This page includes a timeline, artistic statement, video and audio support material for Shower Thots.
Eureka was made in 2020 in the 1st development and will be rearranged for electric guitar in the final presentation for 2023.
To read an artistic statement on Eureka by composer Gala Hingston scroll to the bottom of the page.
Promotional image featuring 2nd development dancer Damian Meridith.
Password for the video is shower
For grant panellists, watch any one minute from the first five minutes to understand the Perpetual Pause; from 5:00 watch any two minutes of Jayden Wall performing Devotion; lastly watch for two minutes from 20:35 to see one of the shower thoughts in action. The text will be said or sung by a volunteer in the audience.
June-August 2020:
This project was developed in 2020 under Chunky Move’s Solitude program supported by the Tanja Liedtke Foundation.
June-July 2021:
This project in 2021 was developed through a residency at Common Rooms supported by Melbourne Fringe Festival.
February 2022:
A one-week residency concluding at Common Rooms supported by City of Melbourne Quick Response Grants.
March or May 2023:
This project is currently a week for prototyping audience participation in Melbourne.
October 2023:
Rehearsal and presentation of Shower Thots at Melbourne City Baths as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival (pending project funding)
Summer 2024:
An international/interstate tour of Shower Thots in Perth for the Fringe Festival and Auckland Pride.
Eureka! A Gospel Revelation
Reflections from Gala Hingston
This section was designed to be a moment of revelation, the dance prompt being “I’m alive, I feel this sensation on my crown,” reflecting a form of internal alchemic breakthrough and shift in energy from the previous parts of the piece. Our initial considerations were to make this stylistically a gospel piece, but also as abstract as possible; using things like statements of numbers or mathematical formulas instead of lyrics. The distillation of what we wanted to express was a ‘Eureka’ moment, which became the eventual influence of the lyrical content.
While for Jonni, eureka was an exclamation that was associated with the California gold rush, for Gala it was related to the mathematical discovery of mass by Archimedes. This discovery took place through the use of displaced water to measure weight. Given initial discussions of using mathematics as lyrical content and the near-mythical associations of Archimedes discovering this principle and shouting “Eureka” while in the bath, the story of Archimedes ended up being the influence of the piece. In a clear storytelling modality, the first verse narrates about Archimedes discovering the weight of gold in a crown while in the bath and the second verse using gold as an alchemical metaphor of self-transformation.
The structure of this piece follows a fairly typical song structure of alternating verses and chorus with a bridge and final breakdown. However this structure was also attenuated by considerations of featuring a male solo (first verse), a female solo (second verse), and duet (bridge).
Sonically this was a departure from the previous pieces, focusing instead on accessible melody and song structure, major chords, and a brighter tonal palette. The initial aims of abstraction were incorporated largely lyrically, with the unexpected juxtaposition of a catchy gospel pop tune with anachronistic lyrics about an ancient Greek mathematician. The result is equal parts weird, enlightening, and joyous.
Eureka! I’m Emotionally Stable
Reflections by Jonathan Homsey during 1st development
‘I’m alive, I feel this sensation on my crown…I got an idea!’
This to me in the execution of the dancing did not meet the standard I desired as I originally worked on other ideas for the 4th section which completely failed and have been removed. I felt the ending of the work needed to be a joyous finale.It needed to be that sudden clarity about a topic, like a shower thought. I wanted to find that border artistically where it is ‘too much,’ In the shower alone I am extremely camp and imagine myself to a ridiculous fantasy world. This fantasy world is where I feel the happiness in the shower and also where choreography gets inspired for me. When is the ‘camp’ ness of ‘daggy shower dancing’ ‘enjoyable’ for the audience’? When does the pedestrian movement transition to set phrase choreography? Can it be silly and intimate?This whole choreography for Eureka is completely set ; I imagine it will be much easier to set outside of my body getting to watch the shapes of the body more zoomed out against the set of the bathtub. I am also curious if the song chorus was sung by the audience read by Gala. I believe the absurdity of shower thoughts and that joy needs to be spread and bleed across the entire space.
Jonathan Homsey 