Countermove

Sydney Dance Company is back in Melbourne to prove once more that they are a major international force in contemporary dance (as if any proof were needed).

Showing all of the amazing athleticism and strident physicality melded with flexibility and grace that have made them famous, the dancers enthralled stalwart fans and newcomers alike.

Cacti

Alex Ekman’s Cacti is a wonderfully witty and satirical look at Art and its critics. It is full of Laugh Out Loud moments and innovative transitions between the most complex and beautiful of movements, and the mundane and redundant, sending up the pretension of both the critics and dance itself.

Ekman’s question “who reviews the critics?” is a valid one. The ballet is accompanied by an exquisite string quartet and intermittent voice-over by “the critic” who clearly has no idea what is actually going on. “What does it mean?” he asks with sotto voce confusion. When the dancers bring on their cacti - the males holding tall phallic specimens, the females with round prickly balls reminiscent of the womb, the critic is certain that he has cracked the code and ‘the subtext is in the cacti.’ - and when the critic isn’t sure at the end whether the piece is finished (Is it finished? Is that the end? It must be finished – yes - I think [sic] ) the critics in the audience laughed loudest.

It is the style and panache of an extraordinary group of dancers which elevate this work to something special. It never fails to entertain, and the duet between the incomparable Charmene Yap and Bernhard Knauer, where they dance exquisitely to the voice-over of their thoughts - some of which are a million miles away from the work in progress - some simply trying to remember what step comes next - brings home the point that Art isn’t something which exists on another plain.

In lesser hands this piece could have been considered ‘A Wank’, but Ekman’s ‘subtext’ is in the whole. Art doesn’t require our understanding - in fact, often our understanding diminishes the art by reducing it to a lowest common denominator. It does, however, demand our acceptance. It is all around us, within reach, and it only becomes inaccessible because of our desire to dissect and explain it - and to control that explanation.

My husband hates contemporary dance. He describes it as “rolling around on the floor to music”. And of course he is right, and so wrong - and his need to explain and understand it gets in the way of simply enjoying its beauty and power.

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary, for those who do not – no explanation is possible.”

Photographer: Peter Greig.

Lux Tenebris

In stark contrast to Cacti, Lux Tenebris takes us to dark and confronting places. Meaning roughly “Light in Darkness”, Bonachela’s latest work proves once again that he continues to explore and elevate the world of dance as an innovator and choreographer.

We all know how different our moods are between darkness and light, between winter grey and summer gold, often swinging from serenity to chaos.  Working in a large open space in which the lighting - a brilliant design by Benjamin Cisterne - along with the confronting and mesmerising original music by Nick Wales - is basically the set, the dancers explore light and darkness with astonishing athleticism.

Bonachela’s choreography often gives the illusion of the impossible - joints dislocated or non-existent; fluidity that is both beautiful and grotesque. Cisterne’s lighting becomes part of the storytelling, as figures emerge from shadows, almost distorted. Often the dancing is chaotic, tinged with lunacy, and we might be in an asylum, or hell. Other times, in light, there is connection, and touching, and exquisite lifts. It’s an astonishing piece.

Every dancer in this ensemble company is superb, or they wouldn’t be there, but David Mack’s strength and lines draw focus time and again; and the solos of Janessa Duffy (astonishing passion)  and Cass Mortimer Eipper and the duet between Charme Yap and Todd Sutherland stayed with me long after the programme was finished.

This is important work from an exemplary and dedicated company. We only get to see SDC once a year in Melbourne, but it is always worth the wait.

Coral Drouyn

TOUR DATES

Regional NSW

17 – 18 June, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong

22 June, Orange Civic Theatre, Orange

25 June, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Newcastle

29 June, Glasshouse, Port Macquarie

Regional QLD

2 July, Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton

6 July, Gladstone Entertainment Centre, Gladstone

9 – 10 July, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns

15 – 16 July, The Arts Centre, Gold Coast

Darwin
29 July, Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin

Regional WA

3 August, Queens Park Theatre, Geraldton

6 August, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah

9 August, Albany Entertainment Centre, Albany

Regional NSW

13 August, Bunbury Entertainment Centre, Bunbury

20 August, Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, Bathurst

24 August, Griffith Regional Theatre, Griffith

27 August, Dubbo Regional Theatre, Dubbo