Dance Of The Bee

It’s an interspecies musical collaboration. Yes, you read correctly – another animal species will collaborate with humans to create a musical masterpiece. And no, that animal species will not be feline, despite their obvious musical talent.

As the title of the show suggests, Dance Of The Bee will feature the sounds of a hive of bees live on stage. The bees will accompany three pianists, Michael Kieran Harvey, Peter Dumsday and Joy Lee and the vocalists of the Astra Choir who are directed by Joan Pollock and John McCaughey. The bees will be contained in a specially built hive, that is transparent but sound proof so that they’re not disturbed by the sounds of the performance.

The 90 minute show, which is composed by Martin Friedel and presented by Arts House and Astra, focuses on the remarkable, yet mysterious song of the bees. These natural sounds of a hive at work will allow the audience to ponder the fragile connection between both species’ worlds.

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live,” Maurice Maeterlinkck said in his 1901 novel, The Life of the Bee. Humans have co-existed with bees for over 5,000 years and the performance will showcase the precious relationship between the two species.

It won’t be the first time bees have demonstrated their musical talent. Another composer recorded and edited the sounds of bees with a symphony orchestra and choir.

“I wanted to see how far I could take the recordings of bees into the realm of music. The bee produces about 200-230 wind flaps per second, which is enough to generate a nice, rich sounding buzz,” the composer said.

Dance of the Bee runs from Friday 11 September to Sunday 13 September at North Melbourne Town Hall.

Dance Of The Bee
North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Friday September 11 – Sunday September 13
melbourne.vic.gov.au/ArtsHouse/Program/Pages/DanceoftheBee.aspx