By Rain Francis.

State Theatre
June 9, 2012

The best dance companies from all over the country assembled at Arts Centre Melbourne for The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary gala, and it was an absolute treat. The variety of offerings truly showcased the depth and breadth of artistry nationwide; there really was something for every audience member – unless your thing is tutus, because there wasn’t one in sight.

The evening kicked off with the West Australian Ballet’s, Ombra Leggera, choreographed by Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari. It was performed by Daryl Brandwood and Andre Santos, two very different dancers who worked together beautifully. Quick, playful and a bit cheeky, this light-hearted duet was a superb display of technique.

By contrast, Don’t by Brisbane’s Expressions Dance Company was dark and powerful; an “exploration of the emotional power of words”. Dramatically lit and costumed in monochrome, it depicted three couples and their struggles to communicate. From the opening solo under a dappled spotlight, to the electrifying partner work, Don’t was engaging from start to finish.

Tasdance presented a short film, Momentary by choreographer Anna Smith. I was excited to see this offering from our friends across the Strait, although this perhaps wasn’t the best setting for the film. It was hypnotic and mysterious, but I think some quality was lost somewhere along the way – projecting onto the big screen did not seem to do it any justice.

Unsurprisingly, it was Australian Dance Theatre that brought the most innovative present to the party. They performed an excerpt of Be Your Self – an exploration of the human body and the concept of the ‘self’. Whatever combination of methodologies they are getting into over in Adelaide these days, it is a winning one – these performers are verging on superhuman. Having now seen two excerpts of this incredible work on the State Theatre stage, I hope Melbourne will be honoured with the full shebang sometime soon.

Dancenorth presented a brand new work, Fugue, choreographed by Artistic Director Raewyn Hill.   Inspired by Spanish bullfighting and the “dancing plague” of 1518 (where people allegedly danced themselves to death), Hill set out to “embody both a feeling of relentless and a communal experience.” This was achieved through the use of unison; the cast of eight moved in a constant swarm – which is no mean feat, especially in a piece so athletically challenging. The Sass & Bide costuming, although glamorous, seemed to swallow the dancers up and detracted from the intricacy of the movement. Ravel’s masterpiece Bolero, with its gradually building energy and repetitive structure was a fine choice to express the themes of the dance.

Another high point of the evening was Queensland Ballet’s excerpts from Cloudland, choreographed by Artistic Director Francois Klaus. The two pas de deux were performed flawlessly by Rachael Walsh and Keian Langdon, to Almost Like Being in Love and No Moon At All. Normally not a fan of choreography to music with lyrics, I was not bothered in this case, perhaps because I was swept up in the romance and pure beauty of the dance.

An excerpt from Rafael Bonachela’s 2 One Another, Sydney Dance Company’s contribution to the programme was, as expected, technically exquisite. The work explored human interaction, although the stimulus had been abstracted to a point where this fact became largely unrecognisable. Still, the combination of phenomenal dancers, innovative choreography, powerful music and beautiful costumes, lighting and staging made this another winner from Sydney Dance Company.

Tim Harbour’s new work for The Australian Ballet, Sweedeedee, painted a sentimental picture of a family. It was performed with grace and charm by beloved former Principal Artists, Justine Summers and Stephen Heathcote, as well as two Australian Ballet School students, Lennox Niven and Mia Heathcote, Stephen’s daughter. The stage was set (by Benjamin Cisterne) with an oversized washing line complete with white sheets, which were worked effectively into the choreography. Harbour’s movement in this piece was refreshingly uncomplicated, with clean lines and a gentle pace. Funny, sad and sweet, the stories it told were enriched by folk songs played live, with the Musical Direction of Chong Lim. Lexi George’s costumes were a standout, as was the magnificent lighting by Cisterne.

In his programme note, Artistic Director David McAllister cited David Bowie as the inspiration for the naming of this gala. Let’s Dance confirmed that dance is very much alive and well in this country. And judging by the spectrum of creativity and skill in the industry, it seems that Australian dance is set, like Mr. Bowie, to continue to reinvent itself, and only get better with age.

