Queensland Ballet: Lest We Forget
Playhouse, QPAC, 30 July
“Lest We Forget” is a program of three half-hour works that, on the 100th anniversary of the Great War, reflects on all wars. The triple bill brings two specially commissioned works into Queensland Ballet’s repertoire and an American classic not previously performed here.
Paul Taylor’s Company B made a seemingly upbeat conclusion to an otherwise quite sombre program. Choreographed to a suite of nine songs recorded by the Andrews Sisters, this 1991 work appears, on one level, to be a tribute to those icons of the 1940s, but through the prism of their popular songs, Taylor insinuates a subtext that challenges the innocence of those melodies, and of the decade.
The movement, while contemporary, is flavoured with the swing dances of the 40s, like the Lindy hop. But contrasting with the gaiety of numbers such as “Pennsylvania Polka” (danced by Teri Crilly and Rian Thompson with considerable abandon), are the background, shadowy figures of war and sacrifice. In fact the subtext of death sneaks an appearance in almost every song.
The rawness of this juxtaposition was rather muted this performance. However, a bespectacled Camilo Ramos nailed Johnny, a reluctant Romeo, in “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny”. Surrounded by a bevy of swooning girls, it was a witty, slick interpretation of turns and twisted leaps.
Laura Hidalgo was also perfectly cast in “Rum and Coca-Cola”. Sultry and flirtatious she had an edge in her interpretation that signified the subtext inherent in both the song and Taylor’s intent.
Ma Cong’s In the Best Moments, which opened the program, was the most abstract of the three works, using The Hours Suite by Philip Glass to reflect on human relationships. Thematically, therefore, I thought its connection to war also the most opaque.
Constructed across three movements, the choreography matches the relentless, urgent rhythms (often almost note for note) associated with the music of Glass. Therefore it is technically, ruthlessly uncompromising, and requires a fearless attack not always evident. The use of canon creates sculptural shapes of extended limbs for a mere second before dissolving into the next movement, while moments of rare stillness often show the expressive, soft open fifth position, with palms facing front.
Clare Morehen and Shane Wuerthner, supported by four other couples, were well matched in the opening orange-lit sequence. Throughout, the off-balance, spiralling turns, and contorted extensions and lifts made for some tricky partnering, which they rendered effortless, although later there were some stickier moments with the supporting couples.
Yanela Piñera and Victor Estévez were also seamless in the second more lyrical movement, while Hidalgo, with Joel Woellner in the third movement, galvanised with her fluidity and finely tuned musicality.
Natalie Weir’s We Who Are Left was, unsurprisingly, given her flare for tapping into the human psyche, the work most thematically connected to the program’s title. Choreographed to selected parts of Benjamin Britten’s The War Requiem, it is visually striking, emotionally charged, and in this performance, delivered with technical and expressive clarity.
Using five couples, costumed in shades of battledress grey, Weir explores the classical (en pointe) idiom with the fearlessness associated with her best contemporary pieces. Duets are more restrained but no less inventive; emotion is encapsulated in the subtlest of movement.
An inspired lighting design by David Walters has angled shafts of purple and blue overhead and side lighting cutting through a smoky haze, and individually capturing the dancers.
Morehen’s solo in the section “She Who Was Left” was a highlight; the pair of boots at her feet a poignant signifier of loss and grief. Her pas de deux with Wuerthner, as the departed ‘phantom’ soldier, was beautifully conceived and sensitively expressed.
An athletic section for men, to brass and percussion, captured the Anzac spirit, but ultimately We Who Are Left was about the women. It was the highlight of a well-conceived program of works, which, on an otherwise bare stage, boldly allowed the dancers to shine.
– DENISE RICHARDSON
“Lest We Forget” closes August 6.