If only we could take the time: contemporary Australian photography

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

If only we could take the time: contemporary Australian photography

Ying Ang, Katrin Koenning and Anu Kumar

National Portrait Gallery I 30 November 2024 – 1 June 2025 

This show is being staged alongside the major exhibition Carol Jerrems: Portraits. The National Portrait Gallery (NPG)’s website says that it spotlights the work of three contemporary Australian artists whose work sits in dialogue with Jerrems’ legacy.

The exhibition title is taken from Jerrems’ preface to her 1974 publication, A book about Australian women. ‘There is so much beauty around us if only we could take the time to open our eyes and perceive it. And then share it.’ The NPG correctly suggests that contemporary Australian photography considers how the impulse to observe, to record and to share continues to propel photographic practice in Australia.

The images by each artist have been arranged in groups and each arrangement is an artwork in itself contributing to the narrative. There is also a display case containing three books – one by each artist – adding further to the overall experience.

Ying Ang is an acclaimed photographer and author with an extensive exhibition history. Like Jerrems she also produces photobooks. Her 2021 self-published illustrated book The Quickening: a memoir on matrescence is being exhibited here – both on the walls and in the display case.

Installation view featuring The Quickening, 2022 by Ying Ang

The term matrescence refers to the life-changing experiences of new mothers. These artworks chronicle pregnancy and the first months of motherhood which follow. In order to portray the transition into motherhood, eerie images taken on baby monitors are contrasted with gentle photographic studies that capture emotions of joy and tenderness as well as anxiety, depression, and claustrophobia. On the reverse side of the large panel where the works are installed is a considerable volume of excellent text which should not be missed.

Sample of the text on reverse side of Ying Ang’s installation The Quickening, 2022

The Quickening, 2022 (detail) Ying Ang. Courtesy of the artist. © Ying Ang

The Quickening, 2022 (detail) Ying Ang. Courtesy of the artist. © Ying Ang

Katren Koenning is an artist who carefully considers colours, textures, and tones. She also produces photobooks as well as exhibiting. She groups images, using works possibly created decades apart to reveal a portrait of family, friends and kinship. In her exhibit titled where will the story take us, 2002-24, we see a tattered book and its shadow on a dusty surface, a cat at a window, people, and more. A trawl through her Instagram account reveals the diversity of her imagery and her passionate approach. The individual pieces in this installation do not disappoint. Her illustrated 2024 book between the skin and the sea is in the previously mentioned display case.

Installation view featuring where will the story take us, 2002-2024 (printed 2024) by Katren Koenning

where will the story take us, 2002-2024 (printed 2024) (detail) Katrin Koenning. Courtesy of the artist. © Katrin Koenning

where will the story take us, 2002-2024 (printed 2024) (detail) Katrin Koenning. Courtesy of the artist. © Katrin Koenning 

I met the third artist, Anu Kumar, at the exhibition launch party whilst exploring her Untitled images. I had asked another viewer of the artworks if he knew where a named place, Ghaziabad, was in India. He said it could be described as an outer suburb of New Delhi. Then he introduced me to his cousin – the artist. She told me Ghaziabad definitely wasn’t a place that tourists would want to visit.

And yes, like Jerrems, Ang and Koenning, Kumar also produces photobooks as well as exhibiting. Some of the works here are from two of her books – Ghar (meaning home in Hindi) which is displayed features images from her birthplace - Ghaziabad, and After the Havan (a prayer ritual). We see an excellent visual articulation of her exploration of family and place that she had left when just one year old. There are images of everyday objects and people - including an aged, framed photo in an unused sink and the worn feet of (probably) a family member. The totality of the displayed work is very much a portrait.

