(Not a) rabbit dances
Dancer: Matthew
Dance Location: Square Chapel, Halifax
This is a dance that... is based on lies.
It's based on fake geography, on a made up history of Halifax as a gold mining town. As humans we have this long fascination with gold. It represents everything from beauty to slavery to corrupting power. The dance is about my queer relationship to the concept of gold and what it means to be beautiful as me in this world.
In the show I perform the dance twice. The first time in a full suit with a backing track of goldfinch calls and the second time in gold hot-pants to Goldfinger. Starting at my left nipple I cover myself in gold by drawing the golden ratio while Shirley Bassey sings 'beware of the heart of gold, this heart is cold'.
The dance appears without context. At first you might judge it as an appalling performance from someone who thinks he can dance but can't. Then maybe a minute or so in it starts to look more like a parody. Well, actually, it looks like a rabbit. It wasn't supposed to. I spent four full days making this and never once thought it was a rabbit until the post show Q and A when someone asked about the rabbit dance. I enjoyed how it was perceived, even though that's not how it was intended. I hope one day I can get everyone dressed in gold doing the rabbit.