Top photo: Sydney Dance Company presents 2 One Another.

By Rain Francis.

This month, Australia’s preeminent dance companies will unite for a very special occasion. As part of The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary celebrations, Arts Centre Melbourne will host Let’s Dance, for 11 performances only. This is a unique opportunity for dance lovers to see the very best of the best, from every corner of the country.

“In our 50th year I wanted a program that recognised that dance is a thriving part of our cultural landscape. From stages to school halls, thousands of people are dancing across Australia every day,” says Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister. “It was also a chance to bring the Australian dance family together to celebrate and to share the wonderful companies of our nation with lucky Melbourne audiences.”

The headliner of this un-missable gala season is the premiere of Tim Harbour’s Sweedeedee. Also presenting new works are Raewyn Hill and Natalie Weir, Artistic Directors of Dancenorth and Expressions Dance Company, respectively. Performing works never before seen on a Melbourne stage are Australian Dance Theatre, Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company. To top the evening off, Tasdance will present a short dance film.

To find out more about what is in store, I spoke to each of the companies involved in Let’s Dance.

Mia Heathcote, Steven Heathcote & Tim Harbour. Photo by Georges Antoni

Company: The Australian Ballet
Title: Sweedeedee
Choreographer: Tim Harbour

Australian Ballet devotees are in for a rare treat with Tim Harbour’s brand new ballet. Sweedeedee sees a return to the stage of beloved former principal artists, Justine Summers and Steven Heathcote. Himself a former Senior Artist with the company, Harbour has shared the stage with the pair, but this is the first time he has choreographed on them.

“Justine and Steven formed a partnership that was particularly cherished by audiences”, Harbour explains. “They both have a deep resonance on stage that I want to tap into. While neither is at the height of their virtuosic powers any more, they are both still beautifully vivid movers.”

The notion of the “Australian dance family” described by McAllister became the starting point for Sweedeedee. Playing the children of Summers and Heathcote will be two students from The Australian Ballet School – one of whom is Heathcote’s actual daughter, Mia.

Harbour has aimed to create something that is fun for cast and audience alike, as well as being a vehicle for this particular, unconventional cast. “I knew I wanted to create something that two dancers in their forties and two mid-teen children could deliver,” he says. “Steven, Justine and myself are all parents now and that has informed the piece too.”

Sweedeedee will be performed primarily to a collection of folk songs, including numbers by Woodie Guthrie and Leonard Cohen, played by a live band. With sets and lighting by Benjamin Cisterne, costumes by Alexis George and projections by Lily Coates and Gavin Youngs, this promises to be a sensory delight fit for a 50^th.

Dancenorth "Fugue"

Company: Dancenorth
Title: Fugue
Choreographer: Raewyn Hill

Inspired by Spanish bullfighting, performed to Ravel’s legendary Bolero and costumed by Sass & Bide, Fugue is sure to be quite a spectacle. Raewyn Hill describes it as “a relentless, trance like experience”, with seven dancers moving as one and pushed to their absolute physical extremes.

Hill researched extensively for this new work, and notes that “the bullfight is often referred to as a metaphor for a fight between mankind and death.” She has aligned this concept with the story of the ‘Dancing Plague’. This mysterious event allegedly occurred in Strasbourg in 1518, when people spontaneously began to dance and continued for days, some even to their death.

“The dancers have really embraced the challenge, and they give phenomenal performances,” says Hill. Be ready to be mesmerised by this exciting premiere!

Company: Expressions Dance Company
Title: Don’t
Choreographer: Natalie Weir

Natalie Weir’s brand new work Don’t is developed from a piece called Scripsi Scriptum, which explores the art of communication and the written word. “I thought the duet was very powerful”, says Weir, “and wanted to work further with the idea of a singular word and its emotional resonance.”

