Tomato Soup
Typecast Dance Company
A DanceWorks CoWorks presentation
Winchester St Theatre
80 Winchester St
Thurs. Jan 26 – Sat. Jan 28, 2012, 8pm
Interview by Lucy Rupert
Lucy Rupert: What is Tomato Soup all about?
Pamela Rasbach: Tomato Soup is a fictional story of a lover, an actress, a robot, and a ringmaster. Throughout their journey we witness each character’s relationship to consumerism and each other. Tomato Soup is inspired by the visual aesthetics of Andy Warhol. 
LR: What do you hope audiences experience at the performances?
PR: I have experimented with comedy, so I am hoping the audiences will enjoy this cheeky and playful work, which contrasts with my last piece [Missed Connections, 2010]. We are also excited to share a new work of Missy Morris, as part of our new initiative to promote other emerging choreographers.
LR: How did you decide to team up with choreographer Missy Morris?
PR: Missy has danced with Typecast since its beginning. When she expressed interest in choreographing, she was an obvious choice as our first guest choreographer. We wanted the company to collaborate with someone we knew well and trusted. We hope to include other emerging choreographers in future productions.
LR: How have you translated Pop Art into contemporary dance? What was your creative process (internal or with dancers) to explore this theme?
PR: Pop Art was used as visual inspiration to convey the theme of consumerism. Pop Art’s obsession with the object is explored as the dancers interact with each object on stage. There is also an element of chance in this piece, as the artists never dance with the same product twice!
LR: What do you dream next for Typecast Dance Company?
PR: We hope to continue to produce works that showcase the power and passion of young artists, and would love to give second life to our works by touring. Mostly importantly, we would like to continue having fun and sharing our love of dance with new audiences.
This interview has been edited for length and content.
Filed under: 2011/12 Season, Interviews, The CoWorks Series
