SAGE BACHTLER CUSHMAN
Oliveira & Bachtler - OTUS 2016 -2023
Among others, OTUS has presented at -
Biennal Internationale des Arts du Cirque - France
Festival Vaudville Rendez Vous - Portugal
Teatro Viriato - Portugal
Dynamo - Denmark
Convento São Francisco - Portugal
Teatro Municipal De Vila Famalicão - Portugal
Dance House Wales Millennium Centre - Cardiff, Wales
Two beings living in an abstract world, Otus is rooted in human nature. Here is a unique perspective, a glimpse into their lives, motivations, relationships and habits. Utilising circus, physical theatre, movement, clown and set design Otus explores tension, the space between characters, objects and the wooden world in which they reside. With precarious piles of cut wooden planks, a rope, table and trapeze, their peculiar domain is set. Immersed in their own nuances and rendered through acrobatics, juggling, rope, trapeze and staff manipulation, their world unfolds.
'Occasionally baffling, often beautiful and arresting throughout, OTUS certainly deserves to be widely seen.'
British Theatre Guide
'Otus is a ‘sense-stirringly wonderful’ show that proves the value of harnessing specialist expertise in cross-disciplinary experiments. Neither, as-we-know-it, dance nor circus, the resultant compound is a distinct success.'
Katharine Kavanagh, Circus Diaries
'Bravo to the braveness of OTUS and the imagination of all involved.'
Art Scene In Wales
Supported by- Coreo Cymru, Chapter, NoFit State Circus, Wales Lottery Scheme, Arts Council of England and was chosen to represent Portugal in several European Countries as a part of CircusLink.
Oliveira & Bachtler - Kadok 2018
Festival Rendez-Vous - Braga, Portugal
Festival Rendez-Vous - Guimarães, Portugal
Festival Rendez-Vous - Famalicão, Portugal
Residency CACE Cultural do Porto - Portugal
Commissioned by Festival Rendez-Vous
Between walls, windows and cubic volumes, atmospheres oscillate between surrealism, futurism and abstractionism. Spaces unfold exposing both the micro and macro, doors open revealing everyday situations which materialise into choreographic paintings. Between rooms, cities and a labyrinth of corridors, banal situations take form expressing the inner universe of these characters and their relationship with the world that surrounds them.
Oliveira & Bachtler - Desert Trees 2015
Wales Dance Platform - River Front - Newport, Wales
Residency - NoFit State Circus 4 Elms - Cardiff Wales
Black-E - Liverpool, England
Residency - Black-E - Liverpool, England
Awarded further funding and support upon presentation at the 2015 Wales Dance Platform
Chapter’s creative producer of dance programme, Coreo Cymru, in association with Chapter and NoFit State Circus selected Company Oliveira & Bachtler to create work in two stages of development. The first stage presented their second collaboration, Desert Trees, to an international panel at the 2015 Wales Dance Platform. Upon presentation, Company Oliveira & Bachtler were offered continued support and funding through Coreo Cymru and Arts Council of Wales to develop a full-length production entitled OTUS.
Perth International Arts Festival - Perth, Australia
NoFit State Circus - Cardiff, Wales
Limerick City of Culture - Limerick, Ireland
Les Tombées de la Nuit - Rennes, France
Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Edinburgh, Scottland
Utrecht Theatr Stadsschouwburg - Utrecht, Netherlands
Biennale Internationale des arts du Cirque - Marseille, France
NoFit State Circus - Bianco 2014
Hired for the creation of NoFit State's multi-award winning show Bianco, Sage worked closely with director Firenze Guidi to create and then perform the finale of the show. She toured with the production extensively through Europe and Australia for three seasons as an ensemble acrobat and the closing number, including such prestigious seasons as the London Roundhouse, Wales Millennium Centre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013 & 2014, Les Tombs De La Nuit, Biennale Internationale Due Cirque and Perth International Arts Festival among many more.
Oliveira & Bachtler - OTUS 2014
Wales Millennium Centre- Weston Studio - Cardiff, Wales
Residency - Wales Millennium Centre - Cardiff, Wales
Supported and funded by the Wales Millennium Centre’s creative development program, Incubator, Sage co-created and presented a collaboration called Portas (now known as OTUS) which led to the beginning of Company Oliveira & Bachtler. This stage of development was presented in the Weston Studio at the Wales Millennium Centre in 2014.
NoFit State Circus - Bianco 2013
Roundhouse - London, England
Wales Millennium Centre - Cardiff, Wales
Brighton Fringe Festival - Brighton, England
Creative Common - Bristol, England
Bluestone - Narberth, Wales
Bangor - Bangor, Wales
Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke- on-Trent, England
Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Edinburgh, Scotland
Theatre Frycheiniog - Brecon, Wales
Hired for the creation of NoFit State's multi-award winning show Bianco, Sage worked closely with director Firenze Guidi to create and then perform the finale of the show. She toured with the production extensively through Europe and Australia for three seasons as an ensemble acrobat and the closing number, including such prestigious seasons as the London Roundhouse, Wales Millennium Centre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013 & 2014, Les Tombs De La Nuit, Biennale Internationale Due Cirque and Perth International Arts Festival among many more.
Tick Tock Aerial Dance - Domestic Variations 2011
New Orleans Fringe Festival - New Orleans, USA
Alley Up! - Seattle, USA
Residency- Versatile Arts - Seattle, USA
Sage collaborated with Tick Tock Aerial Dance, devising solo acts as well as co-choreographing and performing ensemble work in their production Domestic Variations. She was featured in several seasons of Domestic Variations including Ally Up and The New Orleans Fringe Festival.
Does Home Have Barriers?
The initial proposal video for support and funding applications. Filmed throughout Porto and Vila Nova de Famalicão in Portugal.
A project based around leaving one's home, culture and loved ones behind. Working with the overwhelming sensations that roll through a person in transition; memories, longing, waves of excitement or fear, nostalgia and heart ache, heightened sensitivity, impaired communication, personal adjustment and the ability to question one's own culture after gaining a new perspective to name a few. These attributes will be explored through movement, music, dance, circus and repetition. The composition of both movement and sound scape will be derived from the information gathered through interviews. The crew who have signed onto this project are Ashley John Long for sound scape composition, Anna Lee-Hoezle for sculpture, Ashleigh Georgiou as videographer and Sage Bachtler Cushman for composition, direction and production.