QL2 Dance
Choreographed by Ruth
Osborne, Jamie Winbank, Jake Kuzma, Alison Plevey
Theatre 3, 17-18
October 2014
Review by Len Power
18 October 2014
47
dancers aged 8 – 18 from Canberra and surrounding areas came together last week
to perform ‘For The Win’, the 2014 QL2 project for young dancers. This year’s work, according to Artistic
Director, Ruth Osborne:
‘explored the ideas of winning and
competition; looking at what qualities are evident in being a winner and
whether winning is the aim anyway. The
project gives young dancers an introduction to working with a choreographer and
moving beyond “just learning the steps”.
It includes thinking about concepts and emotions, creating new movement
through improvisation and tasks, selecting and refining the most effective
movement ideas and rehearsing until it all flows’.
There
were seven items on the program that segued cleverly from one to the next. Four of the items were choreographed
individually while another had two choreographers and the large opening and
closing items were realized by all four choreographers, Ruth Osborne, Jamie
Winbank, Jake Kuzma and Alison Plevey.
The
clarity of the purpose of each item was impressive. The opening item was exciting with all 47
dancers onstage together. The shift of
focus from one grouping to another was well handled and the dancing was precise
and joyful. Smaller groups performed the
next five items which were a good showcase for the individual choreographers. Jamie Winbank’s choreography for, ‘A winner is
someone who wins’ was very clear in its intent with an atmospheric use of voice
overs to accompany the dance. ‘All aboard
the loser express’, choreographed by Jake Kuzma produced a strong sense of
melancholy and the choice of music to accompany the dance was excellent. ‘Mind Games’ by Alison Plevey was probably
the most difficult concept to put across but her creativity and clear purpose
made this a particularly memorable item.
The next item, ‘A win for the girls’, choreographed by Alison Plevey and
Jamie Winbank, was outstanding – a clever concept around empowerment for women and
it was imaginatively staged. ‘Wintendo’,
choreographed by Jake Kuzma, was inventive and humorous with a clever and
creative use of hand-held lights to enhance the action. The finale, ‘The Finish Line’, was a rousing
climax for the whole performance.
The
confident young dancers displayed an enormously infectious enthusiasm. In the big items, it was exciting see all 47 performers
onstage together moving with precision and looking like they’re enjoying every
minute of it. I can imagine some parents
going along dutifully to see their child perform and coming away delighted that
they have seen something very special!
Originally
broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ showbiz program with Bill Stephens
on Sunday 26 October 2014 from 5pm.
