We Come Together To Dance.
Artistic
Director Alice Lee Holland. Choreographers Pat hayes Cavanagh. Alice Lee Holland.
Gabriel Sinclair. Isabella Stone. Rehearsal Assistant Jahna Lugnan. Lighting
Design. Owen Davis and the choreographers. Sound Mastering Kimmo Vennonen.
Costume Coordination Natalie Wade. Marketing Design Rob Clode –
Limegreentangerine. Photography Olivia Wikner. Videography Creswick. Quantum
Leap Australia. Belconnen Theatre, October 16-18 2026. Bookings
belcoarts.com.au
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
The lights come up on a sea of
colour. The stage is filled with yellows and greens, blues and reds, pink and
orange in the t-shirts and pants that the Quantum Leap ensemble wear in a
salute to the warm glow of the coming Summer. In a gesture of pure cool the
young dancers don sunglasses before in a surge of explosive energy they leap
into dance. Each movement ripples with joy as the stage bursts in celebration
of the dance and the wonders of rhythm, motion, action and exuberant choreography.
What is most remarkable as I
watch choreographers Quantum Leap’s Artistic Director Alice Lee Holland,
Isabella Stone, Pat Hayes and Gabriel Sinclair lead the ensemble through a
sequence of contemporary dance performances is that We Come Together To
Dance was created in just ten intensive days as a result of the school
holiday 2026 Chaos Project. At Gorman House 40 young dancers from the early ages
to the late teenage years work with the choreographers to explore their bodies
in time to the musical impulses of such pieces as Alore on Danse, Stromae, Jam
Fam – Maxi Version, Planning to Rock, Parting Ways,Max Cooper/ Superstylin’,
Groove Armada, Gabriel Sinclair’s We dance to Conme Togteher , Windor Toccata
(Symphony No. 5) -Ripon Cathedral Pipe Organ, Jonathan Scott/Magic, Inigo
Vontier/ Girl Nap, Brian McBride/ I feel Love (Acapella)/Donna Summer Cover),
Devastation and finally in Alice Lee Holland’s closing piece in collaboration
with the cast Gold by Spandau Ballet. I mention all musical items as an
indication of the wonderful diversity of contemporary dance movements and
physical separation and gesture that typify the sheer variations of Quantum
Leap’s celebration of the dance.
Each work celebrates
togetherness, the power and the beauty of the unifying wonder of the dance while
allowing the individuality of each dancer to emerge through hip hop, break
dance, cartwheels, gymnastic, the splits and free expression of the body in
motion. A sequence salutes separation of the parts of the body while another
celebrates identity. The programme is a kaleidoscope of joyfulness, tightly
choreographed in uniform collaboration while still exuding a liberating impulse
of individual freedom. Every moment is uplifting, every sequence offering
surprise and pleasure
The older cast members under
Sinclair’s choreography depict the dull conformity of life as a public servant
in grey jackets and stooped movements, huddled together until the spirit of the
dance that is in each and every one of us breaks free from the group to
discover the freedom of self-expression. There are echoes of a Shaun Tan
illustration in its nod to the approach of adulthood and the loss of that
joyous delight that is in Holland’s We Come Together To Be Who We Are. It is a
theme espoused in the other pieces that explain that we come together to dance,
to grow, to belong and to collaborate. In a triumphant moment of celebration
the full company put on their dark glasses in a gesture of togetherness,
coolness and a performance of We Come Together To Dance that is a joy to
watch.