As with all of Weir’s work, which tends to explore “human emotion and connection”, the ideas presented in Don’t are ones to which we can all relate. As the choreographer notes, “sometimes we wish we could take back the things we say to each other. We forget the power that a word can have, its impact on others, and how easy it is to interpret or indeed, misinterpret.  The concept behind Don’t is very simple, but beautiful and quite sad at times.”

Australian Dance Theatre's "Be Your Self". Photo by Chris Herzfeld

Company: Australian Dance Theatre
Title: Be Your Self (excerpt)
Choreographer: Garry Stewart

Be Your Self is a work that has been informed broadly and from vastly different viewpoints. Amongst their eclectic training and development schedule, ADT often engages in meditation practice. Initial sessions were led by a Buddhist monk, who discussed with the company the nature of ‘self’ according to Buddhist principles. Garry Stewart also consulted with a professor of physiology about the ways in which emotions are connected to the body and “how the hormonal system interacts with the brain neurologically and chemically when we experience certain emotions.”

The resulting work is an “exploration of the human body as the starting point for defining the concept of self.” ADT performed a snippet of Be Your Self at the Australian Dance Awards in 2009, and Melbourne audiences were, of course, blown away. Though we’re yet to be treated to it in its entirety, I bet we’re all looking forward to getting another glimpse of this incredible creation.

Company: Queensland Ballet
Title: Cloudland (excerpts)
Choreographer: François Klaus

A sell-out at the 2004 Brisbane Festival and loved by European audiences, Cloudland takes us back in time to the iconic Brisbane ballroom that was popular from the 1940s to the 1980s. “When I was creating the ballet we were overwhelmed by responses to our calls for information”, says François Klaus. “People sent in delightful anecdotes, photographs and even CDs relating to their experiences at Cloudland. This story was very important to Brisbane life for a lot of people.”

Melbourne audiences will be treated to two lyrical pas de deux: Almost Like Being in Love and No Moon at All. “It’s a lovely production with beautiful sets, costumes, and music”, says Klaus. “The themes of love and nostalgia have universal appeal – the story is local in one sense to Brisbane, but people anywhere can relate.”

WA Ballet's Daryl Brandwood & Jayne Smeulders in Ombra Leggiera. Photo by Jon Green.

Company: West Australian Ballet
Title: Ombra Leggiera
Choreographer: Ivan Cavallari

Inspired by the lyrics from the aria Ombra Leggiera in Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, the dance evokes a dialogue with a shadow. It was originally a solo created for Daryl Brandwood, who would interact with movements projected onto a screen. “It was to have been staged in this format at the Quarry Amphitheatre”, says Ivan Cavallari, “however once we were there, it became obvious that the complex projections would be technically unachievable. Thus it became, overnight, a pas de deux!”

Ombra Leggiera is just one instalment in a trilogy of works set to arias sung by the illustrious Maria Callas. “For the moment I have choreographed the first two arias”, says Cavallari, “but I’m still undecided about the third.” So watch this space!

Company: Sydney Dance Company
Title: 2 One Another (excerpt)
Choreographer: Rafael Bonachela

Prior to a Melbourne season of 2 One Another in November this year, Sydney Dance Company brings a segment of its most recent work to Let’s Dance.

2 One Another celebrates “relationships, interactions and the sheer beauty of the human form”. Developed in collaboration with the young Australian poet Samuel Webster, it was enthusiastically received by Sydney audiences in March.

The Daily Telegraph’s Vanessa Keys calls it “an awakening, a major turning point for Bonachela”. Jill Sykes of the Sydney Morning Herald agrees, naming it the choreographer’s “best since he became Artistic Director.”

Company: Tasdance
Title: Momentary
Choreographer: Anna Smith

“Momentary is truly a short moment in time, a glimpse from what has been and an instant of what might be”, says Anna Smith. The short film is a development of Quiescence, one of Smith’s earlier works, which was born of the Conceiving Connections Research project in 2000.

An investigation of the poem Gum Trees Stripping by Judith Wright, Momentary identifies eucalyptus bark as a reflection of human experience. “[The bark is] a skin that reveals a history that often outlives our own”, says Smith. “People have wrinkles, scars and marks on their skin because they have experienced the elements of life.”