 

Installation view featuring Untitled, 2024 (detail) by Anu Kumar

Untitled, 2024 (detail) Anu Kumar. Courtesy of the artist. © Anu Kumar

Untitled, 2024 (detail) Anu Kumar. Courtesy of the artist. © Anu Kumar 

So have these three photographers taken the time to see the beauty around them? I certainly saw beauty in their varied imagery. Have they chronicled intimate relationships and used their cameras to connect us emotionally with the things they experienced? I believe they have, but emotional responses must be your own.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

Max Dupain - A Portrait

Non-fiction Book Review | Brian Rope

Title: Max Dupain - A Portrait

Author: Helen Ennis

Publisher: Harper Collins

Helen Ennis, author of this portrait of Max Dupain, one of Australia’s most famous photographers, has previously written numerous other books including an acclaimed biography of Dupain’s first wife Olive Cotton. I have no doubt this almost identically long new book also will be highly regarded.

Ennis starts this book with a 1984 staged photo of Dupain by Melbourne photographer John Gollings, describing it as an “irreverent homage to a dominant figure in Australian photography” and using it to argue Dupain was “obviously determined to exercise as much control as possible over the terms of his own participation” despite appearing vulnerable. 

The author then describes the three worlds of Dupain – his domestic situation, his work, and his world of “his own creation.” Three things he sought to keep separate throughout his life. In the discussion of this there are a few observations I found myself immediately relating to. Another Australian photographer David Moore, one of Dupain’s long-term friends, is quoted as saying about him “he needed to photograph like he needed to breathe.” I would say the same about many people (including myself) – whether their passions are photography, sport, gardening or anything else.

Ennis also tells us that Dupain’s cousin Lucille thought his photography was a way of escaping from what was going on in the world. And that he, himself, saw his creative task as being to get to the essence of things. She also quotes from a foreword to Dupain’s 1948 monograph written by Hal Missingham, then Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, “Whatever he is photographing there is the same penetration of essentials.”

Those observations by Lucille Dupain and Hal Missingham both ring absolutely true for me. Being creative with their photography is the thing which truly motivates many people. No matter how good their documentary photos, their traditional landscapes, or the portraits taken for paying customers, their real joy comes from creativity during those times when they conceive an idea and then seek to produce artworks in response to that concept.

Ennis shares with her readers some unpublished advice Dupain himself prepared for graduating photography students. Drawing on personal experience, he clearly expressed his view they would have to photograph such things as lousy furniture, industrial complexes, brides and babies to earn sufficient money, because it wasn’t possible to live on “art” photography. However, the author’s book goes on to show and speak favourably about Dupain’s commercial photography as well as his artworks.

Amongst those of Dupain’s images reproduced in the 500+ pages, there are shots of his mother Ena (drying dishes), father George (in his library) and his wives (Olive Cotton and Diana Illingworth). There are some of his paid advertising pieces, beaches and beach culture, nudes, flowers and more. As Ennis discusses the images, we learn about photographers Dupain emulated, the “great creative minds” who most inspired him, his relationships with models, his interest in surrealism, his use of darkness to create mystery, his hatred of war, and the interweaving of his life and his art. There is just so much covered providing, as Ennis intended, a detailed and fascinating portrait of her subject.

Max Dupain - Evening wear advertisement for David Jones (Zara Gaden, Francis Bradford and Douglas Channel), 1938, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1984

Max Dupain - Jean with wire mesh, c. 1935, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 2006

Max Dupain - Silos through windscreen, 1935, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1983

There are some famous photos included, including Flight of the spectres made when he was just 21, and which very much impressed another high-profile photographer, Harold Cazneaux. Sunbaker, an impromptu shot of a friend taken in 1938 but not publicly exhibited until 1975, is his most well-known portrait and probably Australia’s most iconic image.

Max Dupain - The Flight of the Spectres, bromoil, 1932, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1979

Max Dupain - Sunbaker, c. 1938, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1976

Near the end of the book there is another portrait of Dupain - taken in 1991, just seven years after the Gollings one at the start of the book. This latter image is by another well-known Australian William Yang who also says Dupain sought to assert his control over the session, seemingly to project vitality whilst the resultant image actually reveals a “clearly unwell man.”

