WAYFINDER ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 24

 

 

Wayfinder

            Concept, direction and choreography,  Amber Haines & Kyle Page, Lighting Design Niklas Pajanti, Composition Hiatus Kaiyote, Sound Art & Design Byron J. Scullin, Sound Sculpture Design, Construction & Implementation Robert Larsen & Nicholas Roux. Visual Design Hiromi Tango, Design Associate Chloe Greaves. Design Assistant Jeanette Hutchinson, Polyrhythm Consultant Naomi Jean. Performers/Choreographers Marlo Benjamin, Sabine Crompton-Ward, Tiana Lung, Damian Meredith, Callum Mooney, Darci O’Rourke, Tara Jade Samaya, Felix Sampson & Michael Smith. Dance North. The Space. Adelaide Festival Centre.  Adelaide Festival 24. March 15-17

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Dancenorth Australia explodes with colour and movement in an opening sequence that bursts with the energy of youth. The young company of dancers erupt in a tribal celebration of clan pulsating with free abandon. It is the street dance of the young generation thrusting and pulsating with the defiance and individuality of their tribe. It is also the rite of passage of the new generation, seeking out the light, and discovering their way through life and stamping their identity through the vitality of their dance.

 Wayfinder is at times contagiously exuberant and at other times, pensive and questioning. Confidence and doubt create a thread through the work. At times choreographers Amber Haines and Kyle Page weave patterns of a close and reliant community and at other times during the journey in solo work and floor work expose the fear and uncertainty of the doubtful mind. The performance is backed by jazz/punk band Hiatus Kaiyote and their song Get Sun is an expression of the doubting heart. This is the world of angst and confusion. In a performance striving for answers, the dancers move through moments of self-expression, reliance on the group and finally a celebration of arrival at acceptance.

The inclusion of lamps which are held by the audience as well as the dancers at the moment of understanding and the long brightly coloured streamers immerse the stage in clolour and light. Japanese –Australian visual artist Hirori Tango’s imaginative design makes Wayfarer a feast for the eyes in the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre.  Wayfarer is a visual delight, whether bursting with exuberance in the opening ensemble sequence, or focusing on the solo dancer and their journey or returning to the group work and finally bouncing on the gym mat over a trampoline that converts into a wall that must be climbed to arrive at the end of the search. 

 Occasionally during the one hour performance the sequences are too long and repetitive. The visual surprise loses its impact after the blossoming image of arms and legs swaying in the space is too extended as is the rhythmic thumping of hands upon the mat. Overall, though, Haines and Page have created a visually and aurally effective expressive dance, ideally suited to the concerns and feelings of the young company.

Wayfarer offers the young a joyous journey of identification. It is infectious in its energy and vibrant in its imagery. It comes as no surprise that a largely young audience leapt to their feet to give a standing ovation to the dancing messengers of their tribe. 

Photos by Amber Haines. Interestingly enough these are not the fluorescent street kid  clothes worn by the dancers