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| DreamScape by Calypso Efkarpidis |
This new and returning crop of budding choreographers and creators have, under the mentorship of Alison Plevey, Alice Lee Holland and Emma Batchelor presented this year’s program.
A brief introduction and explanation of their work was presented by each choreographer, most of them aged between 15 and 18. Some introduced their piece white still literally catching their breath from dancing in the previous work, as the group of dancers and creators all perform each other’s works.
DreamScape by Calypso Efkarpidis opened with a dancer radiating coloured string from her bodice - the synapses and connections firing and processing dreams and waking states. In white shirts and black pants, the dancers had a workman-like appearance. Red lighting lit jerky movements and the dancers displayed impressive synchronicity, with nice isolation work from Coral Onn.
Arshiya Abhishree’s Out of Sight, Out of Mind had dancers costumed in maroon harem pants and moving to a relentless soundscape like a train grinding and whistling, where glitchy movements were performed and a striking scene created when dancers were lit against the back wall. The concept of dissociation was the inspiration for this piece. Akira Byrne is exceptionally physically expressive with a distinct dance-style that draws the eye.
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| Alex Potter, Dominion (Pupa) |
First time choreographer Alex Potter had his two dancers mirroring each other and controlling each other like a puppet on invisible string in Dominion (Pupa). A simple concept of power and domination and changing the balance of control was depicted in a work that required intrinsic cooperation and exact timing. The dancers became out of sync towards the end and it was unclear if this was an intentional transition in the dynamic or not.
Charlie Thomson, whose dancing is consistently exciting and outstanding, used his experience as an eczema sufferer as the inspiration for his work. In a jumble of descriptions from the program, he says the work is a bit different. The emergence of a dancer crawling onto stage like a caterpillar under a silver tarpaulin would prove him right - the piece being vignettes of ideas and styles rather than narrative for the most part. Tailored, raw-edged costumes were perhaps a metaphor for the physical symptoms of eczema. The melodic and lovely string music of Olafur Arnalds stood out as a juxtaposition with the theme but Thomson explained in a Q and A his interesting process in coming to that choice in music.
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| Sam Tonna’s Chromed and Polished |
Sci-fi books and movies inspired Sam Tonna’s Chromed and Polished where the boundary of human skin was compared to the potential of robots. Dancers in silver tops executed jerks and tapping movements with complete unison, working well together in tightly formed groups and creating a nice effect of fists becoming and manipulating a spine.
Opposing Gratification was Jahna Lugnan’s contribution to the program, with a soundtrack that slowly built pings and metronomic sounds and choreography that displayed a nice chemistry between Christopher Wade and Maya Wille-Bellchambers through repetitive movements increasing and decreasing in speed. Subtle humour punctuated the work, which made good use of the space, to explore the experiences of schadenfreude and freudenschade.
The inclusion of short film Catch and Release, filmed just outside the Melbourne CBD was described as showing adaption to a new environment - the makers having all moved to Melbourne. The direction included some nice angles and scenery and plays with some editing techniques but the choreography, performance and ultimate impact struggled to elevate it to a “dance” film.
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| A Destination should not be Expected, made and performed by Akira Byrne |
The program concluded with A Destination should not be Expected, made and performed by Akira Byrne. Performed with slow motion imagery of writhing and screaming in pain as a backdrop and a voiceover of autobiographical poetry, Byrne’s raw and graphic dance was a response to a recent traumatic operation and ongoing pain from endometriosis. Tangibly and dramatically, Byrne depicts trying to balance pain and grace, love and hate of part of one's own body, composure and hopelessness. Wearing a peach slip and gown, Byrne dances the interesting choreography with assuredness and confidence.
Thematically these pieces fit together through topics of the body and biology - the inner workings of body, skin, pain, a womb. The music is mostly digital with screeching sounds, pings, repetition. Jerky and manipulative movements recur choreographically to create a cohesive production.
Without program notes, the subject matter in many of the dances is not obvious, but rather the framework on which the creators hang their ideas and experiment with all the aspects of making a dance work. The experience of adapting a studio practice to a theatre is invaluable and gives these young creatives the chance to expose their vulnerabilities and receive feedback. Many have or are moving to Melbourne for artistic pursuits and it’s a shame to lose emerging talent such as these.
All photos by Olivia Wikner.
This review first appeared in abbreviated form at citynews.comau
