Sydney Dance Company: CounterMove –
Roslyn Packer Theatre, 29 February –
Sydney Dance Company’s "Countermove" is a double bill comprising two works: Cacti and Lux Tenebris. Alexander Ekman’s Cacti has been a globally successful work since it was first created in 2010 for Netherlands Dance Theatre. It stands out for the irreverence and humour with which Ekman skewers overly intellectual and pompous interpretations of contemporary dance. The musical score is diverse, combining excerpts of classical music from composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn with voice recordings; and much of the choreography is fast paced. In fact the work as a whole moves very quickly. At only half an hour long this is a relatively brief work yet there is a lot packed into it and multiple viewings would undoubtedly reveal more details.
The music for Cacti was well played by a string quartet of musicians visible onstage for most of the work, and the combination of stage design (by Alexander Ekman and Tom Visser) and lighting design (by Visser) was particularly effective. In the first part of Cacti, every dancer has their own white, square pedestal upon which they dance. Yet these are also moveable props which, when in a standing position, give each dancer a blank cover to mask part of their movement. In the “walking” section, which comes at the beginning and towards the end of Cacti, Holly Doyle displayed a regal posture and a calmness which contrasted with the speed of most other sections. Another highlight was a duet between Charmene Yap and Bernard Knauer in which their “thoughts” as they improvised movement were voiced aloud.
Alexander Ekman’s costume design, flesh coloured leotards and black pants were the same for male and female dancers, giving the whole cast a visual uniformity that is not common for SDC productions. The opening night cast was neatly rehearsed, performing together as a tight knit group.
In contrast to the light humour of Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, new work Lux Tenebris (a co-commission with the Frankfurt-Dresden Ballet) was very dark and serious in tone. Lux Tenebris, meaning "Light in Darkness" is the fifth collaboration between choreographer Bonachela and composer Nick Wales and they have collaborated on some excellent works. Sadly, this is not one of their best. Fortunately there were some fearless performances from the cast as a whole and two strikingly emotive duets danced by Charmene Yap and Todd Sutherland. At a glance, Aleisa Jelbart’s costume design looked like the dancers’ own assorted rehearsal wear - a mixture of leotards, shorts, singlets and crop tops that appeared practical, if somewhat low key. Benjamin Cisterne’s lighting design for the first part was so dark that the dancers were quite difficult to see, but lightened up and improved significantly as the work progressed.
Some years ago I encountered the term “Serious Underpants Ballet” as a humorous, yet unnervingly accurate label for a whole genre of relentlessly dark and fraught dance works that don’t really go anywhere. This is exactly what Lux Tenebris reminded me of. A large part of the problem may well have been the work's placement as the second work in the program. Following a crowd pleaser like Cacti is no easy task, especially when the second work sits uncomfortably close to the type of dance Cacti has just been sending up.
Nonetheless, "CounterMove" is worth seeing not only for Cacti, but for the dancers’ athleticism and skill throughout the whole program.
SDC is touring this program extensively around Australian cities and regional areas in 2016 so keep an eye out for it. SEE DATES AND VENUES BELOW.
- GERALDINE HIGGINSON