MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY -

 

Dancers performing "magic mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY – The Chaos Project 2025 - QL2 Dance

Choreographed by Alice Lee Holland, Ruby Ballantyne, Olivier Wikner, Jack Ziesing.

Sound Engineer: Kimmo Vennonen – Videography: Liam Budge

Costume co-ordinators: Natalie Wade, Linda Uzubalis.

 Belconnen Arts Centre Theatre – 24^th & 25^th October 2025.

Matinee performance on 25^th October reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

The Chaos Project is staged annually by QL2 Dance to introduce young dancers to the delights and challenges of the arts of dance and choreography.  Each year young dancers participate in an intensive two- week rehearsal period, under the direction of professional choreographers, to create works inspired by the theme set by the Artistic Director.

 For the 2025 iteration, the title “Main Character Energy” was chosen by Artistic Director, Alice Lee Holland, as both a challenge and inspiration for the choreographers and dancers charged with creating new original works.

As Holland explains in her program notes, the words “Main Character Energy” is a social media phrase, which emerged during 2020, encouraging individuals to live their own lives.   Holland’s process involves the use of improvisation to explore, uncover and develop each dancer’s individuality. Once that is achieved, her choreographers are charged to draw upon their own choreographic skills to shape those contributions into an original dance work.

QL2 dancers performing "Once upon a time..."

For her own introductory work, “Once Upon a Time …” Holland introduced the full company, costumed individually in black and white, sometimes marching across the stage, at others, performing shapes and variations, during which a bright red apple carried by each participant, became an intriguing symbol of how the program would evolve.

QL2 dancers performing "The Sidekick Revolt!"

A long-time favourite of QL2 audiences, and currently an internee with Legs on the Wall, Ruby Ballantyne also worked with nine of the youngest dancers for her work, “The Sidekick Revolt”. 

After requiring each dancer to complete a prepared questionnaire, Ballantyne utilised their answers as the basis for self-recorded, voice-over introductions by each.  

Performed with gusto and enthusiasm in jellybean costumes, their answers were telling, and the resultant, up-beat dance-work, entertaining. But the aftertaste was a chill, rather than a thrill, when the final tot offered “revolt!” as her solution to a stated problem.

Although contemporary children live in a world filled with images of protest, dissent and destruction, surely more optimistic solutions should be encouraged in children so young.  

QL2 dancers performing "Magic mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

 Olivier Wikner explored aspects of narcissism with her work, “Magic Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”  Working in pairs, and strikingly differentiating by individual overhead spotlights, the dancers carefully mirrored each other’s movements. As their sense of confidence and self-empowerment grew, they broke away from the restrictions of the spotlights and joined larger groups.

QL2 dancers performing "Goblin Market"

Jack Ziesing appears to have approached his challenge from a different direction. Obviously commencing with a strong idea of what he wanted to achieve, Zeising no doubt incorporated the ideas of his dancers into that concept, supporting them with strong design ideas for his costumes and lighting.

As a result, although working under the same restrictions, albeit, with older dancers, his work “Goblin Market” stood away from the others, not only because of the sophisticated execution of the finished work, but also because of the commitment and polish achieved with his dancers, even the youngest.

With her second work "Like Water" Holland encouraged her dancers to look for inspiration in the wisdom of the great sorcerers as portrayed in such works as "Star Wars" (Yoda), "Harry Potter" (Dumbledore), and (Lord of the Rings" (Gandalf). 

So costumed in shiny silver, her dancers, aged 8 - 16, set off, with staffs at the ready, set off in search of their destiny.

A QL2 dancer sets off in search of wisdom in "Like Water". 

 But, although we may have nearly forgotten the damsels, we had certainly not forgotten the apples which re-appeared in Holland's finale - "Oops, we forgot the damsels..." which ended with the dancers, costumed in earth colours, having discarded the apples, falling into a dream, perhaps deciding to look beyond the temptations to technology  and social media to discover their real personalities. 

The enthusiastic applause which greeted the well-staged bows referencing each of the works presented in the program, was convincing acknowledgement of the success of the 2025 Chaos Project.

                                       Images by Olivier Wikner. O&J Wikner Photography