Bringing to life the rich, colourful imagery of Wright, Smith hopes that the film reminds viewers to see the beauty and wisdom in growing old, and to “appreciate and take notice of what surrounds us.”

Let’s Dance runs from June 7 to June 16 at Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre.
Book through www.australianballet.com.au or call 1300 369 741

Top photo: Principal dancers Rachael Walsh and Keian Langdon of Queensland Ballet perform the Cloudland pas de deux. Photo by Ken Sparrow.

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine -covering dance in Australia, dance training, dance auditions, dance teacher resources, dancewear and fashion and more.

By Rain Francis.

A little over three years ago, household dance fans across the country sat biting their nails as they waited to see who would win the third season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia. But having made it to that stage meant that Jess Hesketh was already winning: her dream was about to come true. Crowned runner-up of the reality TV show, Jess was awarded one of the most coveted posts in the dance world – a contract with Australian Dance Theatre.

After a decade of adoring the Adelaide-based contemporary company, just knowing that the contract was available helped Jess propel herself through the competition. Even now, having worked with the company since September 2010, she says it’s “still a bit surreal”.

ADT is currently rehearsing to take its acclaimed work Be Your Self to Sydney, as well as performing an excerpt in Let’s Dance, a gala season that is part of The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary.

Jess in rehearsals with ADT. Photos by Chris Herzfeld

Be Your Self draws on investigations into neurobiology and Buddhist philosophy. These two positions in one sense are worlds apart, in another, they are two sides of one coin: the science of poetry – or the poetry of science. To use Jess’ own eloquent description of the work, “it cross-examines the vast complexity of who we are and what we’re made of. It really looks into the subject of selfhood. Not only the physical aspects, but the emotional aspect of what makes us human, and how the physical and emotional sides do work together to create us as humans.”

As with all of ADT’s works, Be Your Self, with its fusion of contemporary dance, breaking and tumbling, is incredibly demanding physically. However, Jess says that the emotional side of the work is equally challenging. In the research stages, Artistic Director and Choreographer Garry Stewart consulted with Professor of Physiology Ian Gibbons from the Flinders Medical Centre. The insights he shared into the neurobiological functions of the body have greatly informed the work. The result? An added depth and dimension to the movement, which Jess says she is “really attached to”.

To add yet another dimension, Stewart engaged leading design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro to create a set piece. The cutting-edge New York-based firm are responsible for multi-million dollar architectural projects, such as the complete refurbishment of the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, and the expansion of the School of American Ballet. With their backgrounds in the visual arts, DS+R like to, as Stewart says “keep one foot in the arts” and “were kind enough to lend their support to Be Your Self”. The resulting set piece seeks to reconstruct our perspective on the body.

Jess in rehearsals for 'Proximity'

Be Your Self is in fact the first piece that Jess worked on when joining the company. At that time, the work had already been created, however the whole second half was about to undergo a drastic revamp. This would be Jess’s first real experience not only as a professional dancer, but as a creative collaborator in the developmental stages of a dance theatre work – a role she still finds challenging.

“Creating and choreographing are areas that I haven’t really delved into a lot throughout my training,” she explains, adding that she is grateful to the familial atmosphere at ADT. “The other dancers are awesome. They’re so supportive and they’re always helping me and giving me tips. It’s almost like my own personal choreography lesson every time I have to make up a new solo.”

With the freshly developed Be Your Self in their arsenal, the formidable ADT embarked on a three-month European tour early in 2011. Returning home, they collaborated with visual artist Thom Buchanan and third year students of the Adelaide College of the Arts on a new multi-media project titled Worldhood. Next, they developed and performed Proximity, in conjunction with French video engineer and artist Thomas Pachoud. After the current season of Be Your Self, it will be back to Proximity for another European adventure.

“It’s just one thrill after another,” says Jess. “I’m living my dream. ADT is something that I’ve wanted to do for such a long time. Actually being here and being part of these amazing  productions is a heap of fun every day.”

