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| "Alpha Beta" choreographed by Alisdair Macindoe |
Choreographed by Gabrielle Nankivell, Alisdair Macindoe, Ruth Osborne OAM
Composed by
Luke Smiles, Alisdair Macindoe- Adam Ventoura
Sound by
Kimmo Vennonen – Lighting by Antony Hateley
Costume
Design by Cate Clelland – Artistic Direction by Ruth Osborne OAM
Canberra
Theatre Centre Playhouse, 16th to 18th May 2024
Performance
on 16th May reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
The title of
this program is particularly significant in that it signals the last production
that retiring Artistic Director; Ruth Osborne OAM will produce for QL2 Dance. Osborne has been Artistic Director of QL2
Dance for the last 25 years and during that time has established the organisation
as a leader in innovative youth dance, earning it an international reputation
along the way.
Handing over
the leadership of the company to incoming Artistic Director, Alice Lee Holland,
represents a huge personal change for Osborne, and as has been her practice for
her annual Playhouse seasons to set a theme for each program for her
choreographers and dancers to explore, it was no surprise that this year’s
theme was ‘change in our lives and how we deal with it.
The Quantum
Leap ensemble for 2024 consisted of 25 young Canberra-based artists aged 13 to
23, and following her normal practice, Osborne has engaged experienced professional
choreographers and composers work with this year’s ensemble to create three
works to the chosen theme.
This year the
choreographers were Alisdair Macindoe, Gabrielle Nankivell and Ruth Osborne
herself.
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| "Kaleidoscope" choreographed by Gabrielle Nankivell |
Gabrielle Nankivell’s
work Kaleidoscope opened the program.
Created to a soundscape composed by Luke Smiles, Kaleidoscope consisted of a series of brief sequences separated by quick
black-outs for which groups of dancers took the stage to form intricately
choreographed tableaus in which they would resist, adapt and respond to each
other as a recorded voiceover intoned comments on the impermanence of the universe.
Although the
impetus for the changes was not always obvious, the tight ensemble patterns
demanded intense concentration from each dancer and were executed with an
admirable sense of awareness by each dancer.
Alasdair Macondo
created his own soundscape for his work Alpha
Beta. In which he explored ideas of individualism and collectivism. Commencing intriguingly with a row of lights being
lowered, the dancers formed lines to slowly progress across the stage before
suddenly stopping to pose.
Later they
would form lines and advance on the audience before again stopping suddenly to
touch their faces and exchange meaningful looks. Finally they began to move in
circles which progressively got faster and faster as a mirror ball created
dazzling patterns until one by one the dancers exited the stage.
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| "Voyage" choreographed by Ruth Osborne OAM |
The final
work which concluded the program was Voyage
created by Ruth Osborne. In a typically generous Osborne gesture she credited
seven young choreographers from QL2 Dance, Akira Byrne, Arshiya Abhishree,
Calypso Efkarpidis, Jahna Lugnan, Julia Villaflor, Jemma Farrall and Maya
Wille-Bellchambers as collaborators in creating the work.
While it’s
not possible to identify the contributions of each of the young choreographers,
Voyage contains all the hallmarks of
Osborne’s signature choreography.
It’s a
spectacular ensemble work involving all twenty-five members of the troupe for whom
Cate Clelland designed attractive outfits consisting of brown trousers topped with
neat white overshirts.
As with all
the works presented by QL2, there are no principal dancers, and because all the
dancers are involved in the creative process, they take ownership of their involvement
and perform even the most intricate moves with confidence and accuracy.
Voyage was performed to an emotive
soundscape by Osborne’s preferred composer, Adam Ventoura, who has provided a
succession of brilliant compositions for her creations over the years.
It was performed
in front of spectacular film of the dancers performing against multi-layered
images of themselves, created by another of Osborne’s frequent Osborne
collaborators, Wildbear Digital.
Finally,
there was Osborne’s much-admired signature finale, in which she references each
work presented in the program, in a cleverly choreographed, joyously danced, celebratory
bow.
With the
handover of the Artistic Directorship, QL2 itself will be ‘subject to change’.
However, by choosing her successor, Osborne has ensured she is leaving the
organisation in safe hands. Therefore while dealing with her own response to
change, Ruth Osborne OAM can look back with pride on her own significant dance
legacy.
Images by Olivia Wikner, O&J Photography
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
