Victorian College of the Arts (VCA): "Resonate, Revolve, Reflect"
Space 28, Victorian College of the Arts
November
Twenty-six dancers took to the stage at the VCA's Space 28 to showcase their talents in the annual graduate dance season, entitled "Resonate, Revolve, Reflect". Supported by graduating production students and four substantial choreographers, they presented a program of four works. The program is a culmination of the dancers' three years of training, and stages from experimentation to improvisation and final resolution were evident in the choreographic styles chosen. It also revealed the pedagogical underpinnings of the degree course.
The first work presented was "The sweet Bursaria is a survivor of the original vegetation that grew on this site" by Rosalind Crisp. The work is about "bodies and histories" and Crisp uses specific methodologies to incite improvised movement in the dancers. Inside the framework provided by Crisp, movement possibilities are explored. There was a kind of boneless quality in some of the movement as dancers experimented with initiating movement from different parts of their bodies and in different planes.
The work had audience members collect a folding stool and set themselves up in the vast, bare studio space, in the dark with a single dancer moving in a spotlight. A herd of onlookers milled about seeking out opportunities to view snippets of dance that began happening in various locations, mainly on the periphery of the studio. This was an interesting idea from the dancers' point of view as it revealed and consolidated their experience in dealing with a more experimental approach to dance-making. It wasn't quite as interesting from an audience perspective as much of the dance was obscured by the milling crowd. It would almost have been better for the audience to be ambulatory, freed from their stools and more easily able to choose what to focus on. As it was, the presence of roving spectators almost overwhelmed the dance.
In Brooke Stamp's work, Unified Field, a collaboration with the students, sound frequency and particle vibration are the impetus for movement. This is an ensemble piece that has dancers moving in a series of individualised mini scores or phrases. It is very challenging to have a relatively large group of dancers (14) on stage performing individually but often concurrently, and to ensure all those movements are interesting to watch. This work was not always successful from a viewing perspective. The notion of transmitting energy through vibration was embodied in the movement but the nature of that movement felt a little predictable after a while, especially as each dancer commanded a small parcel of stage for much of the work.
Placed after the Crisp work, Stamp's piece showed a collaborative aspect of choreography that grew out of improvised elements and so exposed part of the learning development of the dancer. However, neither of these first two works felt that they had enough content to sustain their duration and, from a programming point of view, lacked sufficient contrast.
The second half of the program presented two more traditionally resolved works. Anna Smith's work 4Phase highlighted the dancers' technical skills as they negotiated a more classically influenced contemporary piece. This was exceptionally enjoyable for the audience as it embodied a wonderful fluidity and dynamism and some well executed partnering.
4Phase also moved beyond exploring isolated ideas and encompassed a sense of embracing a whole. The dancers displayed a further level of competence and expressivity here. Interestingly the "freedom" of improvisational practice often leads to a sense of stasis in a performance context. In contrast, this highly choreographed work felt freer.
The final work on the program, Stephanie Lake's AORTA had a strong, joyous, pulsing, drive that made it a fitting conclusion. Dancers in a circle held hands and jumped in unison. There was a lot of rhythmic slapping and stamping. A great sense of momentum was generated as well as a sense of freedom of movement and unleashing of energy. In comparison to works in the first half of the program, the inclusion of the entire group did not feel crowded but celebratory.
The graduating dancers are to be congratulated for their passion and confident technical precision. Throughout, discipline, dedication and expressivity were evident. The program reflected the process and consolidation of their contemporary dance practice. The audience also experienced an evolution in seating from folding stools to non-collapsible stools, to raked theatre seating. I'm not entirely sure that these choices contributed as much to the audience experience as was intended, moving as they did from impermanence to a traditional, fixed performer/audience divide. However, it is always worth experimenting with these dynamics to see how they influence dancer and audience perspective.
- SUSAN BENDALL