Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre - 15th July 2015.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
“L” was
conceived as the second half of a two-part program to be presented in the
Dunstan Playhouse in Adelaide, this Saturday, to celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of Australian Dance Theatre, which Dalman founded in June, 1965. Australian Dance Theatre will provide the first half of that program.
Presented
for just two performances at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, prior to
its Adelaide outing, “L” proved to be a charming elegy to Dalman’s 50-year
contribution to professional contemporary dance in Australia.
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| Homage to Botticelli Miranda Wheen - Vivienne Rogis - Janine Proost |
Graced with
excellent lighting and sound design, and superbly danced by the six excellent
Mirramu Dance Company dancers, Hans David Ahwang, Amanda Tutalo, Vivienne
Rogis, Mark Lavery, Miranda Wheen and Janine Proost, together with Dalman
herself, “L” is performed without interruption, as a stream of consciousness
series of vignettes. Among them several examples of Dalman’s seminal
works, choreographed either by Dalman herself or with collaborators over
the years, including the striking “Old Company”
performed to bird sounds, the
super romantic “Homage to Botticelli”, the
deliciously druggy “Generation Gap” , and a brilliantly performed “Limousine for Janis”.
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| The Firebird, Miranda Wheen |
Interspersed
between these, are choreographic contributions by Mirramu Dance Company alumni,
of which Miranda Wheen’s sparkling interpretation of “The Firebird”, danced in
Dalman’s original red costume, and Vivien Rogis’s evocative “Sapling” were
outstanding.
Appropriately
Dalman herself is the connecting thread of the work. Whether retrieving a red feather dropped by
the firebird or, as an old woman struggling with a bag of stones which she
carefully places around the base of a sapling to become the symbol of the circle
of life, as each scene transitions seamlessly into the next, Dalman is the
reason.
But her contribution is much more than that. At one
point she performs a demanding solo, “Silver Lining”. Later she joins Hans David Ahwang in a
graceful duet, choreographed by Albert David, “Tree Spirit”. She even contributes some energetic jive
during the joyous “Dance Party”.
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| Young Woman Vivienne Rogis - Miranda Wheen - Elizabeth Cameron Dalman |
More than just
a life-affirming tribute to an extraordinary career, “L” is a superbly cohesive
work in its own right. Not only for the fascinating insights it contains into the
life’s work of a remarkable dancer and dance-maker, but also as inspirational
proof of the energy and continuing influence of this remarkable human being. As such it deserves a much wider audience.
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| Mirramu Dance Companu Hans David Ahwang. Amanda Tutalo, Vivienne Rogis, Mark Lavery, Miranda Wheen, Janine Proost, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman |
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 16th July 2015