In her concluding words Ennis talks about Dupain idolising rare individuals who could rise up and create something extraordinary and poses the question of whether he had done so. She tells us he suspected he was not one of the exalted few, but rather an ordinary man with an exceptional talent. Obtain a copy and read this fascinating book, then decide for yourself.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

 

Eurydice

Play by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Amy Kowalczuk, Lexi Sekuless Productions
Mill Theatre

Season Closed
Reviewed by Samara Purnell (closing matinee attended)

Eurydice is all about words and poetry. Orpheus thinks, speaks and makes music. The lovers gently tease each other over their artistic passions and the way they see the world, in between bouts of making love, in sweetly choreographed scenes, as they prepare for their wedding. 

Eurydice (Alana Denham-Preston) and Orpheus (Blue Hyslop)

The tattooed and pierced body of Blue Hyslop as Orpheus contributes to a modern interpretation of an artist. Props such as telephones and suits blend Greek mythology with a contemporary telling. The loose white costumes of the lovers conjures up summers in the Mediterranean.  

On her wedding day, Eurydice, in a rounded performance by Alana Denham-Preston, is tricked by the Nasty Interesting Man and Lord of the Underworld (Michael Cooper) with the promise of a letter from her dead father, leading to her untimely death - the staging of which was creative and gasp-inducing, requiring a display of ultimate trust in the cast. Cooper’s performance is, in equal parts, eerily deadpan and menacing.

Alana Denham-Preston (Eurydice) and
Michael Cooper (Nasty Interesting Man)

Timmy Sekuless gives a brilliantly dignified and emotional performance as Eurydice’s father, languishing in the Underworld but continuing to pine for his daughter. The shadowing scene between the lovers and father during the wedding ceremony was achingly beautiful, as are his attempts to create a comforting space for her when she arrives, distressed and disorientated. 

Alana Denham-Preston, Blue Hyslop
Timmy Sekuless (Father)

Two levels of staging delineate the living from the dead, and every part of the small performance space in the Mill Theatre was utilised well. The set is attractive and practical and movement director Michelle Norris does a lovely job in choreographing and moving the performers around the space.

The Stones torment Eurydice

The Stones (Heidi Silberman, Sarah Hull, Sarah Nathan-Truesdale) costumed by Leah Ridley, in asymmetrical layers of textured, grey fabric and perfunctory make-up, delight in taunting the newest recruit to the Underworld. They water, spray and spritz Eurydice before she reunites with her father, only to realise she cannot remember words. The Stones work with wonderful chemistry and synchronicity, perfectly executing the timing and pace of each exhale, moan, cackle or vocalisation. 

The soundscape blends these elements, interspersed with French singing and music. With blue lighting breaking up the darkness and flashes of light (design by Jennifer Wright), all the elements of production came together in an appealing and effective display.

As Orpheus dreams and mourns for his wife, she learns the ways of the Underworld. Portals allow books and letters to be transmitted between the living and the dead. A glimpse of these disappointingly revealed typed letters, rather than handwritten ones.

Sarah Ruhl was inspired to write Eurydice (a retelling of the story of Orpheus) when her father was diagnosed and died from cancer. Tender and emotional, the script is punctuated with humour and thoughtful, quirky commentary on arts. The production depicts poignant relationships and is straight-out heart breaking. In a heart-wrenching letter to Orpheus’ future wife, Denham-Preston left the audience wiping away tears. 

The timing of the play was fast-paced, the rhythm impeccable. Eurydice was a confident, convincing and thoroughly rehearsed performance from the entire cast in the intimate space of the Mill Theatre, allowing the audience an emotional connection. Amy Kowalczuk’s direction of this watery work was beautifully and interesting staged, with considered and tender choreography, in this love letter to a daughter, father, husband and wife, music and poetry.

Father and Eurydice

This depiction of an eternal cycle of life and death, love, faith and timing has characters that say the lines:

“I will always remember your melody” and

“Remember to forget”.

This production of Eurydice is one that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Eurydice and Orpheus

20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Exhibition Review: Photography | Brian Rope

20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year I Various Artists

National Archives of Australia, Canberra I 28 November 2024 – 27 April 2025 

The Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year prize is celebrating its 20th anniversary in this exhibition - displaying winning entries from each year since it began. Developed by the South Australian Museum, the exhibition invites visitors to trace the evolution of photographic techniques over the past 20 years. 

