Concept,
Direction and Choreography by Alison
Plevey.
Costume
Design by Aislinn King -Lighting design by Ove McLeod
Sound design
by Alex Voorhoeve – Music performed live by John Mackay, Liam Budge
Dancers –
Ashlee Bye, Jake Silvestro, Levente Szabo, Patricia Hayes Cavanagh, Ryan Stone
LESS
Pavilion, Diary Road Precinct, Canberra. 4 -12 March 2022
Performance
on 4th March reviewed by Bill Stephens.
LESS
Pavilion is an extraordinary architectural fantasy conceived by Chilean architect,
Pezo von Ellrichshausen as a non-commercial public place and statement piece
for the Diary Road Precinct.
LESS
consists of 36 sky-high concrete columns which pay tribute to Canberra’s
brutalist architectural roots and which are accessed by a sweeping ramp leading
up to a viewing platform. Below is a series of shallow pools and 6000
individual plants to encourage visitors to explore, pause and reflect. This imposing
structure provided the perfect environment and an irresistible challenge to the
imagination of Australian Dance Party leader, Alison Plevey to conceive a work for
her company which would explore and expose some of the infinite possibilities
offered by LESS.
Plevey’s work, also aptly entitled LESS was first performed early on a warm, overcast Canberra evening, just as the light was beginning to fade. The more adventurous in the audience chose to watch from chairs arranged in shallow water. Some were barefoot to add an additional sensory experience, while others, thoughtfully pre-warned, chose gumboots or other protective footwear.
The less
adventurous watched on from the sweeping ramp as the haunting sound of a lone saxophone
heralded the entrance of the dancers attractively costumed by Aislinn King in sculptural
white and grey costumes.
The dancers processed
slowly through a pool behind the seated audience before making their way into
full view in the second pool. As they entered the second pool their movements
became larger and more athletic as they began to cavort playfully in the water.
Another
sound element was introduced, this time vocalist, Liam Budge, performing atmospheric
sounds into a microphone. Both musicians,
saxophonist John Mackay and vocalist, Budge, were costumed similarly to the
dancers and merged seamlessly among them.
Eventually Budge’s sounds became more guttural and the movements of the dancers more animalistic and primitive suggesting the timelessness of the structure.
As the
natural light faded and the Ove McLeod’s magical lighting flooded the sculpture
the dancers moved into the upper area of columns among which they climbed,
balanced between, crept among the columns to perform terrifying lifts and create
living sculptures with which to tease the imaginations of their audience.
LESS will
eventually weather and fulfil its function as a place to encourage personal
contemplation stimulated by the sounds of running water and wind blowing
through its columns. But for the present , while its many columns might provide
a challenge for performance this monolithic structure will tantalise the
imaginations of creative people, just as it has done for Alison Plevey and her
Australian Dance Party, who with LESS have created their own memorable site
specific work in celebration of its existence.
All photos by Lorna Sim
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
