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| Mirror Image Company Wong Jyh Shyong (standing centre) Elizabeth Cameron Dalman (standing right) |
A collaboration between Mirramu Dance Company/Dancecology/DPAC Dance Company.
Choreography: Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, Peng Hsiao-yin and Wong Jyh Shyong.
Lighting Design: Karen Norris
ANU Arts Centre 4th, 5th, 6th April 2014
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
There is
something very inspiring in the sight of doyen of Australian contemporary
dance, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman still performing and choreographing in her 80th
year. Martha Graham did it, so did Ruth St.Denis. There may be others, but it’s
still a very rare event. Since founding
Australian Dance Theatre in 1965, then later Mirramu Dance Company, Cameron
Dalman has continued to teach, choreograph and inspire generations of dancers
both in Australia and internationally.
Mirror Image is the culmination of collaboration
between Cameron Dalman’s Mirramu Dance Company, and two other dance companies,
Dancecology from Taiwan and DPAC Dance Company from Malaysia. Each of these
companies shares a compelling interest in the ecology and with Mirror Image they have combined
resources to express this interest through dance. Later this year, following
its premiere season in Canberra Mirror Image
will be shown in Taipei and Malaysia, despite the fact that it has received
no Government funding of any kind.
It was
disappointing therefore that the first performance drew only a small audience
to the ANU Arts Centre. Particularly as the small ensemble cast of Mirror Image included, in addition to
Cameron Dalman herself, Peng Hsiao-yin Artistic Director of Dancecology with her principal dancers Chen Yi-ching and Chen Fu-rong, and Wong Jyh
Shyong, the Artistic Director of DPAC Dance Company, together with Mirramu
dancers Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, Janine
Proost and Linton Aberle.
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| Chen Fu-rong/Janine Proost |
The work
itself consists of nine sections with titles such as Old Tree, Earth Moving,
Root and Earth, New Life, Human Footprint, Animal Spirit, Confrontation,
Mirroring and Life Force, all seamlessly interwoven and presented without
interval. Not all the references were obvious but memorable sequences included
the haunting opening and closing sections, both featuring the powerful presence
of Cameron Dalman, and others in which the dancers movements suggested rolling spindle bushes, various animals,
including goannas and crabs, performed to a haunting soundscape featuring bird
songs, rain and storm effects and music from an eclectic assortment of composers
including Riley Lee, Brian Eno, Gabrielle Roth, Andrew Ford and Canberran,
Kimmo Vennonen.
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| Chen yi-ching (standing)/Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal |
The
cavernous ANU Arts Centre stage was draped in black overhung with white silk on
which Karen Norris’s imaginative lighting design made effective use of
projected video images of waterfalls, bushfires and forest greenery.
To
accommodate the participation of three separate dance companies, attention had
obviously be given to creating an homogenous dance style for the whole
ensemble, however, given the quality of the dancers involved, one longed to see
more individual moments like that provided by Wong Jyh Shyong in his remarkable
solo performed naked except for a black G string.
Cameron
Dalman mentions in her program note these Canberra performances represent “the
first development” of Mirror Image, which
suggests further finessing of work will continue. However even in its present
form, Mirror Image is a powerful, thoughtful and accomplished
work which provides a unique opportunity to experience a remarkable
collaboration between dancers from different cultures drawn together by their
passion to influence what is happening in the world around them.
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| Chen Yi-ching |
(Photos: Barbie Robinson)
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 5th April 2014