INTIMACY

Intimacy. 

Created and performed by Adam Dusien, Jazida and Noa Rotem. Produced by Chenoeh Miller. A Belco Arts Production.  The Theatre. Belconnen Arts Centre. October 22-23. 2020

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Enter the world of cabaret, of hopes and dreams, disillusionment and fear in search of love, of intimacy and the light that shines on the sweet taste of success. Created and performed by Adam Deusien, Jazida and Noa Rotem, Intimacy begs the question, “How can we find and maintain intimacy and connection at a time of a global pandemic and social distancing that keeps us apart?”

 Three performers, so very different and yet connected through their art, reach out to each other to find comfort and solace in a world that seeks to protect by keeping people apart.  The setting is a cabaret room. In the dim light one watches a woman dance, driven by impulse, possessed. One can just make out a figure on a table and another in the smoky lighting before a mirror. Nearby a clothes rack displays the costumes of the cabaret, the boas, the feathers, the tulle dresses and the clothes that hark back to the era of the Weimar cabaret. Tiffany Abbott’s costumes and set design complemented by Linda Buck’s atmospheric lighting design conjures the mystique of Berlin cabaret. It is there in the Martha Grahame movements of Noa Rotem before the show starts, reminiscent of an early Dietrich she moves with the searching longing of a lost soul. Through the dark, Kandor and Ebb’s soulful song Marriage from Cabaret  can be heard faintly as overture to this carefully devised, choreographed and staged quest to bring the different performers together. 

 With only six days to shape their search for intimacy in a distanced world, it is not surprising that the cabaret, in true tradition, focused on the individual talents of the skilled artists, and used the time to concentrate on a very tight choreography and physicality of interaction. Adam Dusien’s agonized lip-synched rendition of Sally Bowles’s Maybe This Time from Cabaret paints the painful scene of desperate dreams. Bewitching burlesque performer, Jazida, teases and enchants with her cheeky striptease and beautifully executed and exotic fan dance before the mirrors.  All three tread the cautious path towards physical intimacy, culminating in the eroticism of the shredded leaves and lascivious devouring of the cabbage.  Less sensuous than an apple or a pear, the cabbage lends itself to the ridiculous comedy of human sexuality.  Too drawn out is the repetition of a sequence of attraction as the couples come together.   Male and female climax their intimacy in orgasmic delight. Female and female discover a gentler intimacy cradled in each other’s arms. Both seek satisfaction in the fundamental need for human contact and intimacy.

Rotem brings the cabaret to a close with Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, Two Countries to remind us that “skin is not alone” and  “that people go places larger than themselves”, a sentiment that closes the show with Leonard Cohen’s haunting  Dance Me To The End of Love.

Intimacy is cabaret with heart. Three performer/collaborators take us on a journey to reach out for the light in the darkness. Whatever loneliness we feel, whatever desires we crave, whatever dark despair we confront this simple, honest cabaret reminds us that we are not alone.

 

 

Kamberra: Many Nations One Country

Photomedia | Brian Rope

Marissa McDowell and Lisa Fuller | Kamberra: Many Nations One Country
Belconnen Arts Centre | Until 25 October 2020

There is a Ngunnawal word which means meeting place: Kamberra. It is a perfect representation for what Canberra has become, particularly regarding the many First Nations Australians living here today. Stories from those communities is what this exhibition is about.

Kamberra: Many Nations One Country explores the diverse perspectives of First Nations Australian mob living in Canberra on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country. It explores local Traditional Owners and their connections which go back millennia, as well as diverse communities who’ve lived here for years, decades and in some cases, generations. It explores the idea of how these many groups relate to this Country, through numerous lenses.

This new media exhibition celebrates the beauty of Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, and the diversity of the peoples from all walks of life living there today – playing sport, attending schools, caring for the environment, writing poetry, telling stories, painting murals, dancing, sharing their culture, making glass artworks, playing with pets, and much more.

Arboretum - © Marissa McDowell

The collaboration, to gather and capture their stories, was commissioned by Belconnen Arts Centre. It was led by contributors - Wiradjuri filmmaker Marissa McDowell, and Murri writer Lisa Fuller. Through various connections and art forms, they sought to explore the idea of how the diverse groups from all walks of life relate to Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country. As they intended, they have respected how people always choose to identify.

Corin Forest - Drone Shot pine trees - © Marissa McDowell

McDowell is from the Wiradjuri Nation, Cowra, and has been living on Ngunnawal Country since 1984. She is a Wiradjuri woman with Irish and English heritage. She is also an independent producer at Black & White Films and has worked with Indigenous communities telling their stories through documentary film making, photography and writing. She also facilitates filmmaking workshops for youth and community.

Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello - © Marissa McDowell

Documentaries by McDowell have been screened on SBS/NITV; her poetry published through USMOB Writers and photographs displayed at PhotoAccess and the Sydney Living Museum. She has recently received her Master of Arts Screen Business and Leadership at the Australian Film and Television Radio School and is currently undertaking her Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage at Charles Sturt University.

In the photomedia parts of this exhibition we are shown video recordings of many people who agreed to be interviewed. They are displayed on a four-sided central plinth representing the ‘fire’ around which people yarn and share stories. The people are diverse – in ages, gender, and the country they are originally from. They also talk about diverse things, each revealing something of themselves. Around the walls of the new Pivot Gallery, other large screens share more about the lives and activities of members of the mob living here.

In an adjoining space, the exhibition also includes McDowell’s fine photographic portraits of eight Elders who took part. And there are various other visual artworks contributing to the overall exhibition.

Aunty Caroline Hughes Traditional Ngunnuwal Elder - © Marissa McDowell

Ngunnawal Elder Warren Daley - © Marissa McDowell

A book, also titled Kamberra: Many Nations One Country, is being sold at the gallery in conjunction with the exhibition. Designed by Fuller, it contains images from the exhibition and a great deal more, including some excellent poetry by Fuller, McDowell and various other people. The diversity of the First Nations people and what they do in Kamberra is clear in this publication.Fuller is a Murri from Eidsvold QLD, who has been living on Ngunnawal Country since 2006. She is currently doing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. Her first novel, Ghost Bird, is due out in October 2019.

For those of us who come from other cultural backgrounds, this exhibition adds to our knowledge of First Nations Australians.

This review was published by the Canberra times on 24.10.20 here. It is also on the author's blog here.

NORMAL

 

Written by Katie Pollock

Directed by Luke Rogers

Canberra Youth Theatre

The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre to 24 October

Reviewed by Len Power 22 October 2020

 

Long delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Canberra Youth Theatre’s production of Australian author, Katie Pollock’s play, ‘Normal’, finally makes it to the stage and in the Canberra Theatre Centre’s Playhouse, no less.

‘Normal’ is all about the pressures on young people to conform and succeed, the power of peer influence and the need to be accepted and fit in.  This play focusses on the plight a young woman but the issues presented could apply to young men, too.

Poppy, played by Holly Ross, has developed a tic which is spreading through her body. The perception of her affliction by friends and the society around her starts to raise major concerns.  Then her ‘disease’ starts to spread to others.

The strength in Katie Pollock’s writing is the realistic modern day dialogue between characters and the issues underpinning her play are cleverly and clearly presented.  More background to the characters would have helped to be able to fully understand the motivation for their behaviours as the play progressed.

The staging of this production is impressive with a starkly dramatic setting and a finely detailed lighting design by Gillian Schwab as well as subtle sound design by Kimmo Vennonen.  Director, Luke Rogers, uses the acting space very well, keeping his actors moving and relating naturally to each other.

Costuming was plain and would have benefited from props or accessories to denote the various characters played by the supporting actors.

In the main role of Poppy, Holly Ross is dynamic and impressive as the young woman with the affliction.  With the director’s help, more light and shade in her vocal delivery of this marathon role would have added a more believable level of naturalism.

There were some heart felt performances by the other three cast members but, from halfway back in the theatre, it was hard to understand what they were saying often.  The problem seemed to be twofold – lack of projection and clarity of diction.  It was right that the characters should speak as young modern women but their delivery was often too fast and indistinct to catch what they were actually saying.

It was good to see Canberra Youth Theatre tackling a play from a writer of the calibre of Katie Pollock.  The author was in the audience on opening night.  ‘Normal’ has been nominated for the 2020 AWGIE for Theatre for Young Audiences.

Len Power’s reviews are also broadcast on the Artsound FM 92.7 ‘In the Foyer’ program on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.

‘Theatre of Power’, a regular podcast on Canberra’s performing arts scene with Len Power, can be heard on Spotify, ITunes and other selected platforms or at https://player.whooshkaa.com/shows/theatre-of-power.

THE UNEXPECTED JOURNEY BACK - ART SONG CANBERRA

Sonia Anfiloff, Soprano

Kylie Loveland, Piano

Rowan Harvey-Martin, Violin, Viola

Wesley Music Centre, Sunday 17 October

Two performances: 3pm and 4pm

 

3pm performance reviewed by Len Power 17 October 2020

 

After 9 years in Vienna, soprano Sonia Anfiloff has returned to Canberra.  The choice of songs in her Art Song Canberra concert entitled, ‘The Unexpected Journey Back’, reflected her emotional response to her journey through life so far, the good and the bad.  She presented a wide-ranging and challenging choice of songs by Vaughan Williams, Korngold, Sibelius, Wagner, Copland, Brahms, Duparc, Richard Strauss and Rachmaninoff.