And it seems she has fit well into her new home. Stewart calls Jess “a really beautiful dancer with incredible facility, remarkable versatility and the ability to do anything that she puts her mind to.” He adds that it has been “interesting with her coming up through the commercial field and through television, but that has given her a lot of ability to connect with a performative presence.”

Another thing that television exposure gave her, Jess says, is a diverse wealth of experience. She acknowledges that after full-time training, dancers and other artists often find it difficult to find work and transition into developing themselves professionally. “Having SYTYCD was the perfect bridge to close that gap,” she says. “It opened so many doors for me. The amount of choreographers that I was exposed to and I got to work with on the show was just incredible. It set me up for a great start – and the ball continues to roll.”

Australian Dance Theatre’s Be Your Self Sydney premiere season
31 May – 3 June
Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine -covering dance in Australia, dance training, dance auditions, dance teacher resources, dancewear and fashion and more.

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
February 27^th

By Deborah Searle.

Be Your Self is a display of the body’s form and function.  A raw and thought provoking work, Be Your Self investigates the body as a machine and discusses what makes us human? What is self?

The dancing is very isolated and exact, breaking movement down into each small twitch of muscle, tendon or bone. A section where the dancers move each individual body part to a sound score that sounds like creaking and breaking bones, is haunting, yet captivating. The audience is mesmerized as such simple movement is expressed in such an edgy way. There is nothing pretty about it, but Garry Stewart was obviously not trying to create a work that is pleasing to the eye, but one that is real and explorative.

Larissa McGowan, who is also the assistant choreographer for this work, is made for her role. She is so precise and so engaging. All the dancers are brilliant technicians and their unison is almost always exact. Troy Honeysett is a force to be reckoned with, commanding the stage with his acrobatic and martial arts inspired leaps and tumbles. He throws his body with abandon, yet precision.

At one stage the dancers all stand in a line and just breathe deeply, as we can see their chests expand and contract. It is such simple movement, yet we are all engrossed. There is something unique about what Garry has created with Be Your Self.

The work is quite sterile, without much emotion or expression by the dancers, as it deconstructs the body, movement, human moods and thoughts. At times the dancers scream, sending shivers down my spine, or they shake and stare. It is incredibly un-nerving. A section where the dancers display different moods, such as happiness and sadness in their faces, is quite comical and interesting. However, this too feels sterile, which I think is the plan. The dancers do not pull at the heart strings of the audience, but what they present is definitely fascinating and different.

Photos Chris Herzfeld

The costumes are simple, with the dancers in all white. For some of the time they wear white skirts that have exact replicas of their individual legs painted on them. These create interesting pictures as the dancers move their legs. The skirts are quite ingenious.

There is a long scene where the dancers place individual body parts, such as their arms, legs or upper back though a large white, material screen. Video projection creates swirls and images streaming from each body part. This scene takes the deconstruction of the body to another level. I feel that it lasts a little long, as there isn’t much dancing, just movement of individual body parts, but the video imagery is engaging.

One of the dancers, dressed in all white from head to toe, comes onto the stage as a manikin or mummy like figure, as dancer Kialea-Nadine Williams manipulates his body parts. I am not sure of the purpose of this character, except to ask the question of ‘are we just our bodies?’ The manikin ias expressionless and without any features and can only move if the dancers manipulate him. Later in the program one of the dancers draws a face on him and other dancers come on stage with masks on the backs of their heads, with their faces covered, creating the illusion of their heads being on back to front.

Be Your Self feels like it is part of a larger exploration for Garry Stewart, and that it might just be the beginning of something bigger. Although a little out of my comfort zone, I enjoyed the work and found the dancers to be incredibly talented. I look forward to seeing if this work evolves in the future.

Garry Stewart breaks it down for ADT’s latest expression.

By Paul Ransom.

Be yourself. It’s a simple enough idea … isn’t it?

