James Batchelor and collaborators
Courtyard Theatre. Until 11 October.
Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.
Resonance is defined as when a vibrating object causes another to vibrate at a similar amplitude. Or if words are powerful and meaningful, they have resonance.
When James Batchelor was approached by the Tanja Liedtke Foundation three years ago to create a work that honoured her legacy, it sent him on a journey that would span continents, generations and time, eventually becoming “Resonance”.
In 2007, Tanja Liedtke had just been appointed as the new artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company, to take over from Graeme Murphy. At the age of 29, in the early hours of the morning in August 2007, she was killed in a road accident.
Batchelor gathered information and inspiration with and from several dancers that had worked or collaborated directly with Leidtke and knew her personally - Amelia McQueen, Anton, Kristina Chan, Theo Clinkard. Performing with Chloe Chignell, Leah Marojevic and Emma Batchelor, the Canberra performances also include a few of the senior local dancers from QL2. (Local dancers from each touring location will be included in performances).
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| Chloe Chignell, Leah Marojevic and James Batchelor. Photo by Olivia Wikner |
“Resonance” opened with spoken word - descriptions of Leidtke’s creative process, style, physical nature. Her choreography was theatrical in design. The dancers described her movement as “balletic, precise, frantic…” and a creator who was “playful and serious”, painting a vivid picture of a woman who had already garnered kudos and attention throughout the dance scene both here and abroad and was about to take the next giant step in a blossoming career.
The dancers ask “What is a legacy?” and Batchelor wondered “Is this Tanja or is it just…..us??” The end result of his offering clearly has his dance DNA all over it - the slow, considered, meditative movements at the start of the performance, but the idea of legacy being embodied in dancers and shared and passed on to each other and down through generations is depicted. So too are direct passages of dance and movement from Leidtke’s work "Twelfth Floor”, including costume.
The contents of a letter from Leidtke to Clinkard, that he reads from, gave goosebumps with its fortuitous nature and casual philosophising about contentment and living in the moment. It was a beautiful element to include in the production.
To open and close the show, dancers wore shimmering translucent fabric in a poncho style over casual tops, jeans and sneakers. This gave the segments an almost ghostly appearance. Audience members were asked to carefully hold the costumes, which created another small element of connection and passing things on to each other. 
Emma Batchelor. Photo by Olivia Wikner
Trios were regularly formed by the dancers. The group choreography largely consisted of balletic arms, small, contained jumps and chasses, pointed toes. The individual passages offered various interpretations of memories and impressions from working with Leidtke. Anton depicts the awkwardness of remembering. Dancers question the earnestness of contemporary dance and looking back, wonder was it all a bit hilarious.
Photo by Olivia Wikner
The circles eventually lead to embraces, a heartbeat is heard, hands touch and physical connection is made. This felt like an eventual connection, a coming together, a transmission of energy and information. It also depicted comfort in sadness - a goodbye - a funeral.
A clever, funny and entertaining duet between Chignall and Marojevic in the form of a stream of consciousness and precise, graphic poses analysed their thoughts and contradictions and offered the opportunity to contemplate what is and who creates a legacy, including the critics with their pens…
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| Leah Marojevic and Chloe Chignell. Photo by Olivia Wikner |
Music composed by Morgan Hickinbotham was performed live, beginning with electronica and sounds like a chopper going overhead and culminating in drums that filled the room and built to an almost deafening crescendo as the dancers filled the floorspace, running across and around each other, almost to the point of exhaustion, but with joy, freedom and fleeting moments of interaction. They created the dance version of a mosh pit.
The changing light outside the windows from afternoon light to dusk and dark added another layer of transition symbolism and the light turned white like moonlight upon the dancers.
As the performance unfolds, it's hard not to wonder what the Sydney Dance Company would have looked like had Leidtke lived to fulfil her role there.
“Resonance” is an emotional work, no doubt for those involved but also for those observing, who didn’t know Tanja Leidtke. Described as a “celebration”, it was clearly approached by the dancers and creators with reverence, responsibility and a desire to inform. It is an engaging, poignant, multilayered and informative work, beautifully realised, and portraying humour, exactitude, joy. Whilst the dance itself is ephemeral, the memory and legacy of Leidtke continues.
How lucky young dancers and choreographers are to have the opportunity to work with Batchelor and his contemporaries, to honour Leidtke and to learn, share and pass on their own body of work with those who come after them.
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| from the Canberra performance of Resonance. Photo by Olivia Wikner |
A documentary about Tanja Leidtke, “Life in Movement”, was made not long after her death.
