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| Tammi Gissell and Liz Lea in "Seeking Biloela" |
Directed by
Liz Lea
The Street
Theatre – Made in Canberra
October 26th
and 27th.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Prolific dance maker Liz Lea continues her fascination with birds and flight with this latest work “Seeking Biloela”, which consists of two dance solos, both ostensibly concerned with birds, one trapped, and the other endangered.
“Magnificus
Magnificus” is the most successful and accessible of the two. Strikingly performed
by indigenous dancer, Tammi Gissell, this work concerns the plight of the red
tailed black cockatoo, but it also echoes the life of the dancer. During the course of the work we learn a
great deal about the red tailed black cockatoo, its habitat and habits. We also
learn a lot about Tammi Gissell, a stunning dancer, who addresses the audience directly
and disarmingly about the habits and nature of the cockatoo, and the bush
turkey, and how both relate to her own life and experiences as a cabaret
showgirl.
Along the way
Gissell transforms into both birds, performs an impressive routine on
roller-skates, then executes her finale resplendent in high heels, a towering
red and black feathered headdress and showgirl feathers. This spell-binding tour-de-force
is accompanied by an evocative soundscape
composed by Adam Ventura, Eric Avery, and Graham Davis King, and
performed live by the latter two composers.
More complex
but less satisfying is Liz Lea’s own solo,”Kapture”, which opens the program. Attempting
to interpret the writings of activist Ahmed Kathrada through his favourite Hindi
song about a trapped bird, Lea incorporates classical Indian dance as part of her
choreographic vocabulary. Excerpts from Kathrada’s writings are heard as a
voice-over delivered to the accompaniment of an atmospheric soundscape
featuring tabla player Bobby Singh and performed within Christiane Novak’s
metallic installation.
While often visually
interesting, the dance vocabulary soon becomes limiting and repetitive, and the
relationship between movement and theme is often difficult to comprehend. An
ambitious work, “Kapture” suffers from a surfeit of big ideas which diffuse the
focus and prevent it from achieving the impact it initially promises.