Australian Geographic magazine says the bioregion that encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea possesses a unique natural heritage stretching back more than 80 million years, to the break-up of the great southern continent of Gondwana. And, together with the South Australian Museum, it is committed to enhancing general knowledge of this extraordinary legacy by encouraging photography of the region’s nature and landscapes and promoting it in this annual prize competition.

Promoting the show, National Archives Director-General Simon Froude says “These expertly captured images celebrate the unique diversity of our natural world. Nature photography continues to move, amaze and inspire us – and visitors can experience this best by taking their time to enjoy this exhibition.”

So, what is there to see in the exhibition? The images include one of the eye of a firestorm, a macro shot of mosquitoes on a treefrog, and one of a face-off between a Gentoo penguin and an elephant seal. There is also a rainforest dragon, two fighting egrets and a grey-headed flying fox drinking. And a great deal more.

2006 – Overall Winner. Rainforest dragon. Photographer: Stanley and Kaisa Breeden

2008 - Overall Winner. Fighting Egrets. Photographer: Allen Peate

The grey-headed flying fox drinks water in a unique way. They swoop low, skimming the water with their bellies. Then they lick their wet fur as they fly - and after then perching somewhere nearby. And did you know that mosquitoes feast on the forehead of tree frogs? These are just two examples of what can be learned from the images on display and the accompanying words about them.

2011 - Grey-headed flying fox drinking behaviour. Photographer: Ofer Levy

2006 – Overall Winner. Piercing Headache. Photographer: Matthew McIntosh 

Not having really followed this major annual competition, I was initially surprised to see Nick Moir’s 2009 Overall Winner Temora Bushfire. It beautifully captures nature's power and a firefighting aircraft attempting to control it. Speaking about it at the time Moir reportedly said. "The strong outflow winds from these storms drove the fires into inaccessible land, making firefighting on the ground difficult. Dangerous spot fires were hammered by the vigilance of the fire-fighting aircraft." So, why was I surprised?

I am not a Nature photographer myself but am aware that definitions used by the major photography bodies in Australia and elsewhere as to what is allowable in a Nature photography competition previously excluded anything that might be described as “the mark of man.” However, some research has informed me that is no longer the case.

Nowadays the rules applied by some of the most significant photography bodies worldwide say the most important part of a Nature image is the nature story it relates, that high technical standards are expected, and the image must look natural, and objects created by humans plus evidence of human activity are allowed in them  (but only when they are a necessary part of the Nature story.) Clearly, an aircraft is created by humans and a firefighting plane in action fighting the forest fire certainly tells a key part of the Nature story in Moir’s excellent photograph.

There is no question that the exhibition images are all of a high quality. They vary in the approach the photographers have taken to recording their chosen subject matters. They clearly show us something of the diversity of nature in the bioregion referred to earlier. We can all learn things about some creatures and parts of the natural world that we might previously not have known. These things alone make a visit to the exhibition most worthwhile.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHERS PROGRAM - QL2 Dance

 

Akira Byrne performaing "A Destination Should Not Be Expected".

 

Produced by Natalie Wade – Lighting Design by Aidan Bavington

Sound mastered by Kimmo Vennonen.

Mentored by Alice Lee Holland, Alison Plevey and Emma Batchelor

A Block Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre -14^th & 15^th December 2024.

Performance on 14^th December reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

One of the most interesting projects undertaken by QL2 is the annual Emerging Choreographers Program in which young dancers with an interest in choreography, who have participated in QL2 activities throughout the year, can test their creativity by creating a short work to be put before a paying audience at the end of the year.

To this end participants are provided with dancers, rehearsal spaces and professional mentorship to assist them bring their projects to fruition.

This year nine young emerging choreographers accepted the challenge resulting in seven performance pieces and a film, with the choreographers challenging themselves to express deeply felt complex personal issues in dance terms.

Calypso Efkarpidis performing "DreamScape".

