Canberra
Theatre May 25th – 27th 2017
.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
For this
program, Artistic Director, Raphael Bonachela has divided the Sydney Dance
Company into two separate groups of eight dancers. Bonachela has worked with
one group to create a work entitled “Ocho”, and invited Taiwanese choreographer,
Cheng Tsung-Lung, has worked with the other group to create a work called “Full
Moon”. Together these two works, under the umbrella title of “Orb”, provide an
evening of stunning contemporary dance which absorbing, sexy and exciting.
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| Sydney Dance Company in "Full Moon" |
For his
first work on the Sydney Dance Company, Cheng Tsung-Lung has employed an Asian
fusion dance style and a celestial theme to create “Full Moon”. His dancers, representing
various oriental deities, were costumed individually, in a variety of elegant
flowing costumes, mixed with exotic sculptural shapes. They moved in and out of
the shadowy, atmospheric lighting executing seemingly endless complex and
graceful combinations to create a meditative, Zen-like mood, enhanced by an atmospheric
score, by Lim Giong, which interweaves the sounds of traditional Taiwanese
instruments with sophisticated electronica.
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| Sydney Dance Company in "Full Moon" |
As the work
progressed, a black curtain rose at the back of the stage to reveal a huge gold
frame against an elegant, superbly lit backdrop, gracefully confirming the
celestial theme of the work.
In complete
contrast, both in mood and style, Raphael Bonachela’s work “Ocho”, a Spanish
word for eight, commenced mysteriously with dramatic lighting stabbing through
blackness. Eventually several figures are revealed, enclosed in a small glass
fronted room, which later turns out to be part of a much larger space. The
dancer’s costumes, grunge variations of active-wear, suggest that this may be a
gymnasium. The mood is sensuous and erotic, as the dancers mill restlessly
around the small room.
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| Sydney Dance Company in "OCHO" |
Then one dancer, Nelson Earl, escapes and performs an
extraordinary solo. The mood suddenly becomes explosive and dynamic, accentuated
by a driving soundscape from Nick Wales, which incorporates lightning strikes
which herald a succession of aggressive solos and combinations. Eventually the
work dissolves into an affecting unison section, performed to the sounds of
Yolngu songman, Rrawun Maymuru, performing a songline referring to the passage
between the Earth and the Milky Way, neatly referencing the theme of the first
work “Full Moon”.
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| Sydney Dance Company in 'OCHO" |
In his
program notes, Bonachela indicates that the impetus for his work was to explore
the virtuosity of his eight dancers, and “Ocho” certainly succeeds in this.
Cheng Tsung-Lung has been equally successful showcasing each of his eight
dancers in “Full Moon”.
In this way “Orb” is not only a
celebration of the sixteen
remarkable dancers who make up the current Sydney Dance Company, as well as the
extraordinary designers, composers and technical staff who surround them, but
is also a celebration of the special skills and foresight of the
remarkable director who leads them.
This review first published in the digital edition of "CITY NEWS" on 26.05.17