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| "Crawl" by Alyse Canton |
Directed by Ruth Osborne for QL2 Dance
Gorman House
Arts Centre 18th and 19th December.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Each year
QL2 Dance provides young aspiring choreographers with the opportunity to test
their talents by providing them with dancers, facilities and mentoring to
produce a work for presentation before a paying audience in its annual “Hot to
Trot” season.
In addition
to coming up with their concept, the choreographers are also responsible for
casting and rehearsing their dancers, organising costumes, props and rehearsal
schedules.
Mentored by
Ruth Osborne and Steve Gow, ten young choreographers took up the challenge this
year, and between them produced an ambitious program of eight staged works and
one film. In addition most also danced in works choreographed by colleagues,
adding value to their opportunity.
Magnus
Meagher produced the short film which opened the program. Entitled “Naturally
Urban” it followed three dancers, John Judd, Cassidy Thompson and Danny Riley
as the danced their way through a montage of beautifully photographed Canberra
locations to the accompaniment of Yomoti’s “Cats Walking”. Perfectly timed editing and imaginative
interaction between the dancers resulted in a thoroughly delightful short film.
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| "I, You, We" by Penny Amoore |
Perspex
magnifiers cleverly manipulated by five dancers, Alyse Canton, Akira Byrne,
Sofie Nielsen, Mia Canton and Tara Creamer-Banks, to explore concepts of identity were an
arresting aspect of Penny Amoore ambitious work “I, You, We”. Interesting music choices, clever well-executed
floor work, particularly in the second section as the dancers shadowed each
other, provided an engrossing and constantly interesting piece.
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| "Gold Beige People" by Hollie Knowles and Courtney Tha |
Hollie Knowles and Courtney Tha combined choreographic and dancing talents for their work “Gold Beige People”. A witty critique of the world of fashion, they incorporated elements of tableau, voice-overs intoning fashion advice with detailed sound and lighting with their own excellent unison skills to produce a delightfully entertaining work.
Drawing on her training in circus arts, Genevieve Rohrlach worked with three dancers, Alyse Canton, Arshiya Abmishree & Gigi Rohrlach, to produce a demanding, well-conceived exploration of control and manipulation, entitled “Inhuman Habits” which also incorporated impressive floor work.
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| "Webbed" by Sarah Long |
Sarah Long
choreographed and performed a striking, introspective solo entitled “Webbed”
for her exploration of human connection, which contrasted interestingly with
Akira Byrne’s charmingly inventive “The Saturation” beautifully performed by
Penny Amoore and Mia Canton to the music of Ezio Bosso.
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| "Preconceived Judgement" by Mia Canton |
Mia Canton
made interesting use of red masks, unsettling music and complex movement
patterns for her piece, “Preconceived Judgement” in which four dancers. Arshiya
Abmishree, Akira Byrne, Cassidy Thomson and Gigi Rohrlach, explored ideas of how people judge each other.
Similarly,
Alyse Canton also used four dancers, Sofie Nielsen, Penny Amoore, John Judd and
Danny Riley, but a completely contrasting movement vocabulary to produce a
dramatic work entitled “Crawl” investigating co-existence between underground
insects and humans.
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| "All Era" by Daniel Riley |
However the outstanding work of the evening was Danny Riley’s joyous “All Era” in which Riley, together with Cassidy Thomson and Tara Creamer-Banks danced up a storm, utilising a clever sound-track, several dance styles, including hip-hop, swing dance and even a nod to Gene Kelly, and well-executed costume changes, to produce an exuberant, thoughtful, funny and nostalgic homage, which together with his other contributions during the evening, marks him as a young dancer/choreographer on the cusp of an exciting dance career.
As with all
Hot to Trot presentations, each work was supported by impressive lighting and
stage management as well as opportunity for audience feedback following each performance.
All photos by Lorna Sim
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 20.12.21
