Green Room Awards 2008

It’s Green Room Awards time again, when Melbourne’s performing arts community pat each other on the back, or rip each other to shreds… depending on your point of view. See Theatre Notes for great examples of the latter.

The 2008 awards will be announced on April 20, but until then, here are my picks in the Dance section:

Male Dancer – Marc Cassidy (A Suite of Dances – The Australian Ballet). Absolutely beautifully danced.

Female Dancer – I didn’t see Inuk2 or either of Jo Lloyd’s pieces, so I won’t make a judgement on this one. Kate Harman, Danielle Rowe and Harriet Ritchie are all good candidates, but the works they performed were so very different, it’s too hard to compare.

Dance Ensemble – Dance North (Underground). All of the dancers were excellent, in their characterisations, technique and commitment to the work.

Music Composition & Performance – it’s got to be Livia Ruzic, Tamil Rogeon and Tim Blake for Sunstruck (Helen Herbertson and Ben Cobham). At times it was difficult to tell what sound was intentional and what was just naturally occurring in the warehouse, but the fact that it all blended together and worked so perfectly for that particular performance space makes them my pick.

Concept & Realisation – Eek, wish I had seen Disagreeable Object! Though out of the other three nominations, Balletlab’s Axeman Lullaby was the most powerful piece of theatre.

Betty Pounder Award for Choreography – I’d give it to Shelley Lasica for Vianne. Mature, complex, well structured dance-art.

Lighting Design in Dance – a tie between Paul Jackson and Nik Pajanti for Axeman Lullaby and Ben Cobham for Sunstruck.

Set and/or Costume Design for Dance – for grandeur and striking beauty, Michael Pearce wins hands down for the set of Nightpath (The Australian Ballet)

For a full list of the nominees, visit www.greenroom.org.au