Bonachela/Nankivell/Lane. Sydney Dance Company. Canberra
Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre. Thurs- Sat May 2-4.
WOOF
Choreographed by Melanie Lane. Photo Pedro Greig.
Sydney Dance Company is only showing the
Bonachela/Nankivell/Lane season for three days in Canberra, but fortunate
audiences will see a masterly collection of spare contemporary dance supported
on a bare black stage by subtle costuming and some highly impressive lighting.
The opening piece, Gabrielle Nankivell’s Neon Aether (lit by
Damien Cooper with costumes by Harriet Oxley) did not need programme notes to
suggest the strange world of outer space and the humans that might pioneer it. There
were silences and darknesses filled with the sounds of clanking doors and
engines. There was a questing feel to the alert movements of the dancers. There
was isolation but collaboration. Ursula le Guin’s Nine Lives, a challenging short
story about the implications of cloning, came to mind.
Raphael Bonachela’s Cinco was a more austere piece for five
dancers augmented by Damian Cooper’s imaginative use of moving lights. Here
Bianca Spender’s economical but draped costumes suggested ancient Greece or
Rome.
The final piece, Woof, by Melanie Lane, was rather more of a
crowd piece and warmer in mood and energy than the other two. Again, subtle costuming (Aleisa Jelbart)
and lighting (Verity Hampson) that involved some cunning use of black outs
supported masterly group work by the dancers.
Music from Luke Smiles and Clark supported Neon Aether and
Woof respectively with Alberto Ginastera’s String Quartet No 2 Op 26 being used
for Cinco.
It was a programme that showcased the power and beauty and intelligence of
contemporary dance.
Alanna Maclean
