Artistic Direction
by Marko Panzic
Choreographed
by Sarah Boulter
Lighting and
production direction by Jeremy Koch
Music
production by Aaron Lee
Canberra
Theatre Centre Playhouse – 10th September, 2017
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Although The
Dream Dance Company was created by Marko Panzic in 2015, this performance of
their 2017 production, “Enter the Vortex” performed in the Canberra Playhouse
as part of a national tour was the first opportunity for Canberra audiences to
experience this exciting young company.
Panzic is well-known to Canberra audiences through his work with QL2, as
dance captain for the national tour of the musical, “Fame”, and especially for
his work on the television series “So You Think You Can Dance”. So it was no
surprise the “Enter the Vortex” drew a large audience of excited young dancers
to this single performance. They certainly got their money’s worth.
 |
| The Dream Dance Company in "Enter the Vortex" |
The program
consisted of twelve high energy dance works, all choreographed by Sarah Boulter,
and performed impeccably, without interval, by an ensemble of sixteen
ridiculously talented young dancers. The pace was set with Ben Zammit’s
superbly controlled solo, “The Calm”. The whole company was introduced in a
frenetic ensemble piece, “Chaos”, which segued into a testosterone-filled
number for the men entitled, “The Fight Within”. Eight girls in soft grey
shifts performed a lyrical piece, “The Voice Within” to the sounds of Loren
Hunter singing Roy Orbison’s “Crying”.
The
production values throughout were impressive, especially the intense, stabbing
lighting design and the dramatic, sometimes deafening, soundtrack.
Boulter’s
choreography was demanding, imaginative and spectacular. A passionate
apache-style duet, danced by Cat Santos and Dayton Tavares, featured a floating
table. Another piece featured dancers attached to each other by harnesses.
Dayton Tavares and Callum Mooney were combative in “Battle”, as were Bianca
Rezo and Lauren Seymour in “Give Me a Reason”.
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| Eden Petrovski and Neale Whitaker perform "When We Were On Fire" |
Frequent
bursts of spontaneous applause rewarded the meticulously drilled dancers, as
they tossed off spectacular moves with seemingly effortless audacity, passion
and attitude, in a non-stop show which thrilled, inspired and entertained, and
certainly whetted the appetite for future performances from The Dream Dance
Company.
.
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au