Anfiloff was accompanied by Kylie Loveland on piano and, on certain songs, by Rowan Harvey-Martin on violin and viola.  Both Loveland and Harvey-Martin are very well-known and respected performers here in Canberra and beyond.

From left: Rowan Harvey-Martin, Kylie Loveland, Sonia Anfiloff

 

The program commenced with ‘Silent Noon’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams.  This beautiful song set the emotional tone for the concert and it was sung with great delicacy and feeling by Anfiloff.  She was able to demonstrate both the power of her rich soprano voice as well as her ability to judge the right level of emotion that this song needs to be a very moving experience for an audience.

As the program continued it became clear how carefully the songs had been chosen to display Anfiloff’s voice and her ability to sing them with accuracy and feeling.

The dramatic passages of ‘Was it a dream?’ by Jean Sibelius were very well sung and the piano accompaniment by Kylie Loveland was superb.  Wagner’s ‘In The Hothouse’, was sung with great introspection and two works by Brahms were emotionally very effective.  The viola playing by Rowan Harvey-Martin was especially notable in the first Brahms song, ‘Assuaged Longing’.

Sonia Anfiloff

 

The final three songs of the concert by Henri Duparc, Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff were the highlights of the concert.  All very different works, they gave Sonia Anfiloff the opportunity to show her full range of skill and artistry.  ‘In The Glow Of Evening’ by Strauss was especially memorable. ‘Spring Waters’ by Rachmaninoff provided a welcome note of optimism and was sung with great spirit.

For an encore, Anfiloff sang Henry Mancini’s ‘Crazy World’ from the 1982 movie, ‘Victor Victoria’.  The emotion of this contemporary song fitted perfectly with the program of songs she had just presented, bringing this fine concert to a satisfying close.

 Photos by Peter Hislop

Len Power’s reviews are also broadcast on the Artsound FM 92.7 ‘In the Foyer’ program on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.

‘Theatre of Power’, a regular podcast on Canberra’s performing arts scene with Len Power, can be heard on Spotify, ITunes and other selected platforms or at https://player.whooshkaa.com/shows/theatre-of-power.

 

 

 

LEAP INTO CHAOS - QL2 Dance.

 

"Sympathetic Monsters " 

Choreographed by Ruth Osborne, Steve Gow, Jack Ziesing, Alison Plevey, Olivia Fyfe and Ryan Stone for QL2 Dance.

Canberra College Theatre, Woden, 15^th October, 2020.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens.

If there is an upside to the Covid-19 virus, it is the challenge it has provided to theatre-makers to come up with innovative new ways of producing theatre works. Like every other performing arts company, QL2 was forced to abandon its planned programs for 2020, including an overseas tour, and its mainstage season in the Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, which involved a major commission from choreographer, Jack Ziesing, on which work had already begun. .

Not to be deterred however, QL2 Dance decided to seek out a new performance space,  experiment with different ways of rehearsing, and offer two major performance projects,  Jack Ziesing’s commissioned work and the annual end-of-year “Chaos” program, as a double- bill entitled “Leap into Chaos”.

QL2 Dance’s annual “Chaos” project focusses on the young and less experienced dancers as the entry point into the Quantum Leap youth dance ensemble. This year, 53 dancers, aged from 8 – 19 years, some making their first stage appearances, participated in a work entitled “Touch”.

The great strength of QL2 dance is that it is more focussed on process, than on execution, and its works are always proudly ensemble. Under the guidance of professional choreographers, the dancers explore set themes, and are encouraged to contribute movement ideas suggested by those themes, which the choreographers are tasked to shape into a coherent performance.

Because their ideas become part of the end result, the dancers take ownership of the work. The fascination for audiences is watching the personalities of the dancers emerge, despite the variations in age and experience, as they perform often quite complex routines.

"Touch" 

Taking inspiration from Covid-19 restrictions, “Touch”, explores the effects of the withdrawal of a basic human instinct.  Five choreographers, Ruth Osborne, Steve Gow, Alison Plevey, Olivia Fyfe and Ryan Stone, worked with groups of dancers to create the seven episodes which make up the work.

Ryan Stone’s athletic choreography for his two episodes, “Tapestry” and “Find your Mark”, contrasted neatly with Alison Plevey’s whimsical, “Keep in Touch”, and  “The Butterfly Effect”, a gentle section encouraging care for each other, for which Plevey worked with Olivia Fyfe. 

