Expressions Dance Company and BeijingDance/LDTX
The Q
7 and 8 November
Reviewed by Samara Purnell
“For
you are dust and unto dust you shall return”
This is the lingering imagery upon the
conclusion of “Matrix”. Whilst creation and life and death
cycles, in both the artistic pursuit and existence itself, are the
overarching themes in this production, “Matrix” leaves the
audience contemplating subtext and emotions long after they have left
the theatre.
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| Image "Encircling Voyage" from Expressions Dance Company website |
Expressions Dance Company collaborated with
BeijingDance/LDTX (The LDTX in the Company’s title translates in
English to “Thunder that rumbles under the universe”) over a
five-week period, in China, to create this work for 20 dancers.
BeijingDance/LDTX is China’s first official
private, professional, modern-dance company, created with the
intention of giving dancers the scope to freely express their
thoughts and sentiments in today’s China.
“Thunder
that rumbles under the universe” is an apt description for the
Company given the political landscape, and the scope of this
particular work, especially as at the conclusion of the Australian
season, this production will be staged in Hong Kong.
“Auto
Cannibal” choreographed by Stephanie Lake was weirdly wonderful.
Part “Space Invaders” part nightclub, part organisms devouring
themselves and
swamping
each other. Somewhere between a galaxy and the deepest oceans, was
the
creation and destroying of ideas and life and
the interactions between
entities.
The
dancers scuffle and march across
the stage, often in clusters, executing
awkward-looking movements and angular shapes.
The
choreography shifts from frenetic to sudden stillness. Strong
solo work was performed to a repetitive, thumping, electronic
soundscape, with the staging simply the black curtains and wings.
At times it's as if witnessing the
lungs of the earth breathe in. And out. The dancers exhale.
The choreographers of “Matrix” have
brilliantly connected two very different dance works, with Chinese
choreographer Ma Bo’s work, “Encircling Voyage”, the second
piece. “We promise that we will be back” is part of the poem
describing her work.
The music by David Darling is hauntingly
beautiful. Strings occasionally met the sounds of babies crying and
echoes of whale calls.
Wang Yan’s costumes of marbled grey, black
and white gave the dancers a degree of androgyny, adding to the
relative homogeneity of the ensemble. Joy Chen’s soft blue lighting
design and fog created the ambience of twilight and sunrise as
mirrored benches were moved and raised vertically, throwing glimpses of blinding light into the audience. Although brief, the pas de deux
were executed effortlessly, with graceful lifts.
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| Image "Encircling Voyage" from Expressions Dance Company website |
The dancers created a contemplative mood, with
funereal overtones alongside school yard romances. The
performers expressed a sense of searching and of sadness and angst,
as though the process of discovery, transformation, death and even
love was a melancholic and sombre experience. It was moving and
mesmerizing to watch.
There
were sequences
during
both pieces when
the group ran in circles and bunched in a
tight cluster
that almost fell into predictable cliche.
The precision and synchronicity of the dancers
were exceptional across the entire performance – a necessity to
accentuate the dynamics of the pacing and to create the startling
visual impact.
The subtle elements that linked the works and
gave them synergy were appealing - specific movements in the dance
vocabulary, the hint of white (a stripe of paint on the skin and a
streak of grey through the hair), the snow to conclude the
first work and the ashes (or dust) in the second.
The longer the dances continued the more it drew the audience into the Matrix, at times to the point of breathing in sync
with the music or movements.
“Auto Cannibal” was thumping, quirky and
playful whilst “Encircling Voyage” beautifully depicted tentative
curiosity, naivety and melancholia, even sadness and fear.
“Matrix” is a highly polished, interesting
work, with well-appointed choreography performed intensely by this group of dancers. It was
deserving of a bigger audience than was in attendance on opening
night.
Artistic directors Amy Hollingsworth,
Willy
Tsao and Li Han-Zhong are
to be commended for bringing this exciting collaboration
to fruition.
Breathe
in. Exhale.
Be
drawn into the Matrix.