VCA Graduate Season: “360° (Program 2)” -
Dodds Street Theatre, 12 November -
I couldn't have asked for a better start to a graduate dance program. Becky Hilton's Everything has already been done just not by us had VCA dancers dispersed through a stripped-bare theatre space individually reconstructing sections of choreography from an extensive number of influential dance-makers. Turning here, I saw Martha Graham, straight ahead was Nijinsky, William Forsythe held a large central position while Yvonne Rainer's Trio A resisted spectacle to one side of the space. For the dancers, this was a great exercise in positioning themselves within a rich archive of dance history and contemporary practice. Students chose works to research and learn, informing both themselves and others of their dance lineages. Audience moved fluidly around the space as spectators. Other students acted as facilitators, approaching audience members and contextualising the dances we saw. The atmosphere was exciting, playful and involving.
Eventually the individual choreography is shed and audience is moved into a circle of stools and cushions. Dancers don tee shirts and tops with their names printed on the back, a nice touch since graduation casts are generally simply listed in program notes. In this section, Hilton continues to gesture at and reference moments of existing choreography, moods and movement signatures. Everything has already been done just not by us finally arrives on the floor of a studio with dance journals, music, chat and contemplation. The whole work is clever and celebratory. It really does give a sense of the full circle of influence referenced in the program's title.
The other two works on the program offered less opportunity for individual dancers to be highlighted. They were both ensemble works and neither felt as if they allowed the graduates to display their full range. Prue Lang's The Movement of Plants seemed very diffuse in its working of organic tropes. An opening monologue has a dancer/custodian walking the perimeter of the space holding a plant encased or nested within a clear plastic shell. This is echoed in plant sculptures that hang above the space, some more or less liberated from their man-made components.
This work echoes interests that remind of Lang's 2015 Dance Massive work SPACEPROJECT and include resonances from that work of humans interacting with natural cycles; plant-life, bird song, animal and insect life and weather. Dancers in verdant pants and tops form small clusters or pairs or singles and twine around one another, moving in a clockwise direction around the space. The scent of lemon myrtle subtly fills the space. Although the work has a clear shape, there felt to be little real development.
Gideon Obarzanek's Circle Dance explores literal iterations of circularity. Brisk walking in a circle by the ensemble gradually speeds up to running. Feet hitting the floor sets up a rhythm that is maintained as dancers break out of the circle momentarily. Clapping and rhythmic breathing adds dimension. This is an exercise in disciplined unison work but didn't allow for the students to distinguish themselves.
The range and depth of choreographic material that VCA students tackle over the course of their degree is impressive. It is also always wonderful to see the opportunities that these contemporary dance students get to have work made on them by esteemed and experienced choreographers and for them to experience the process of these established artists. This year, the graduating class had the chance to work and collaborate with three such choreographers. The result was mixed and had me wondering whether the students were really fully able to showcase their talents.
- SUSAN BENDALL
"360° (Program 2)" closes 19 November.
All photos by Jeff Busby. Click on thumbnails for captions. Top photo: Becky Hilton's Everything has already been done just not by us.