When Australian Dance Theatre debut their latest work at the upcoming Adelaide Festival of Arts the notion of ‘being yourself’ will be seriously deconstructed. Inspired by Eastern ideas about selfhood, ADT’s artistic director Garry Stewart has created a choreographic meditation on the theme of ‘I’.

Be Your Self has evolved into a dazzlingly surreal and architectural dance work.

“If we look into our interior….we can’t find anything other than our perceptions,” Garry Stewart begins. “There isn’t a thing in and of itself that we can identify as I or self. We are more like an array of perceptions that our conscious mind then constructs into a linear narrative of self … So I started the work off with the question: is the self the body?”

It’s an appropriate starting point for someone with a two decade plus track record of creating truly cutting edge contemporary dance. Indeed, Stewart’s works have been seen around the globe, with his Millennium Eve piece Housedance (performed on the outside of the Sydney Opera House) netting an estimated TV audience of two billion. What’s more, since taking over the stewardship of the internationally renowned, Adelaide based ADT in 1999 he has created critically adored works like Birdbrain and HELD.

Glittering CV notwithstanding, Stewart is not afraid to dive into the esoteric depths with Be Your Self. “I wanted to try and collapse the schism between mind and body because still in the twenty first century we think that mind, body and spirit are separate, whereas in fact neuro-biology is collapsing that separation and showing that what we consider our mind to be is very much inherent in what our body is.”

“We don’t isolate senses. We don’t just see or hear – but all of those things act in concert. It’s a total experience. And with the emotions; they don’t just happen in the mind, they happen in the body. Could you imagine fear without the dry mouth or the dilation of the pupils?”

What you sense here is an artist very much engaged with his topic and taking his work beyond mere prettiness. “How much of a construct is the self and how illusory is the self?” he continues with passion.

But of course, we are still talking art here, not just indulgent philosophising. “We are an animal of representation,” he adds. “The most distinguishing feature of being human is our ability to transform reality into a multiple series of representations. And this is never more apparent than when we make art.”

Choreographically, the challenge for Garry Stewart has been to illustrate such high end abstractions with movement. In doing so he talks about deconstructing the human body, as both physical form and cultural construct.

To this end he has collaborated with award winning New York architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). “They created a set design that allows us to show individual body parts and occlude and disguise others. So, it’s kinda like a symphony of body parts.”

In fact, it’s fair to suggest that Be Your Self transcends the dance. “It’s too limiting to describe it as a dance work. It’s more an artistic expression about the human body. You would call it dance – but somehow that word seems too restrictive.”

The concept is daring and, you might think, a little too way out for most audiences. However, for all of Garry Stewart’s attention to research and conceptualisation the idea of the audience is never far away.

“The pleasure of a visual image grants an audience access to an idea,” he states. “It’s a kind of strategy. I mean, you can make something that’s like an essay on stage but it could bore everyone to tears. I think when you’re creating art you are working in an aesthetic dimension and you have to acknowledge that, otherwise you might as well just get them to read the essay and not bother coming to the theatre.”

As he says, he creates his works “for an audience” and not just “as something for my own pleasure.” The challenge, he says, is in “finding the balance between being translatable and accessible but also mysterious; although not to point of being dismissed as obtuse.”

And here we drift onto the vexed notion of beauty, (my word choice). I can sense his discomfort as we talk about it until he comes out and declares, “It’s kinda hard for me to hear the word beauty; especially with dance, because the conventional ideas about beauty have really held dance back. It’s kinda like a dictatorship in dance.”

Perhaps there in a nutshell is the nub of where Stewart will take both the company and his audiences with Be Your Self – beyond the obvious and into profoundly stimulating, creative territory.

Win a Double Pass to the Opening Night of Be Your Self !
One lucky winner will also get the chance to Meet and Greet Garry after the show!  To enter click here

Be Your Self – Australian Dance Theatre
Date: February 20th, 23rd-28th
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Contact: BASS 131 246 www.adt.org.au
Please note: This show has strobe effect lighting and is for a mature audience