For two nights only, the Second Echo Ensemble (SEE) presented a contemporary revival of the Dadaist masterpiece Relâche, paying homage to Francis Picabia and Erik Satie’s 1924 ballet. This bold reimagining blended movement, live art-making, digital animation and orchestral compositions into a compelling spectacle.
Originally intended for this year’s cancelled Mona Foma festival, this new iteration of Relâche was conceptualised by Kelly Drummond Cawthon and Musical Director Michael Fortescue to honour the centenary of Satie’s death. Following SEE’s ‘slow burn’ approach, the piece evolved over two years of weekly improvisational sessions, culminating in its debut with all creative collaborators brought together for the first time. The performance united SEE with Mature Artist Dance Experience (MADE), which are both celebrating 20 years of creative work in 2025, Tasmanian Youth Classical Ballet Company (TYCB), and over 30 community and professional creatives.
The evening began with an air of playful intrigue as audience members – dressed in black and white attire reminiscent of Truman Capote’s 1966 masquerade – queued outside the Odeon Theatre. Performers greeted them with whimsical instructions, posters declaring the performance ‘CANCELLED’ (Relâche, after all, means closed in French, a nod to the title’s origin as a practical joke), and a directive for all to enter via the accessible entrance (SEE seeks to champion accessibility in all ways).
Inside, roving performers added to the immersive atmosphere: wielding baguettes, rustling in paper dresses inviting audience interaction or leading attendees to various pre-show activities. Whether being sketched in the serene Le Chat Noir Bar, accessorising with ‘fashion paramedic’ Sabio, contributing poetry sent to a post office in an Eiffel Tower constructed of pianos or dancing along with a bawdy live band, the audience was free to explore their preferred sensory delights.
As the main performance unfolded, the chessboard stage and audience level floor became a canvas for surreal, Dada-inspired chaos. A parade of performers wielding umbrellas, prawn costumes and a rhino head wove through the audience, accompanied by eclectic visuals: a tank-like piano, an exercise bike, birdcages, a head submerged in a bucket of water and AI-manipulated projections.
The intergenerational orchestra anchored the performance, while SEE ensemble members presented evocative solo vignettes. Text fragments punctuated the scenes, such as, “When love is gone there is always justice, when justice is gone there is…” Heightening the theatrical absurdity, performers were dramatically removed from the stage, discarded into the wings.
Reviving Satie’s original score posed a unique challenge for Fortescue, as the sheet music for Relâche had been lost over the past century, so composer Thomas Misson orchestrated a contemporary interpretation. Along with Hans Eduard-Kooij, he performed Satie’s four-handed piano piece, which accompanied the cinematic entr’acte directed by Sandi Sissel – a standout segment. The film’s 16mm analogue-to-digital-to-analogue journey encapsulated Relâche’s whimsical humour and striking imagery, serving as a visual tapestry of the production’s motifs.
While Act 1 thrived in chaotic energy, Act 2 took a darker turn. MADE’s mature dancers replaced the youthful ballet performers, embodying the gravity of powerful speeches by politicians, dictators and influencers. The minimalist staging – smoke-filled and accompanied by metronomes – set the tone for reflection. The performance transitioned into a poignant finale featuring a poem by Jim Everett, a passionate vocal solo by Nicole Farrow, and an earnest plea to break free of restrictions, explore mortality and embrace liberation.
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For SEE and its collaborators, Relâche was a work of artistic scale. Some may have seen it as an eccentric, interactive masquerade; others may have viewed it as a profound and layered exploration of contemporary Dadaism and the absurdity of modern life. Either way, it was a celebration of artistic collaboration, offering motifs ripe for interpretation.
Relâche: The Last Dance on Earth
Odeon Theatre, Hobart
Creative Director: Kelly Drummond Cawthon
Music Directors: Michael Fortescue, Matthew Fargher
Poetry: Uncle Jim Everett – puralia meenamatta, Elise Romaszko
Assistant Choreographer: Aidan Chick
Production and Technical Manager: Jason James
Visual and Audio Design: Alex Moss
Surveillance and Antarctica Visual Design: K Verell
Lighting Design: Jason James
Costume Design: Elise Romaszko, Roz Wren, Julia Drouhin, Kelly Drummond Cawthon
Set Design: Kelly Drummond Cawthon, Maggie Jefferies, Natalie Holtsbaum, Nick Cummins
Stage Manager: Alexandra Chatwin-Dalgleish
Assistant Stage Manager: Angela Barnard
Second Echo Ensemble, Tasmania Youth Classical Ballet Company, Mature Artist Dance Experience
Guest Artist: Anna-Maria Väisänen
Emergency Sewing Circle: Sabio
Exquisite Corpse Installation and Life Drawing: Maggie Jefferies
Poparazzi: Laura Purcell
Film: Ursula Woods, Sandi Sissel ASC, K Verell, Jack Thomas Cawthon
Conductor: Alexander Rodrigues
Piano Performance: Hans Eduard-Kooij, Thomas Misson
Orchestration: Thomas Misson
Orchestra: Scratch Orchestra
Saxophone: Oyinbra Enisuoh
Original Song Composition and Performance: Nicole Farrow
Le Chat Noir Performers: Miettes
Relâche Artist Support Crew: Astrid Wells, Rodrigo Diaz-Icasuriaga, Samson Clark
AUSLAN Interpretation: Ben Richardson
Relâche: The Last Dance on Earth was performed 25-26 February 2025.
