If you really
wanted to shift your perspective on contemporary dance, Aether was
the show to see at da:ns 2007. Quirky, whacky and post-post-modern,
it revolved around a new world order ruled by technology, media barrages
and chaos. In front of an evocative projection, the dancers flicked,
jerked, shuffled and posed, representing communication waves. Occasionally,
they opened out into superb arabesques and performed a few extended
dance phrases. Most of the time, however, they kept to themselves, creating
an introspective, dysfunctional world that seemed beyond their control.
The opening image set the tone for this. As viewers took their seats,
the five dancers were seated amid a sea of shredded paper that they
slowly gathered and formed into circles and small forms. Gradually they
moved into larger sequences of movement that usually led them back to
the floor. Although the movement was intimate and delicate, it soon
revealed a group of articulate, highly skilled performers.
The high calibre of the dancers was an important aspect of the performance
as there were many times when there was silence and not much happening
on stage. The tension between these moments and the transition to the
next image became an important part of making Aether work for
the audience by the process of expectation. As its title suggests, the
atmosphere prevailed no matter what was happening within it; the precise
details of the choreography made each moment count and carried the show.
Often it was simply a brief look or an intense stare, sometimes a full
passage of dance with high kicks and staccato, robotic movement.
Behind the dancers, the projection created by Michaela French was superb
and among the best I have seen of this generally overworked aspect of
current contemporary dance performances. It was interesting in its own
right and did not attempt to ‘copy’ from the dance. Rather,
it was integrated with the concept of the performance and gave the show
a sophisticated edge.
The sound by Gerald Mair added to the texture of images and reinforced
the notion of multiple communication systems at play in the modern world.
Guerin’s successful incorporation of these elements reflects the
great 1970’s collaborations between Merce Cunningham, John Cage
and Robert Rauschenberg, where dance, music and design were separate
elements simply sharing the same time and space.
The performance was not without tenderness, however. In the second
section, the dancers were awkwardly drawn to each other in various grasps,
interlocking limbs, fingers and heads – these connections were
tentative and doomed. A poignant moment occurred when four dancers sat
stoically in a line blankly staring at another who tried all sorts of
physical tricks to entertain them. Only when he collapsed to the floor
did they break into restrained applause. After this, the piece ended
abruptly, like the switching off of a phone line.
It would have been a total wipe-out of gloom and doom if it had not
been for the injection of humour, the inventiveness of the choreography
and the talented cast, whose bodies were elastic and their comic timing
excellent. There was elegance in the chaos, and pathos in this treatise
on life in the fast lane. |
"There was elegance in the chaos, and pathos in this treatise on
life in the fast lane"
Credits
Choreography: Lucy Guerin
Dancers: Kirstie McCracken, Byron Perry, Antony Hamilton, Lee Serle
and Kyle Kremerskothen
Motion Graphics: Michaela French
Composer: Gerald Mair
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