The evening commenced promisingly with a work by Calypso Efkarpidis for which, upon entering the theatre, the audience was met by the choreographer, already in position, wearing a striking wearable art costume from which multi-coloured strings radiated entrapping her three dancers.

Entitled “DreamScape”, Efkarpidis’ work was an attempt to explore connections between dreams and waking life. As the work progressed Efkarpidis abandoned the strings to join her three dancers, Charlie Tomson, Coral Onn and Sam Tonna, to perform a series of strikingly lit sequences, which concluded with the quartet leaving the stage through an open door which shone light on the interesting patterns formed by the strings trailed by Efkarpidis as she too disappeared into the light.

Arshiya Abhishree and her dancers perform "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"

Arshiya Abhishree chose music by Oliver Coats and Elena Guro for her work “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” with which she explored out-of-body experiences.  Created on five dancers, Akira Byrne, Calypso Efkarpidis, Chloe Curtis, Jahna Lugnan and Maya Wille-Bellchambers, costumed in striking red trousers and black singlets, this work was very well danced with unison work contrasting with aggressive individual movement.

Juliet Hall and Coral Onn perform "Dominion (Pupa).

Exploring ideas of manipulation and power, Alex Potter’s creation “Dominion (Pupa) to the music of Ambient Ver and Invader 303, was made on Coral Onn and Juliet Hall, who took turns in manipulating and mirroring each other with puppet-like movements which demanded intense concentration from the dancers.

Charlie Thomson and his dancers perform "Don't Scratch"

Making a striking entrance hidden under a silver cloth, Charlie Thomson took inspiration from his own affliction by the skin condition, Eczema, to create an imaginative work intitled “Don’t Scratch” which he performed together with Chloe Curtis, Maya Wille-Bellchambers and Sam Tonna to a selection of music by Olofur Arnalds and others.

Attractive individual costumes and clever use of lighting and robotic movements resulted in a work which was continually visually interesting.  

Charlie Thomson with Chloe Curtis, Jahna Lugnam and Calypso EfKarpidis performing
Sam Tonna's "Chromed and Polished"

Thomson also joined Calypso Efkarpidis, Chloe Curtis, and Jahna Lugman to perform Sam Tonna’s work “Chromed and Polished” in which Tonna explored the relationship between technology, the body, and the soul.

 Again, attractive costume design featuring beige tops individually decorated by black plastic strips insured visual interest for a complex work performed with commitment by the four dancers required to work very closely for choreography which also employed robotic movements.

Maya Wille-Bellchambers and Christopher Wade performing "Opposing Gratification"

With her work “Opposing Gratification”, Jahna Lugnan explored the differences between Schadenfreude and Freudenschade. Her work was sensitively performed by Christopher Wade and Maya Wille-Bellchambers, who earnestly repeated similar mechanical movements either in unison or individually to the accompaniment of ticking sounds.

A film by Christopher Wade and Magnus Meagher, “Catch and Release”, featuring lovely  images of Wade together with Alyse Canton, running, tumbling and contemplating  glorious scenery on the outskirts of Melbourne, preceded the outstanding work of the evening, a work made and performed by Akira Byrne entitled “A destination Should Not be Expected”.

Akira Byrne performing "A Destination Should Not Be Expected"

Inspired by her own battle with chronic pain and endometriosis, this deeply personal work was performed by Byrne with an intensity which was as difficult to watch as it was to turn away from.

Wearing a flowing flesh-toned costume and performing in front of a screen on to which film of her performing in this costume was projected, while her superbly recorded and beautifully articulated voice-over described the excruciating treatment required for this condition, Byrne’s writhing, contorting choreography made it impossible not to feel her pain.

 It also provided a stunning example of the effectiveness of dance as a medium for illustrating ideas for which words seem inadequate.

The emerging choreographers and dancers for 2024 .

In the Q & A which followed the program, an astute member of the audience mentioned the similarity between the ideas being explored by the choreographers and the dance choices made to express them.

