When is it okay to move on from love?

'and JULIET' explores the question: "when is it okay to move on from love?" The performance highlights the importance of allowing ourselves to see the similarities in a new relationship, while also celebrating the difference's that this new partner brings. Starting at the end of the bards 'Romeo and Juliet' where instead of suicide and tragedy, 'and JULIET' shows a glimpse into this uncomfortable, sometimes funny, and always vulnerable process of building a new relationship while still feeling the aftershocks of the last.

'and JULIET' premiered with a sold out season at Brisbane's SUPERCELL Contemporary Dance Festival in February 2017 with an additional season at Toowoomba's Empire Theatre's in December 2017.

Audience reviews:

“Thanks for a wonderful performance. More people need to see this type of dance—Truly exquisite.”

“It was raw, visceral, beautiful and completely captivating.”

“I don’t go to many dance shows but I still found the performance intriguing, mesmerizing, thought provoking and utterly enjoyable.”

“Meaningful Dance Theatre”

Venue Format
Theatre, Black Box Venue
Technical Rating
D, The production can be modified to suit most venues
Touring Party
4
Considerations

Tarkett flooring is essential.

Jacob Watton is a Queensland-based creator, performer, and facilitator working primarily in Brisbane and Toowoomba Queensland.

In 2016 Jacob graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He went on to attain a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) with first class honours from QUT in 2017.

In 2017 Jacob premiered his work ‘and JULIET’ at Brisbane’s SUPERCELL Contemporary Dance Festival. He went on to secure funding to tour ‘and JULIET’ to Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre in 2017, as well as securing an international tour to South Korea, presenting at the Busan International Dance Festival in 2019.

In 2017, as part of his postgraduate research, Jacob presented ‘1:1’, a performance and technology production at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.

Most recently Jacob has toured regional and rural Queensland as Templeton the Rat in Rava Productions version of "Charlotte's Web". Since 2018, Jacob has been working on Angela Chaplin's "If Only I Could", a production partnering with aged care residents to explore the process of ageing.

On top of his performance and creative credits, Jacob works as a Teaching Artist, working within Schools and Studios to deliver curriculum goals and engage classrooms in the arts across Queensland.

Company Website
jacobwatton.com.au

Unique Selling Point

And JULIET is unique in it's accessibility to a broad range of audiences. Having enjoyed development processes at emerging theatre festivals as well as in dance festival contexts, the performance finds it's feet in dance theatre, where audiences for both genre's find something that is appealing to them.

This accessibility has been cultivated over the projects development by presenting workshops with young people as well as engaging with artistic peers and mentors from respective genres. Audience surveys have also been a consistent way of understanding 'and JULIET's' accessibility.

Marketing Materials

Marketing collateral including copy, poster and pamphlet templates, an archive of images from both previous seasons for online and printed marketing, as well as the structure of promotional footage is available.

Educational resources include a Teachers Guide to unpacking 'and JULIET' for high school aged students. The guide includes suggested exercises, additional information and interview transcripts, as well as suggested assessment tasks in response to the performance. In school workshops and residencies are available in companion to the performance. The Education Pack outlines connections to the Australian Curriculum in grades 7-8, 9-10 and senior school Dance, Drama, and English subjects.

Community Engagement

In the past community workshops with young people has proven to be an effective way of engaging the community with a higher level of understanding for 'and JULIET' as a theatrical, dance performance. As part of the Toowoomba season of 'and JULIET', an outreach program was developed. The outreach program was accessed by more than 50 young, regional participants. The focus of the workshops was on developing dance literacy skills using the concepts of storytelling, context, and relationship as key stones. Students in the workshops used these concepts in order to develop their own short phrases of movement with a focus on creating a clear image or story for the audience (the other participants).

The workshops intend to equip young audiences with tools to understand and enjoy 'and JULIET', as well as developing a legacy of continued engagement with, and a greater understanding of physical art forms.

The outreach program is an essential companion to 'and JULIET'. The more workshop opportunities before, during, and after the presentation; the better.

“ I don’t get many opportunities like this because of the lack of connections in my town . I’m very grateful and thoroughly enjoyed your workshop.” 14 y/o Regional Workshop Participant