Dancing about genes and climate change

A recessive gene’s potential extinction and environmental concerns have informed Dancenorth’s latest work.

Imagine a world without redheads. A world in which the gene responsible for giving people red hair has been bred out of existence.

While it might sound like the plot of a science fiction film, it’s actually a potential future event, according to Kyle Page, Artistic Director & Co-CEO of the Townsville-based company Dancenorth.

‘In 2007, there was this very contentious article in National Geographic which [suggested] that red hair is a recessive gene and a whole bunch of factors, from global intermingling to climate change, are putting that recessive gene’s survival at risk,’ Page explained.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts