Second Echo Ensemble (SEE) is gearing up for its 20th anniversary season, including a black and white masquerade ball, a debut at Sydney Opera House and a trilogy of cross art form explorations.
Creative Director Kelly Drummond Cawthon describes SEE as a multi-arts organisation for diverse storytelling. “We’re riding that wave of making sure that our stages, record stores and art galleries have work made by people who may experience the world differently,” she tells ArtsHub. “Every story counts, and we’re here to find, train and illuminate the artists that have those stories to tell.”
SEE’s 2025 season kicks off with Relâche: The Last Dance on Earth at Odeon Theatre (27-28 February), a resurrection of French composer Erik Satie’s 1924 Dadaist ballet. This iteration features a cast of over 50 people, and audiences are invited to dress up in black and white for the masquerade ball.
Cawthon says it will be a visual and theatrical feast, featuring “an Eiffel Tower built out of pianos, a reimagining of the original 16-millimetre film, a chessboard on the floor that extends into audience seating, and an emergency sewing circle” to spice up some outfits.
In August, SEE will make its debut at the Sydney Opera House with The Adventures of Peacock, Chicken and the Pony They Rode Upon, to be followed by a homecoming performance at Theatre Royal, Hobart in September.
Also running from 1-10 August is III: A Trilogy of Cross Art Form Installations at University of Tasmania’s Plimsoll Gallery, as part of the Beaker Street Festival.
SEE will wrap up its anniversary celebrations across the Pacific at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. On Display is a public art installation and human sculpture court that challenges perceptions and invites reflection on traditional notions of beauty, disability and the body, on view from 3-4 December.
The Ensemble is driving innovation not only through artistic practice, but also in the way it operates. Even before COVID, Cawthon transitioned SEE artists from the gig economy into employee status. “We have to find a better, safer, more secure ground for our artists to work that allows them to take the risk creatively. We now have over 20 artists on the payroll, and it’s about recognising artists as workers,” she explains.
The breadth of partnerships and industry connections has also helped realise SEE’s ambition. This includes working with Midnight Feast, the Tasmanian Youth Classical Ballet Company, Mature Artist Dance Experience, Beaker Street Festival, University of Tasmania, Theatre Royal Hobart, Heidi Latsky Dance NYC and more.
“For anyone who faces an obstacle to participating in the creative industries, the door is open at Second Echo,” Cawthon adds. “Because of the way the organisation is operating, we know the ripples will go far – it won’t stop when the show is over, and it won’t stop at the artist who made that show,” she concludes.
