Green Room Awards 2011

Here I go, crashing the Green Room Awards again with my opinions. Only on dance mind you - these are my picks from the 2011 nominations.
BETTY POUNDER AWARD FOR CHOREOGRAPHY
My Pick: Jo Lloyd, Future Perfect 
Against Assembly, Future Perfect was a far more interesting and original effort.


DESIGN
My pick: They were all fabulous! I can't choose a winner or loser amongst them.
The nominees are:

• Benjamin Cisterne (Lighting) and Byron Perry in collaboration with Ben Cobham (Bluebottle 3) (Set), Double Think (Byron Perry / Arts House / Force Majeure in association with Melbourne Festival) Adam Gardnir (Set), Happy as Larry (Arts House / Shaun Parker & Company)

• Reuben Margolin (Kinetic Sculpture), Connected (Chunky Move / Malthouse Theatre)

• Toni Maticevski (Costumes), Richard Nylon (Millinery), Matthew Bird (Nest Design & Backdrop), Gavin Brown (Curtain Design) & Benjamin Cisterne (Lighting), Aviary (Phillip Adams BalletLab in association with Melbourne Festival)

• Jacob Nash (Set), Belong (Bangarra Dance Theatre)

SOUND AND MUSIC COMPOSITION AND/OR PERFORMANCE
My pick: Robin Fox & Oren Ambarchi (Composition), Connected (Chunky Move)
I loved the sound for Connected, to my ears it was original andperfectly matched to the onstage action.


MALE DANCER
My picks: Luke George and Chengwu Guo 
These two men are totally different artists, yet each deserves to win for their outstanding efforts. Luke George is an anchoring presence onstage with Balletlab, courageously going where others fear to tread. Chengwu is an incredible physical talent, and showed some great character skills in Graeme Murphy's Romeo and Juliet.


FEMALE DANCER
My picks: Madeleine Eastoe and Kirsty Martin
Two of the best characterisations I've seen in ballet for a long time, totally absorbing and utterly believable, and paired with great dancing to boot. I can't separate them, they're both winners!


ENSEMBLE
My pick: Bangarra Dance Theatre - Belong
I didn't see Becky, Jodi & John (Dance Massive fatigue), and I didn't think Concerto (Australian Ballet) was danced particularly well on the night I saw it. Bangarra were on the final leg of a national tour of Belong by the time I saw it performed in Melbourne, which ensured a flawless ensemble performance, so it has to go to them I reckon.


CONCEPT AND REALISATION
My pick: I Could Pretend the Sky is Water (Trevor Patrick in association with Arts House)
Quite amazing - bemusing, very Australian, very original. Unlike anything else I've seen recently, kept me guessing right til the last moments. A treasure.