The Bee dance is a story of rebirth and renewal and the important place bees occupy in the continuum of life. The moons depict the emergence of both plant and animal, their codependence on each other, and the roles bees play in sustaining that circle of life. As the dancers return to their starting spots this indicates the current circle is ending and they they lie dormant until the seasons are right to start the circle again
Darren Smith, Paawankayu Ngurampaa Ngyampaa Murdi from the northwest of NSW
Dancing with Bees officially launched in Orange, NSW on March 27. The opening event included a talk by Peter Gillespie Curator of Insects at Orange Biosecurity Unit and the bee dance by Lylah Maunder and Paityn Klaare. Brad Hammond, Director of Orange Regional Gallery explained “Dancing with Bees is the first digital public art commission in Orange and I am proud that an artist of Zanny’s calibre was the one to deliver it”.
Dancing with Bees focuses on bees from Wiradjuri Country, Orange, and surrounding areas, whose rhythms of life secure food production. In collaboration with the Department of Primary Industries, Orange, Zanny Begg created high resolution images of bees that form one face of the clock; one pollinator each hour, highlighting 12 different bees whose survival is bound up with ours.
The minutes will be marked by dancers who will interpret the specific look, colour or movements of the pollinators. Honeybees talk to each other by dancing, the inclusion of dancers will highlight this astonishing fact and invite audiences to think about what else we can learn from the insect world. The clock is functional but deciphering it encourages thinking about deep time.
TOP SCREEN
Over a 24-hour period a different bee specimen appears and slowly rotates for each hour.
These extraordinary images include 11 native bee species and the European honeybee. Each was photographed by the artist from the vast Insect and Mite Collection located at the NSW DPI Biosecurity Unit in Orange. Each image is assembled from up to 200 separate photographs using macro photographic equipment.
Through this artwork Zanny Begg reminds us that bees are a vital, and fragile part of our ecosystem and crucial for food production in our region. She also highlights the diversity, variety and beauty of the bee species that surround us.
Scientific research shows that bees communicate with each other through dance-like movements when they return to the hive, sharing important information such as the direction and distance to food sources.
TIMEKEEPING: If you look closely, you will see a brighter dot around the rim of the top screen indicating the current hour.
BOTTOM SCREEN
The dancers in the lower screen present a creative response to the bee in the top screen. The movements and costumes were choreographed to echo and interpret the movement, colours and pattern of that bee.
The dancers include young and emerging dancers from the Central West of NSW alongside leading dancers from across Australia. Local production team Little Image Co filmed the dancers in the Orange Civic Theatre in late 2023.