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| Nelson Earl and artists of the Sydney Dance Company in ab(intra) Photo: Vishal Pandey |
Music by Nick Wales and Peteris Vasks - Choreographed by Raphael Bonachela
Production and Costume design by David Fleischer - Lighting Design by Damien CooperSydney Dance Company – Canberra Theatre – 30 August to 1st September 2018
Reviewed by Bill Stephens OAM
For his first full-length work in six years Raphael
Bonachela has drawn on the extraordinary skills of his ensemble of virtuoso
dancers to create an astonishing abstract work which explores their emotional
and physical extremes.
Ab(intra), which is latin for ‘from within’ is performed
on what at first appears to be an austere setting, in spare, elegant costumes in
subtle tones of nude, white and black, to a combination of electronic and
orchestral music, the physicality and intensity of the dancers is mesmerizing
as they perform the seamless flow of intricate solos, duets, trios and ensemble
combinations which are beautiful to look at, and arrestingly achieved.
Damien Cooper’s extraordinary lighting design soon
washes away any initial sense of austerity with its use of lines and haze to
create a series of stunning environments. Nick Wales combined sections of a
Peter Vasks cello concerto, recordings of Australian cellist, Julian Thompson,
and his own electronic elements to create a moody, passionate soundscape to
enhance the astonishing physical and dramatic connection between the dancers.
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| Izzac Carroll and Janessa Duffy in ab(intra) Photo: Pedro Grieg |
In a work full of extraordinary moments, an erotically
charged duet performed by Izzac Carroll and Janessa Duffy, the central tender
and ecstatic duet performed by Charmene Yap and Davide Di Giovanni, and two
amazing solos danced by Nelson Earl and Ariella Casu were stand-outs which
astonished by the sheer virtuosity of their execution.
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| Davide Di Giovanni and Charmene Yap in ab(intra) Photo: Vishal Pandey |
Ab (intra) is another masterwork in a long line of
outstanding dance works created by Raphael Bonachela for the Sydney Dance
Company.
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 31st August 2018