  Indeed it became obvious towards the end of the program that despite the sincere efforts of the choreographers to express their ideas in original and individual ways, it was often difficult to see how the movement choices illustrated the chosen theme. The though occurred during the evening that if several of the works had been strung together as one complete work they would have made an interesting abstract dance even if the inspiration for the movement remained opaque.

For many of the creators in this project their prime creative tools have been learned by their participation in QL2 projects.  Several of them dance in each other’s projects, so obviously when a choreographer hits a creative block, their dancers are likely to offer solutions they have found helpful in creating their own work, or consciously or unconsciously, utilise ideas they’ve found attractive in a colleagues work. An example in this program was the overuse of the open door as an affective light source in several of the works.

How these traps can be avoided will no doubt exercise the minds of future QL2 mentors. Meanwhile full marks for the 2024 choreographers for providing another evening of challenging and entertaining dance.

 

                            All images by Olivia Wikner - O & J Wikner Photography

LUMINESCENCE - CHRISTMAS CLASSICS

Luminescence Chamber Singers and Children’s Choir

Directed by Roland Peelman

Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest to December 15

 

Reviewed by Len Power December 13

 

With a large and varied selection of Christmas songs from around the world, Luminescence produced an evening of uplifting music that ranged from traditional Nativity hymns, Medieval carols and classic Yuletide songs.

With both the Luminescence Chamber Singers and the Luminescence Children’s Choir as well as internationally acclaimed organ virtuoso, Thomas Heywood, it was directed by Roland Peelman.

 The concert commenced with the familiar carol, Once In Royal David’s City, by Henri John Gauntlett from 1849. Boy soprano, Magnus Hoy, sang the haunting opening solo part from the gallery of the church. Joined by the Children’s Choir and the augmented Chamber Singers with Thomas Heywood on the organ, the combined sound was exhilarating, especially the dramatic finale.

Magnus Hoy and the Luminescence Children's Choir

Seventeen songs were presented in this hour-plus concert. Some were accompanied by Thomas Heywood on the organ, and others were sung a capella by the choirs. Songs from Germany, England, Spain, France, USA and Australia were heard in this delightful program.

Each song showed the variation in Christmas music from around the world and across the centuries. All were memorably sung and there were some notable highlights.

Coventry Carol from 1591 had music and text from the Pageant of Shearmen and Tailors in Coventry, England. With Roland Peelman providing the percussion accompaniment, the Luminescence Chamber Singers gave this a rousing performance.

Attributed to Catalan composer, Mateu Fletxa, Ríu ríu chíu, from 1556, this folk narrative was given a dramatic performance by the Chamber Singers that invoked all the passion of Spain.

 

The more recent The Paling of the Stars from 2012 with music by Cecilia McDowall to a Christina Rossetti poem was given a nicely sensitive performance by the Chamber Singers.

A Child Is Born in a 2024 arrangement of the music of Roland Hanna and Thad Jones was a hauntingly beautiful song with soloist, Magnus Hoy, again with both choirs.

Roland Peelman (Director), Thomas Heywood (organ) and the Luminescence Chamber Singers

Organist, Thomas Heywood, played an arrangement of carols including The First Noel and Good King Wenceslas. It was superbly played with a powerful finale.

Sleeping Child, a 2021 English song with music by Bob Chilcott and text by Charles Bennett was presented by the Chamber Singers with soloist, boy soprano Bryn Lymburner. His astonishingly clear voice and confident presentation was another highlight of this program.

Bryn Lymburner

The program ended with the augmented Choral Singers and Children’s Choir singing the well-known carols, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful and Stille Nacht (Silent Night). To hear these carols so beautifully and sensitively sung was the perfect end to this excellent Luminescence concert.

 

Photos by Peter Hislop

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 14 December 2024.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

  

Dance / “Emerging Choreographers Program”, QL2 Dance. Gorman Arts Centre. Until 15 December. Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

 

DreamScape by Calypso Efkarpidis

This new and returning crop of budding choreographers and creators have, under the mentorship of Alison Plevey, Alice Lee Holland and Emma Batchelor presented this year’s program.

