Zero Degrees
The 2007 Sydney Festival got off to an historic start with an extraordinary collaboration between two of Europe's leading dancer-choreographers as the first performers in the newly commissioned, redesigned, rebuilt, rethought and refurbished railway workshops in Redfern-Darlington-Waterloo.
The pairing of English-born-of-Bangladeshi descent Akram Khan and Belgian-born-of-Moroccan descent Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is thrilling. They brought together their disparate heritages, dance disciplines and philosophies and first danced the work in 2005. As they explore the different ways bodies and minds respond to history, tradition, emotion and cultural constraints, they move together with precision and intuition. Although much of their floor time is spent in varying degrees of opposition, their work is seamless.
On opening night, Bay 17, the gorgeously post-economically rationalised sophistication of architects Tonkin Zuleikha Greer's "new" 1880 arts complex was anything but seamless: the ticketing system was having issues, the lavatories were a well-kept, unsignposted secret and the auditorium seating, sightlines and stairs are in urgent need of refinement and tweaking.
There was a degree of churlishness swirling around the lavish post-performance drinks and excellent snacks around these problems but it was what my grandmother would have labelled "uncalled for." The inevitability of these kinds of hiccups probably has some kind of scientifically provable direct correlation with the size and complexity of the enterprise.
The Carriageworks complex (and Bay 17 is just a bit of it) is a magnificent way to spend $49 million. It's difficult to imagine a better solution for revitalising an area that's been in the doldrums for decades and at the same time preserve and reinvent a unique part of Sydney's industrial history.
It's spacious, exciting, interesting to look at, be in and probably to work in too; it isn't pretentious or intimidating; it isn't tricked out with architectural furbelows or design elements which will date and look daft within a decade and it's a venue that rises to the challenge of being part of one of the most famous and desirable cities in the world.
And how better to rebirth it than to program Zero Degrees and dancework for two men, four musicians, two sculptural accomplices (can't really call life-size mute white figures dummies or puppets) and an idea that started from thinking about the impossibility of stillness and explores the full spectrum of human and cultural interaction.
Zero Degrees is mesmerising, funny, clever, challenging, moving, disturbing, serene, dynamic, alienated, integrated, meditative and sad for an hour and 15 minutes. It's a great way to start a festival and celebrate a new building.
Zero Degrees, Bay 17, Carriageworks, Wilson Street, Darlington to January 8; www.sydneyfestival.org.au and follow the prompts; don't forget Tix for Next to Nix
