In Difference

Coinciding with the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney this weekend, In Difference embodies the theme of this year’s festival – “creating equality”.

Through contemporary dance, the work looks at two real life couples of both homosexual and heterosexual orientation, their interactions and how they express themselves. Starting out in complete silence, the work builds in emotion and intensity, taking the audience on a journey through the highs and lows of relationships. It explores pleasure and pain, love and hate, heartaches and triumphs. It also delves into the prejudices and sometimes violent victimisation experienced by the gay and lesbian community.

The complex choreography is impressive, mirroring the complexities of human interactions. I’m no expert when it comes to contemporary dance, but the intricate movements, the way the dancer’s bodies meld with each other, their intimacy, trust, strength and balance are entrancing. The dancers (Craig Barry, Kristina Chan, Timothy Ohl and Joshua Thomson) are athletic yet their movement is fluid and effortless.

I’ll be honest and say that while I appreciated the performance and respected its message, I didn’t feel I completely understood it or engaged with it. I needed something more to help me make sense of what was happening on stage. I couldn’t work out whether each dance piece was part of a continuous story or whether they were meant to be more metaphoric, individually representing a different perspective on relationships. I guess a lot of it was open to interpretation, but I wanted some more guidance in how to interpret it.

On the other hand, I took my sister-in-law along with me, who has a background in Fine Arts and an interest in performance art and she loved this work. She commented that it was really beautiful yet provocative. She taught me something about the lighting technique used, called chiaroscuro lighting, which she particularly loved. This is when artists use intense directional light (like a spot light) to create high drama in their work. In this performance the same technique is used to create shadow and light. She felt that the lighting coupled with the highs and lows in the music, highlighted the drama in the relationships, the light and shadows and how feelings and emotions can escalate.

In Difference is certainly a very timely work that confronts a politically-charged issue. The dancers brought a vulnerability and tenderness to their performances and I think they achieve their aim of communicating important issues in a creative way.

Shannon O’Connell

Photographer: Prudence Upton