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| "Circle: Complete" - Sarah Long |
Directed by
Ruth Osborne – Lighting designed by Guy Harding
QL2 Theatre,
Gorman Arts Centre – November 21st.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
QL2 Dance’s
“Hot to Trot” program is an annual presentation which gives young aspiring
choreographers who have been through the QL2 Dance process an opportunity to
stretch their wings. This year, despite additional challenges provided by
Covid-19 restrictions, eleven young artists took up the opportunity, resulting
in an interesting program of ten works, two of which were outstanding.
Filmed dance
has really come to the fore during Covid-19 as young dancers quickly adapt to
the opportunities offered by streaming technology. Two interesting examples
began the program.
For her film
“Flowering”, Natsuko Yonezawa gathered images of young dancers engrossed in
rehearsal for QL2’s recent “Leap into Chaos” production. Using a circular frame
she transformed these images into a continuous kaleidoscopic sequence in which
the dancers merged into each other to suggest flowers growing and blooming. It
was a lovely idea superbly executed.
More
conventional but no less successful was Magnus Meagher’s film “Stairs”. Filmed
in various locations around Canberra, this light-hearted film followed three
young men as they experimented with interesting and athletic ways of
negotiating familiar stairways.
Perhaps it
was a mindset brought on by lockdown, but several of the works featured strong
driving music and mechanical movements. Among these were “Programmed Pulse”
created by Alyse and Mia Canton in which Alyse and Mia were joined by Cassidy
Thomson and Sofie Nielson to interpret the feeling of being stuck in constant
repetition each day.
Pippi Keogh
tackled a similar theme with four dancers for her work “(re)Strict” which
explored ideas of freedom and control, while Rory Warne, working with three
dancers, explored notions of the systematic workings of daily life with his
work “Face On”.
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| "I knew you'd come back to me" - Hollie Knowles |
Hollie
Knowles drew her inspiration from the songs of Taylor Swift to create an
interesting but not-always-obvious love triangle, performed by Alyse Canton,
Hollie Knowles and Sarah Long with her work “I knew You’d Come Back To Me”. Courtney Tha impressed with her clever,
cheeky solo “Faking it till you Make it” which had a surprisingly sinister
climax.
Sarah Long’s
ambitious work “Circle: Complete” energetically performed by Danny Riley,
Hollie Knowles, Mia Canton and Rory Warne, employing perhaps more calisthenics
than dance, attempted a complicated exploration of the Hero’s Journey by four
individuals. While it was difficult to discern from the movement whether or not
they were successful, it was certainly spectacular and entertaining.
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| Describe The Shape of T at The Beginning of The" - Lillian Cook |
Lillian
Cooks’ “Describe the Shape of T at The Beginning of The” was one of two outstanding
creations in this program for which Alyse Canton, Caitlin Bissett, Mia Canton
and Sarah Long, costumed in pink petticoats, responded to live voice overs
among an imaginatively-lit arrangement of ropes, chairs and cubes, created an
arresting dream-like, visually interesting and psychologically involving dance-
work.
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| "Similar. Same but Different" - Danny Riley |
The other was Danny Riley’s solo “Similar. Same but Different”, a touching homage to his dancer brother Jack. For this solo, Riley recreated a work that his brother had created some years ago around a big red chair.
Performing
in front of a film of his brother dancing that work, using the same red chair
and white tuxedo, Riley mirrored his brother, breaking out every so often to
express his own individuality. It was a
touching idea, superbly conceived and executed.
Images by Lorna Sim
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 23.11.20
