360º
360º – Sydney Dance Company, CarriageWorks, Wilson Street, Eveleigh; 29 July-16 August 2008; phone (02) 8571 9099 or 136 100. Photos: Jeff Busby
RUMOURS of the Sydney Dance Company’s imminent demise, persistent though they have been in the past couple of years, are way off the mark if the company’s collective response to this difficult – traumatic – year is any measure.
In case you’ve been off the air perhaps in Tuscany for a while, the year went as follows ... after the (long overdue) departure of founders Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon, which freed the company to begin the search for fresh imagination and relevance, there was a brief moment of excitement when Tanja Liedke arrived bringing the 21st century with her. Her accidental death robbed the company and Australia of promise and talent that was just flowering. Into the vacuum came uber-producer Noel Staunton, a man whose rock-like presence has saved more sinking/panicking productions and companies than is polite to recall.
Fast forward a few months: choreographer-artist Meryl Tankard stepped in at short notice and energised the dancers with her unique choreographic rigour and direction in a reworking of her own Inuk2. It was a further stretch for the dancers and continued the journey towards fresh ideas and disciplines. Tankard was probably the perfect preparation for their next challenge: the arrival of Rafael Bonachela.
To program a year of guest choreographers to get over and cushion the horrific loss of Liedke was a wise and humane decision. Whoever is appointed (around November apparently) to the role of company artistic director will be the anointed and not an afterthought; and the dancers will have experienced one of the most creatively intense and extraordinary periods of their professional lives.
Bonachela, based in London and hailing from Barcelona, is one of the most exciting and sought after dance creators of the moment. He knew he would be working in Carriageworks (an inspiring location for contemporary dance and theatre) and responded accordingly. The result, in 360º, is a further departure for the dancers in a rigorous, lyrical and demanding ensemble work.
There are startling solo elements – Connor Dowling and Annabel Knight are quite literally spotlit, among others – but the power of the non-stop, kaleidoscopic work is the forming and reforming of the 16 dancers. They are placed in a vast, dark, open space which is framed by two large, diagonally placed reflecting panels. These multiply the actual presence of both dancers and audience and also add a disembodied quality to the experience. This is heightened by a lighting rig which opens the evening as a participant and continues to exert its place in the control of the playing area and the dancers.
In responding so viscerally and cerebrally to the unique combination of human and industrial/mechanical history which permeates Carriageworks, Bonachela has not gone for narrative but, instead, has explored and created an abstract and thrilling set of sequences whose musics and soundscapes range from physically pulverizing to sweetly heart-rending.
The unusual collaboration with major events man Tony Assness, lighting wiz Hugh Taranto and sound designer George Gorga adds elements to the work which are unexpected and creatively welcome. All in all it’s an exhilarating evening that suggests SDC is well on its way out of a dark, dark night.
Before the main event, there is a foyer happening that should not be missed. Under the banner of The Overture Series, the intent is to give new choreographers a chance to create short works that are destined for different spaces and purposes than a main stage. Shaun Parker has grabbed the amazing opportunity offered by the vast arena of the Carriageworks “foyer” to devise a terrific piece titled Love Instalments.
He says, in his program notes, that he was inspired by Medea, which is mysterious and mystifying, nevertheless it doesn’t detract from its inventiveness. Around the foyer area are a series of raised scaffolding platforms. At some unseen sign pairs of dancers suddenly appear on the platforms, surrounded by puzzled, casually-gathered folk who are sipping their drinks and having a bit of a chat with mates while waiting to go in to the theatre. Viola player Nick Wales and drummer Bree van Reyk are on one platform and supply most of the soundtrack to what happens: a series of discrete combative duets that finally synchronise into something like possibly harmonious signs of relationships forming.
Love Instalment is a delightful curtain-raiser to the main event and although some moaning minnies have complained about not being able to see everything, you’d have to ask: does everyone have to see everything all the time to make it acceptable? No. You could try taking part by moving to see the various elements and being intrigued rather than grumpy about possibly missing something. Amazing concept.
