‘Dance of death’ turns disco as world premiere approaches

The Grim Reaper will appear onstage with a mirror ball when The Farm premieres No One Gets Out of Here Alive, a dance production about death that its creators insist is no funeral.

The Gold Coast-based company has designed the work for everyone who will eventually die. Gavin Webber, the company’s co-artistic director, said Western society preferred to avoid death, sideline older people and conceal the effects of ageing through measures such as Botox.

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That’s one of our failings in our society, that we don’t want to look at death, we want to ignore it because we want to live forever

“That’s one of our failings in our society, that we don’t want to look at death, we want to ignore it because we want to live forever,” Webber told AAP.

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They don’t want to hide it and put it under the rug, they want to bring it out into the open and have discussions about it

The production marks the first time The Farm has auditioned performers. Almost 100 people applied, and some of those selected are in their mid-60s, notable in a dance industry known for short careers. During development, the dancers spoke with people facing their own mortality, including a woman who had received a terminal diagnosis.

“They don’t want to hide it and put it under the rug, they want to bring it out into the open and have discussions about it,” Webber said. Humor helps the performers and audience approach the subject while acknowledging that grief can bring laughter and tears at the same time. Webber hopes the work ultimately becomes a celebration and a reminder of life’s fragility: “We are all alive in this moment, it is an ephemeral and fragile thing, but it’s the most beautiful thing that can be.”

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We are all alive in this moment, it is an ephemeral and fragile thing, but it’s the most beautiful thing that can be