THE EDGE - The Training Ground - Erindale Theatre

 

Emily McCoy (c) and the ensemble in The Training Ground production of "The Edge"

THE EDGE – The Training Ground – Erindale Theatre

Produced – Directed – Choreographed – Costume Design – Lighting Design – Music Editing:  by Bonnie Neate & Suzi Piani.

Lighting Design Associate & Special Effects: Alex Clifford

Music Editing Associate: Rob Aspinall.

Videography, Short Films & 3D Animation – Trent Houssenloge & Chris Curran

 Aerial Rigging: Jack Costigan – Audio & Digital Surround Sound: Ben Novak

Presented by The Training Ground – Erindale Theatre July 24^th & 25^th 2026.

Opening night performance on July 24^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Emily McCoy in "The Edge"

Established by dance educators and choreographers, Bonnie Neate and Suzy Piani, The Training Ground is a six-month intensive pre-professional contemporary dance program.

Designed specifically for exceptional contemporary dancers across the ACT and neighbouring regions, the program is designed as a pathway between studio-based training and essential preparation for those pursuing tertiary education or professional dance opportunities. 

The culmination of the program each year is a professionally produced original dance work which has become one of the highlights of the Canberra dance calendar.

The production this year was entitled “The Edge”, an abstract loss-of-innocence work in two-acts which traces the experiences of a starry-eyed young employee who becomes caught up in corporate power struggles which threaten to crush her ambitions and her mental health.

An ensemble work performed by an all-female cast of fourteen dancers, “The Edge” features exemplary, meticulously rehearsed, unison movement, demanding floorwork and strikingly choreographed solos and duets, supporting four principal dancers around whom the storyline revolves.

McCoy (Employee A) - Stella Woods (The Conscience) in "The Edge".

As Employee A, the ambitious young employee, Emily McCoy, costumed in a smart grey office uniform, commences the work, alone in a spotlight. Her solo suggests her optimism and enthusiasm for her new job.

Her new colleagues join her, all costumed the same as Employee A but in black and appearing rather less enthusiastic as they arrive for work.  All crowd into a lift which transports them to the work floor, where desks descend simultaneously from the ceiling and they begin unison repetitive tasks.

 

McCoy, who has already been offered a place in New York’s Joffery Ballet School’s 2026/2027 Summer School Intensives, in both the Contemporary and Classical ballet programs, as well as a scholarship for the Classical Ballet program, gives a captivating performance.

Already a superb dancer, she is also a gifted actor, capable of interpreting her character’s journey through youthful enthusiasm and growing disillusionment, before finally rebelling against the crushing of her ambitions.

McCoy is well matched by the three other dancers who play the characters influencing Employee A’s journey. Emma Prail plays the Office Manager who recognises Employee A’s potential and encourages her. Stella Woods is her conscience, who mirrors and questions Employee A’s decisions as she climbs the corporate ladder.

Tia Neate (The Upstairs) - Emma Prail (Office Manager) in "The Edge"

Tia Neate exhibits a remarkable dramatic presence as the powerful corporate boss known simply as The Upstairs, who attempts to force Employee A into the mould she has created for all her employees.

The storyline for “The Edge” is complex, often surreal, with demanding, abstract choreography by Neate and Piani, supported by extraordinary production values, brilliantly executed lighting and extraordinary projections and special effects, impeccable costuming and music choices. It also offers challenges for individual interpretation by its audience.

Emily McCoy (Employee A) and ensemble in "The Edge".

 

So while the creative purpose driving each production by The Training Ground, is to test and display the talents of each participating dancer and train each dancer in the skills necessary to adapt their individual talents to the visions of choreographers with whom they will likely work during professional careers, “The Edge” also provides a memorable evening of remarkable dance making.

    

                                           Photos by Eliza Swiderski..ES Fotografi

                     This review also published in AUSTRALIAN DANCE REVIEW.