Friday March 29, 2024
DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES
Review

DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES

April 11 2013

DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES, Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company, 9 April-11 May 2013. Photos by Brett Boardman of Elizabeth Nabben and Steve Rodgers.

This 70-minute two-hander play-dance by Gideon Obarzanek has evolved from his earlier dance work I Want To Dance Better At Parties. He took one of the five stories told in the Chunky Move show from 2004 and developed it into this, his first text-based piece, and it's touching, funny and delightful.

Obarzanek got the idea after observing and listening to the painful efforts of a shy, awkward man to learn to "dance better at parties". Few among us - male or female - will be unfamiliar with this particular agony. As teenagers or older, most of us have suffered the horror, real or imagined, of trying to (shudder) dance well enough to pass muster with peers and whomever we were trying to impress at the time.

This dilemma is beautifully expressed by Steve Rodgers as Dave, a shambling sweetie whose social ineptitude is visible in his crumby trainers, sagging jeans and shapeless shirts. He arrives at a dance studio, tempted by a free lesson that - he has been assured - will help him achieve his modest goal.

Reality is not quite so simple. His instructor, the lithe and lovesome Elizabeth Nabben as Rachel, isn't about to let him get away with jigging to the beat while staring at his feet. And she's as adept in getting him to sign on the dotted line for ten weeks of lessons and hand over his bank details as she is at the cha-cha.

Timing is everything in dance and, gradually, it becomes apparent how important it is in other aspects of life. The timing between Rachel and Dave grows ever better in the dance studio even as it does not when it comes to the possibilities of something else. In life, their timing is way off - again in the way that many of us would wince at in recognition and sympathy.

DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES

Progressing through his ten weekly dates with Rachel at the studio takes the form of discrete scenes along the learning curve. Dave shuffles tentatively into the torture of basic ballroom as Rachel demonstrates and leads him - a mirage of sinuous beauty that he can never quite reach or emulate. Eventually, via waltz and a bit of a sidetrack, their tango is both hilarious and finally, sexy and funny. A winning combination.

Nevertheless, behind the apparently straightforward fronts presented by the two are darker, lonelier stories. These are hinted at rather than fully drawn and the possibilities remain tantalising and occasionally nerve-racking. Steve Rodgers is poignancy and charm personified in a clear and intelligent performance. Elizabeth Nabben is a revelation in that she was not a dancer prior to this production but on this showing could easily have shimmied straight out of Strictly Ballroom. She is also a sensitive and intuitive actor and her performance is equal to her partner's.

Dance Better at Parties is a revelation for fans of Obarzanek the choreographer - he's a playwright and theatre director too. Much credit should also go to Jessica Prince - the dance instructor and choreographer. If you'd like to spend 70 minutes in the absorbing company of two fascinating characters and a couple of mysterious, funny and touching stories - Dance Better at Parties is the show for you. Recommended.

 

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