A brief introduction and explanation of their work was presented by each choreographer, most of them aged between 15 and 18. Some introduced their piece white still literally catching their breath from dancing in the previous work, as the group of dancers and creators all perform each other’s works. 

DreamScape by Calypso Efkarpidis opened with a dancer radiating coloured string from her bodice - the synapses and connections firing and processing dreams and waking states. In white shirts and black pants, the dancers had a workman-like appearance. Red lighting lit jerky movements and the dancers displayed impressive synchronicity, with nice isolation work from Coral Onn. 

Arshiya Abhishree’s Out of Sight, Out of Mind had dancers costumed in maroon harem pants and moving to a relentless soundscape like a train grinding and whistling, where glitchy movements were performed and a striking scene created when dancers were lit against the back wall. The concept of dissociation was the inspiration for this piece. Akira Byrne is exceptionally physically expressive with a distinct dance-style that draws the eye. 

Alex Potter, Dominion (Pupa)

First time choreographer Alex Potter had his two dancers mirroring each other and controlling each other like a puppet on invisible string in Dominion (Pupa). A simple concept of power and domination and changing the balance of control was depicted in a work that required intrinsic cooperation and exact timing. The dancers became out of sync towards the end and it was unclear if this was an intentional transition in the dynamic or not.

Charlie Thomson, whose dancing is consistently exciting and outstanding, used his experience as an eczema sufferer as the inspiration for his work. In a jumble of descriptions from the program, he says the work is a bit different. The emergence of a dancer crawling onto stage like a caterpillar under a silver tarpaulin would prove him right - the piece being vignettes of ideas and styles rather than narrative for the most part. Tailored, raw-edged costumes were perhaps a metaphor for the physical symptoms of eczema. The melodic and lovely string music of Olafur Arnalds stood out as a juxtaposition with the theme but Thomson explained in a Q and A his interesting process in coming to that choice in music. 

Sam Tonna’s Chromed and Polished

Sci-fi books and movies inspired Sam Tonna’s Chromed and Polished where the boundary of human skin was compared to the potential of robots. Dancers in silver tops executed jerks and tapping movements with complete unison, working well together in tightly formed groups and creating a nice effect of fists becoming and manipulating a spine.

Opposing Gratification was Jahna Lugnan’s contribution to the program, with a soundtrack that slowly built pings and metronomic sounds and choreography that displayed a nice chemistry between Christopher Wade and Maya Wille-Bellchambers through repetitive movements increasing and decreasing in speed. Subtle humour punctuated the work, which made good use of the space, to explore the experiences of schadenfreude and freudenschade.

The inclusion of short film Catch and Release, filmed just outside the Melbourne CBD was described as showing adaption to a new environment - the makers having all moved to Melbourne. The direction included some nice angles and scenery and plays with some editing techniques but the choreography, performance and ultimate impact struggled to elevate it to a “dance” film.

A Destination should not be Expected, made and performed by Akira Byrne

The program concluded with A Destination should not be Expected, made and performed by Akira Byrne. Performed with slow motion imagery of writhing and screaming in pain as a backdrop and a voiceover of autobiographical poetry, Byrne’s raw and graphic dance was a response to a recent traumatic operation and ongoing pain from endometriosis. Tangibly and dramatically, Byrne depicts trying to balance pain and grace, love and hate of part of one's own body, composure and hopelessness. Wearing a peach slip and gown, Byrne dances the interesting choreography with assuredness and confidence.

Thematically these pieces fit together through topics of the body and biology - the inner workings of body, skin, pain, a womb. The music is mostly digital with screeching sounds, pings, repetition. Jerky and manipulative movements recur choreographically to create a cohesive production.

Without program notes, the subject matter in many of the dances is not obvious, but rather the framework on which the creators hang their ideas and experiment with all the aspects of making a dance work. The experience of adapting a studio practice to a theatre is invaluable and gives these young creatives the chance to expose their vulnerabilities and receive feedback. Many have or are moving to Melbourne for artistic pursuits and it’s a shame to lose emerging talent such as these. 

All photos by Olivia Wikner.

This review first appeared in abbreviated form at citynews.comau