 |
| Marnie Palomares - Miranda Wheen -Alison Plevey - Melanie Palomares |
Presented by
LIZ LEA & CO
National
Library of Australia,
May 31st
- June 1st 2013
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Aviation may
seem an unlikely source of dance inspiration but with “InFlight” choreographer
Liz Lea has created an elegant, inventive, highly original and entertaining
dance work with which to celebrate Australian aviation achievements.
In the style
of a dance-doco the first act depicts two sisters (Marnie and Melanie
Palomares), first met performing a cute and clever burlesque fan-dance to “Red
Red Robin”. Vintage archival images and sound, clever lighting and excellent
period costuming combine to recreate a world fascinated by the exploits of
aviators, Amelia Earhart and Charles
Kingsford Smith, and the sisters quickly become absorbed into the world of
flying machines. A plane is built onstage, which eventually crashes, providing
an affecting conclusion with the four dancers moving among the wreckage.
The abstract
second act explores the world of birds. The four dancers wear gracefully draped,
feathered costumes to execute an intriguing choreographic repertoire of
stylised bird movements. Inhabiting a feathery environment designed by Naomi
Ota and moving to an atmospheric soundscape, they strut, preen, quarrel and
eventually unite in a beautifully realised finale. Miranda Wheen, Alison Plevey, Marnie and
Melanie Palomares each shine in individual solos, and dance superbly in the
unison passages.
Despite the
theatrical limitations of the National Library lecture theatre, “InFlight” is a
beautifully conceived and immaculately detailed dance work which constantly
delights the eye, intrigues the mind and excites the imagination.
(An edited version of this review appears in CITY NEWS 5th June edition)