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| Melanie Lane - Alison Plevey - Sara Black - Alex Voohoeve (back) |
Canberra
Theatre Centre Courtyard Studio 29th, 30th April and May
1st 2024.
Premiere
performance on 29th April reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
Ausdance
ACT’s 2024 Australian Dance Week got off to a stimulating start with the
premiere performance of Co_Lab:24, an
experimental dance exploration work especially commissioned by the Canberra
Theatre Centre’s New Works program and Australian Dance Party.
Australian
Dance Party leader, Alison Plevey, and ADP member, Sara Black, together with
guest dance artist, Melanie Lane joined forces with cellist Alex Voohoeve, Art
Music Award winner, Sia Ahmed and visual artist, Nicci Haynes, to create this
collaborative experimental work.
The work was
performed on a huge rectangular black tarkett dance floor with the audience
seated on a single line of chairs arranged around the four walls of the
courtyard studio. Musicians, Alex Voohoeve and Sia Ahmed were seated at each
end of the floor, with visual artist Nicci Haynes seated to one side, each
surrounded by their instruments and paraphernalia.
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| Alison Plevey - Melanie Lane - Alex Voohoeve in CO_LAB:24. |
As the
lights dimmed the three dancers took up positions on the floor and when the sounds
commenced each began reacting with individual broad athletic movements.
Alex
Voohoeve plays both electronic and standard modified cello. Although a trained
classical musician he is particularly drawn to exploring the tonal
possibilities of these instruments. Similarly Sia Ahmed works with electronic
gadgetry and her own vocals to produce her abstract soundscapes.
Working
together they spontaneously produced an extraordinary soundscape to which the
dancers either responded, or sometimes inspired, either individually or working
in pairs or trios.
A third
element was introduced with a large rectangle of light projected from above
into which Nicci Haynes created a kaleidoscope of colourful images utilising an
array of unusual objects. As the dancers moved through these images their
bodies became constantly changing mobile artworks.
The work
contained no storyline, the sounds no melody, however there was fascination
in watching six accomplished artists
sharing their individual skills to push boundaries in an attempt to create a
memorable experience for each member of their audience.
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| Alison Plevey - Alex Voohoeve. |
Particularly
memorable for this viewer were the final images with Plevey and Voohoeve alone
in the spotlight. After responding to the resonant sounds of Voohoeve’s cello,
Plevey left him alone in the spotlight. He continued to play on, but as the light
slowly faded to blackout, he gradually slumped over his cello, as if signalling
exhaustion from the creativity.
Images by Lorna Sim
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. artsreview.com.au