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| Daniel Mateo performs "Cylinder" in "Salt Water" in Bangarra Dance Theatre's "HORIZON" |
Choreographed
by Deborah Brown, Moss Patterson and Sani Townson.
Composed by
Steve Francis, Brendon Boney and Amy Flannery
Set s
designed by Elizabeth Gadsby – Costumes designed by Jennifer Irwin and Clair
Parker
Lighting designed
by Karen Norris – Video designed by David Bergman
Canberra
Theatre 18 – 20 July 2024.
Opening
night performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
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| Bangarra dancers perform "Kulka" in "Horizon" |
Bangarra’s first
venture into cross-cultural collaboration has resulted in one of its most
mesmerising programs to date.
The program
commences with Kulka a short 20
minute work choreographed by Bangarra alumni, Sani Townson, who embraces his
Torres Strait heritage to create a work around the totems of the various clans
who inhabit the Saibai and Torres Strait islands.
Crocodiles,
cassowary, snakes, sharks and yam vines are referenced in a fascinating work
for which Elizabeth Gadsby has created striking costumes, and a stunning set that
features a huge sloped mirror suspended above the stage to reflect a Busby
Berkeley view of the dancers and their environment. A striking lighting design
by Karen Norris enhanced by extraordinary video images projected onto the floor
of the stage created a mystical evening mood.
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| Cassidy Waters & dancers performing "Life" in "Kulka" during "Horizons" |
Presented in
four sections entitled Life, Bloodline, Crocodile God and Adrenaline Kulka commenced with a depiction of
birth with Kassidy Waters in foetal position, being carried aloft by five male
dancers clad in extraordinary reptilian costumes which later featured to great
effect in the Crocodile God section. The female dancers, introduced in the
Bloodline section, were costumed in graceful sky blue, split-to-the-thigh
costumes decorated with gold sequins, were most effective in the interesting
lifts and groupings featured in Townson’s choreography.
The major
work of the program The Light Inside
was actually two works, Salt Water choreographed
by Bangarra choreographer, Deborah Brown and Fresh Water choreographed by New Zealand choreographer, Moss
Paterson.
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| Bangarra dancers performing "The Light Inside" during "Horizons" |
Both
sections featured ravishing costumes designed by Jennifer Irwin, an evocative
setting by Elizabeth Gadsby. Steve Francis and Brendan Boney composed the
soundscapes which drove the action.
As with Kulka both Salt Water and Fresh Water
employed the device of linking a series short abstract works given individual titles to represent the inspiration
for its creation and linked by an over-arching title, in this case The Light Inside. Both works shared the same set and costume designers and
composer. The two works were performed without a pause between, relying in the
change of choreographic style to differentiate between them.
Daniel Mateo
set the tone for Deborah Brown’s work Salt
Water with a solo entitled Cylinder
which celebrated the 141 wax cylinders on which anthropologist
Alfred C. Haddon preserved the sacred stories of his ancestors.
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| Courtney Radford - Maddison Paluch - Emily Flannery performing "Sails" in "Salt Water" during "Horizons" |
Courtney
Radford, Maddison Paluch and Emily Flannery followed with a trio entitled Sails for which Jenifer Irwin’s graceful
flowing costumes suggested the sails of pearling luggers and the boats which
brought missionaries and religion to the islands.
Similar
sections with tiles such a Divers, Reef, Boundaries and Rejuvenation followed,
danced by small groups or the full ensemble, with Lillian Banks particularly
impressive in a lovely solo entitled Blue
Star.
For his
section, Fresh Water Moss Patterson
took his inspiration from the stories, dances prayers and rituals embraced by
his mother and grandmother of the Ngati Tuwharetoa in New Zealand. His
choreographic style was much more aggressive than that of Brown’s, though no
less poetic. . All his sections, with one exception, involved the full
ensemble.
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| Bangarra dancers performing "The Light Inside" during "Horizons" |
The dancing
throughout was mesmerising, often incorporating moves associated with the Haka.
The notable exception was entitled Sacred
Hair in which four dancers ritualistically wove each other’s hair together.
This
departure in style from narrative and political works towards a more abstract
contemporary style of presentation has been achieved without in any way
compromising the mysticism associated with the Bangarra Dance Theatre
productions, has resulted in an evening of dance which can only be described as
STUNNING.
Images by Daniel Boud
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au