2008 - it's a wrap

With one day to go before the end of the year, you can now check out my brief summary of 2008 as published in The Age newspaper. To read the full article, click here

For those of you short on time, here's an even briefer summary of what happened in Melbourne's dance scene this year:

• Our local contemporary dance companies made some great work, though oddly a lot of them relied on text
• The Australian Ballet were conservative in their programming, as usual, but the dancers were excellent
  
• Despite the release of the Australia Council's latest strategic plan, there doesn't seem to much hope of dance becoming a viable full-time career option any time soon

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what happened in Australian dance during the year... post your comments here, email me, or send me a tweet on twitter.com

Dancenorth seeks new Artistic Director

Just when audiences around Australia were getting to know (and enjoy) Gavin Webber's work for Townsville-based company Dancenorth, it seems he is leaving the company. While I'm yet to find out who instigated the change in artistic leadership, see below for the position description...

Closes 2 February 2009

Dancenorth, one of Australia’s fastest growing arts companies seeks an Artistic Director to create cutting-edge dance-theatre productions and lead a dedicated team in Townsville North QLD. The successful applicant will drive further growth and create works that will appeal on multiple levels to diverse audiences.

Working closely with the General Manager you will manage all aspects of Dancenorth’s creative team. Facilities include our own 190 seat theatre and rehearsal space.

The successful applicant will have relevant industry experience, have excellent organisation and communication skills, and be excited by the potential of the company. The position is full time with a start date negotiable.

Download the Position Description here

For further enquiries, contact joanne@dancenorth.com.au or phone +61 7 47722549.

UPDATE: Dancenorth say that Gavin will be leaving the company in March 2009 for personal reasons, "Gavin has indicated that he will take time off and will look to pursue a career as an independant choreographer down the track."

Summer Break

Well, for me, the dance year has come to an end. I have grand plans of writing a summary of the shows I have seen and the general trends I have noticed, although whether I actually get around to writing and posting it is another matter.

With my second child due to arrive in January, it's quite likely that this blog will be inactive for a few months... I can't imagine that seeing performances and writing about them will be very high on my list of priorities with a newborn in the house.

However, please do sign up to receive updates, either by email or feed, so that when my blogging adventures resume in 2009, you'll be the first to hear about it.

Chloe Smethurst
dance out there

Vianne

Deanne Butterworth with sculpture by Anne-Marie May.
Image by Rohan Young

Direction & Choreography by Shelley Lasica

fortyfivedownstairs - Flinders Lane, Melbourne

December 4, 2008 (until Dec 14 - get along if you can. Tickets from www.fortyfivedownstairs.com )


Shelley Lasica’s years of experience as a choreographer are clearly evident in her latest creation, Vianne. It’s a complex, beautiful, subtle piece supported by excellent contributions from a very talented group of artists.

The space is sparsely adorned with Anne-Marie May’s clear plastic sculptures. One resembling a water fountain hangs at the rear of the space (pictured), while an open-sided cube is raised on ropes halfway through the performance. Ben Cobham’s lighting design is similarly pared back, using only bare globes and lights placed outside the building, which shine through the exposed, arched windows onto the naked walls.

The five dancers wear glittering, hooded jumpsuits and small, sparkly false eyelashes, designed by Lasica and Kara Baker for PROJECT. Upon entering, their very first movement sequence appears totally abstract, like a series of May’s sculptures gently moving in the breeze. But gradually, more personal touches emerge. They communicate with each other through tiny fragments of conversation, a nod, a pointed glance, a gesture, at times seeming to be in rehearsal, learning and practicing the movement phrases together.

The mix of abstract and literal content continues as the dancers splinter away into distinct solos or coalesce into a unified group, using a movement palette which varies from the smallest shift of the eyes to energetic limb thrashing. Each dancer has a unique ‘voice’, often performing idiosyncratic phrases that, particularly in the case of Jo Lloyd, are clearly identifiable as being drawn directly from the dancer.

In one powerful moment, the three women, Lloyd, Deanne Butterworth, and Bonnie Paskas, slowly straighten their knees from a deep bend in unison. It’s the simplest of movements, yet their intense focus makes it seem profound.

At another point, Butterworth seems to make time run backwards as she repeats a fast, flicking walk that looks as though it’s being played in reverse. Hers could be the central character, the only one dressed in orange (rather than brown), often regarding the action with a half-smile.

A brilliantly timed duet for she and Lloyd evokes a sense of interdependency and friendship, like a physical history of their relationship. Other interactions with the men, Tim Harvey and Lee Serle are almost sensual, but could equally be read in platonic terms.

The beauty of the work is its ambiguity. It could be viewed as a narrative about personal relationships and memory, or simply for the aesthetics of the spatial design.

The excellent structure of the piece is augmented by the ever-present music, an electronic composition by Milo Kossowski and Morgan McWaters for PEACE OUT !, which fits perfectly with the action on stage. It’s reminiscent of a ballet score in the way that the many short tracks serve to delineate the different sections of the choreography.

The end result is a harmonious combination of all the elements into a mysterious yet unified whole, satisfying yet open to interpretation.


An abridged version of this review was published in The Age newspaper.

Want to read more? here's another review at mono no aware

Coming Out!

LINK Dance Company

Dancehouse, Melbourne

November 27, 2008


Coming Out! is an opportunity for graduating students from tertiary dance courses around Australia to showcase their work. Program A was performed by LINK, the honours-year company from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and featured choreography by Narelle Benjamin, Martin del Amo and Michael Whaites.

In Benjamin’s Out Of Water, the all-female ensemble move through a series of modified yoga postures, demonstrating their extreme flexibility and strength. Set to an atmospheric soundscape by Huey Benjamin, the dancers maintain good unison and a sense of continuous, fluid motion, yet the overall impression is more akin to a gymnastic display than a dance piece.

In contrast, Mountains Never Meet by del Amo makes no attempt at virtuosity, instead relying on increasingly intricate arrangements of pedestrian movement. Wearing jeans and sneakers, the performers walk, jump, skip and run in the deceptively simple, well structured choreography, which speaks volumes about the human condition through clever manipulation of space and time.

Surrealism is the focus of the final piece, created by Whaites in collaboration with the dancers. Titled Miss Muffet Eats a Mushroom, it combines inventive costuming, some ironic spoken word and detailed original movement. The ideas and images presented are constantly surprising and engaging, though more stringent editing would make for a stronger result.

The eight women of LINK gave solid performances, though with so few graduate positions available in Australia, they’ll need more than just technical proficiency and tertiary qualifications if they hope to build a career.


First published in The Age newspaper.

Members of LINK Dance Company 2008: Carly Armstrong, Li-yi Chiu (Courtesy Taipei National University of Arts), Jamie Lee, Jessica Lewis, Jehane Lindley, Kylie Murray, Rhiannon Spratling and Amy Wiseman.