Fyfe also created a section entitled “Can We Touch Now” for which she made clever use of face masks, and collaborated with Ruth Osborne and Steve Gow to create the opening section, “New Rule”. 

Osborne choreographed the final section, “Closing”, in which she cleverly corralled the 53 dancers into referencing each of the preceding sections, in joyful celebration of communal dance.

"Touch" 

All the sections of “Touch” were performed to an evocative electronic soundscape by Adam Ventoura, who also provided the intense, moody soundscape which drove the second work on the program, Jack Ziesing’s , “Sympathetic Monsters”.

 “Sympathetic Monsters” commences with a single dancer, in a tight spotlight, slowly performing a series of strange, zombie-like contortions. As the spotlight slowly widened, that dancer was replaced with another, and another, each attempting to outdo the other in pushing their bodies to extremes.

As each dancer was replaced, they retired to the back wall from where they observed their replacement until suddenly the stage erupted into a long, unison segment, performed with admirable precision, involving all the dancers performing to mesmerising effect, movements seemingly extracted from the individual performances.

"Sympathetic Monsters " 

Taking his inspiration from Shaun Tan’s book, “The Arrival”, Ziesing has created a remarkably mature and challenging work for the QL2 senior dancers, to which they’ve responded with astonishing commitment and finesse.

As is the norm with QL2 presentations, the technical aspects of both presentations was exemplary, particularly Cate Clelland’s muted-toned costumes for “Sympathetic Monsters”, which were both serviceable and appropriate, as was Craig Dear’s imaginative lighting design, and of course Adam Ventoura’s extraordinary sound design.

Because of Covid restriction on audience numbers, all performances of “Leap Into Chaos” are sold out. However, in another innovation for QL2 Dance, this program has been filmed for streaming on 23^rd October between 6pm and 9pm. Details on the QL2 Dance website.

                                         

                                                 Images by LORNA SIM

This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 16.10.2020

LEAP INTO CHAOS - QL2 DANCE

‘Touch’, choreographed by Alison Plevey, Olivia Fyfe and Ryan Stone

‘Sympathetic Monsters’ choreographed by Jack Ziesing

Canberra College Theatre to 18 October (live performances are sold out)

Streaming online 23 October –see QL2 website for details

Reviewed by Len Power 15 October 2020

For their first project post-lockdown, QL2 Dance presented ‘Leap into Chaos’, a double bill with the Chaos project, ‘Touch’, as the first half of the program and the Quantum Leap ensemble project, ‘Sympathetic Monsters’, as the second half.

‘Leap into Chaos’ is their response to the chaotic world we have been thrown into this year.

‘Touch’, choreographed by Alison Plevey, Olivia Fyfe and Ryan Stone explores our profound need for touch as an expression of communication as human beings.  Presented in seven sections, 53 dancers aged 8 to 19, gave us a thoughtful, dynamic and very colourful experience covering all aspects of touch, as well as the lack of it, in these unusual times.

The choreography was clear in its intentions and it was performed very well by every member of the troupe of dancers.  Especially memorable was the sequence in which the dancers wore dark clothing with white masks to signify the coming of the pandemic.  The use of shadows in this section was chilling and inspired.

Some sequences had a dreamlike, memory quality as if remembering good times past and to come and the joyously energetic finale was full of optimism.

The second half of the double bill, ‘Sympathetic Monsters’, was choreographed by Jack Ziesing and presented by the Quantum Leap ensemble.  Inspired by the book, ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan, it looked at the fear of the unknown that makes us see monsters where there are differences and uniqueness that bring balance and beauty to the world.

Ziesing’s choreography made strong demands on the dancers but every dancer showed that they had the skill and talent required to successfully present this choreographer’s vision.  It was stark and moody and required exceptional balance and control by the dancers especially in the slower-paced sequences.  Expressive hand and arm movement was a feature of this work, cleverly symbolising inner fears and nightmares.

Both works were accompanied by excellent atmospheric music scores by Adam Ventoura and the lighting design by Craig Dear of Sidestage was creative and well-executed.  There were fine costume designs by Ruth Osborne, Natalie Wade and the choreographers for ‘Touch’ and Cate Clelland for ‘Sympathetic Monsters’.

QL2 Dance have given us a strong program full of atmosphere with issues to make you think and the pleasure of watching fine young dancers of all ages performing their craft with enthusiasm and skill.

  

Len Power’s reviews are also broadcast on the Artsound FM 92.7 ‘In the Foyer’ program on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.

‘Theatre of Power’, a regular podcast on Canberra’s performing arts scene with Len Power, can be heard on Spotify, ITunes and other selected platforms or at https://player.whooshkaa.com/shows/theatre-of-power.