One Infinity

One Infinity is a truly visceral experience!

A project that began in Bejing roughly three years ago has finally come to fruition - a music connection sparked between Genevieve Bailey, who is an Australian recorder virtuoso, and Wang Peng, a master of the gugin (ancient Chinese string musical instrument).

Gideon Obarzanek, dance choreographer from Chunky Move, had also been working in China and friendships were established along with Peng and Bailey, all sensing a burgeoning need to develop a project within their own disciplines that can challenge aesthetic and cultural boundaries.

A modern English composer, Max de Wardener, jumped on board and the now gang of four have masterfully developed a seamless fusion of dance and music that transforms into a wonderful and unique hybrid art form. One Infinity is a sensational piece of work that reflects different aesthetic practices from China (East) meets Australia (West).

Across the shimmering translucent black stage, diffused lighting creates a hypnotic atmosphere.  While Peng and the Jun Tian Fang Music ensemble have deliberately stepped outside of the traditional context of Gugin performance, Bailey’s recorder balances these ancient sounds and together they offer esoteric and experimental combinations while maintaining traditional gugin ideals of harmony and nature.

Along with Obarzanek, who has choreographed a physically elegant and dystopic dance movement interlacing the Beijing Dance Theatre and DanceNorth Australia, a tour de force composition by Max de Wardener - anarchic yet  serene - catapults the overall performances to another level.  And only to further enhance this superb production, there is eloquent hand gestural movement provided by the immersive audience conducted by dance instructors on either side of the two audience blocks that both sit opposite the performance stage.

A quiet space in one’s mind and an openness to transcribe the exploration of an innovative and experimental fusion of  the modern and classical  music and dance from two opposing cultures is a truly exhilarating experience.

Flora Georgiou

Photographer: Sarah Walker