Showpiece 6 (A Tisket, A Tasket) by Jo McDonald
56:37 Showpiece 7 (Bock to Bock), by Effie Saloniklis, featuring Karen Humphryes and Dan Turbill
59:05 Showpiece 8 (Don’t mean a thing) by Melissa Hill
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The debut performance of Dragonfly Dance (formerly Move Through Life) 20 years ago in 2004.
Every Friday night until August 2024, we'll be sharing a video from our back catalogue.
Our Student Showcase this year has the theme 'Wings of time: a 20 year metamorphosis', will be a tribute to our 20 year legacy, and will feature music from a dozen performance seasons.