The Melbourne Festival has only just announced its line-up for 2012, and dance will be a major highlight.
The Forsythe Company from Germany is one of the headline acts, presenting a new work by its artistic director, William Forsythe. Called I don’t believe in outer space, it has been described by Sarah Crompton of the UK's The Telegraph as a “75-minute piece [that] is often funny, sometimes poetic and ultimately life-enhancing” when it was performed at the Sadlers Wells in London last year. Forsythe last appeared at the Melbourne Festival as head of the Frankfurt Ballet in 2001.
Also from overseas comes another familiar face: Akram Khan. His Vertical Road was a critical and audience favourite at the 2010 festival. This time he is bringing a solo, Desh, described as a “masterpiece, the best thing that he has ever done,” by The Guardian’s Luke Jenning (again in London).
Another overseas act will be the Leshan Song and Dance Troupe, from China, presenting Fault Lines. This Festival commission brings the company together with NZ choreographer Sara Brodie. The work is about the devastating impact of earthquakes – a phenomenon both countries have suffered.
From our own shores comes Force Majeure with Never Did Me Any Harm, inspired by Christos Tsolkas’s novel, The Slap, while Lucy Guerin Inc will be presenting Weather, a co-production with Montreal’s Festival de Danse. To cap it all off, Chunky Move will be making its debut under new artistic director Anouk van Dijk, with her An Act of Now.
These are just some of the highlights. See http://www.melbournefestival.com.au for more details.
See both the August/September and October/November issue of ‘Dance Australia’ for more information, including an interview with William Forsythe.