West Australian Ballet: Takuto
Perth International Arts Festival
West Australian Ballet: "Takuto: Ballet at the Quarry"
Quarry Amphitheatre, 3 February
"Takuto: Ballet at the Quarry" launches West Australian Ballet's 65th anniversary year, and is part of the 2017 Perth International Arts Festival's enticing dance offerings. Featuring works by international choreographers Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Eric Gauthier, and a new work by company demi-soloist Christopher Hill, WAB dancers again deliver a sensational, visceral experience in this unique out-door venue.
Opening the evening was Ochoa's In Transit. It's a fascinating, abstract, classically-based contemporary dance work observing the behaviour of people waiting at an airport. “I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in airports,” Ochoa says. “It’s chaotic but it flows. I see all these stories around me and they're universal."
In Transit is performed by seven females and ten males dressed in an eclectic array of streetwear (costumes by Aviad Arik Herman) ranging from overcoats to sequined shorts and underwear, and is set to music by Scanner, Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, Fennesz, and The Durutti Collumn, with piercing sounds and percussive, jangling noises generating a frenetic intensity. Thirteen multi-use benches cleverly provide seating, that set upright, create divisions and screens.
A female (Reika Sato) is seen alone before others appear and sit separately, aimlessly staring. In fleet, staccato little jumps, edgy solos, duos and trios some interaction occurs. One man barks instructions, which are mechanically obeyed; an unforgettable pas de quatre develops from a duo with fluid, pliant eloquence and athletic daring, superbly performed by Florence Leroux-Coléno, Matthew Lehmann, Liam Green, and Jesse Homes. The discombobulation of being 'in transit' is well captured in this work and the journey of the lone girl left behind after the others depart seems uncertain.
Hill's The Clearest Light follows after an interval. According to program notes, this work "explores what happens when your experience changes the way you see something." Hill also created the electronic soundscape for this experimental, abstract work.
Memorable sequences include the undulating, winged arm movements of a male (Matthew Edwardson); the serene figure of a female (Reika Sato) as she slowly descends the steps through the audience carrying an illuminated orb to join him; the couple's flowing, lithe movements enhanced by silky costumes (designed by Hill); a series of vignettes with special lighting effects by Chris Donnelly, (Florence Leroux-Coléno, Oliver Edwardson, Jesse Homes all impressive); and choreography that manages to perfectly embody the soundscape, especially in the final duo, (Brooke Widdison-Jacobs and Alessio Scognamiglio outstanding).
Bookended by the work of two international choreographers, Hill's work, assisted by excellent performances and his inventive sound score, holds its own; he is definitely an emerging choreographer/creator to watch.
After a short interval, André Santos diverted us all in a virtuosic performance of Gauthier's hilarious yet technically taxing Ballet 101. It's set to a recorded voice instructing the dancer to demonstrate 100 positions in classical ballet, resulting in many twists and turns and much merriment. Of course Santos sailed through the 'lesson' and the audience clearly would have awarded him a high distinction.
Completing the evening was Gauthier's uplifting, exhilarating Takuto, (music by Stephan M. Boehme), inspired by traditional Japanese Taiko drumming, which remarkably is performed live by ten of the dancers. (Matthew Lehmann, Gakuro Matsui, Chihiro Nomura, Christian Luck, Meg Parry, Polly Hilton, Claire Voss, Liam Green, Adam Alzaim, Nikki Blain).
Finding one’s inner rhythm – "the balance that provides us with strength and creativity", is the theme of Takuto (Japanese for beat), and it is an ideal fit for the versatile dancers of West Australian Ballet and the beauty of the stark limestone cliffs of the quarry setting in its Australian bush surroundings. Rhythm and balance come naturally to these dancers but it was quite a feat for them to master the art of drumming. Brilliantly led by a spirited, bearded, long-haired Lehmann, they delivered a spectacular finale to the night without missing a beat.
Margaret Mercer