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| Emily Bell - Carly Carter - Melissa Fawke in 'ESCALATE 11" |
Curated by
Liz Lea
Presented by
Ausdance ACT
Ralph Wilson
Theatre – 15th and 16th September 2017
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Now in its
second year, “Escalate 11” is a cross genre mentoring project in which young
dance artists are given the opportunity to explore different movement styles
while being guided and supported through the three-month creative process by a
team of dance mentors. This year those mentors were Douglas Amarfio, Natalie Ayton,
Liz Lea and Caroline Wall.
The results
of the process were show-cased in two performances in the Ralph Wilson Theatre,
providing an interesting and eclectic evening of dance, which commenced with the
first of two short dance films by Eamon Cross. Cross directed, choreographed
and appeared in both.
The first,
“Wall to Wall”, filmed in black and white on the Canberra Theatre stage,
depicted seven dancers performing an energetic, well-staged, break-dance
routine. While the grainy texture of the
film made it difficult to recognise the dancers, the complexity of the
choreography held the viewer’s interest. Less successful was the second film,
“De’s Vu”, featuring four male dancers. Because of the background of strong
stage lights it was almost impossible to recognise the dancers, or what they
were doing.
The live
dance performances commenced with eight urban dancers from the Tuggeranong Arts
Centre’s ‘Fresh Faced’ Young Choreographers initiative, giving a polished
performance of a slightly unsettling work entitled, “The Hunger Games”, stylishly
choreographed by Sarah Etherington and Melissa Markos.
Divyusha
Polepalli, a participant in the inaugural “Escalate”, returned this year to perform
an exquisite traditional Indian dance solo entitled “Tharangum” in which her
expressive use of hands and eyes showcased her mastery of the difficult
Kuchipudi technique.
Melissa
Fawke used classical ballet as the basis of her piece, “Fractalesque”, which
she performed with Marcel Cole to the dreamy piano solo, “Crystalline”. Both dancers possess strong classical ballet
techniques which Fawke utilised, along with clever lighting, to produce a work eerily
reminiscent of 1940’s Avant garde.
Which is
probably the reason why Carly Carter’s delightful solo, “Thoughts On a Chair”,
which followed, and which she performed to Nina Simone’s “I Want a Little Sugar
in My Bowl”, brought to mind a similar solo which Elizabeth Cameron Dalman
performed to a Janis Joplin song many years before Carly was born.
Adding even
more variety to the program, Emily Bell turned to the Kander and Ebb musical
“Chicago” for inspiration for her sassy solo, “Roxie”, which she choreographed
with Leena Wall and Liz Lea, and performed with all the aplomb of a Broadway
veteran.
The most
outstanding work of the night, however, was undoubtedly a beautifully realised,
and unexpectedly moving creation called, “That Extra ‘Some”. Choreographed and performed by Down Syndrome
dance artist, Katie Senior and Liz Lea, “That Extra ‘Some” utilised footage
from a short film, “Beautiful”, together with music from a variety of sources, to create an elegiac work celebrating a
remarkable friendship.
The sensitivity with which the work has been
constructed, the unselfconscious trust and joy displayed in performance, combine
to produce a remarkable dance work which should be experienced by a much larger
audience than will have that opportunity at these two performances.
This review first published in CITY NEWS on 16th September, 2017
