Reviews

Sydney Dance Company in Underland choreographed by Stephen Petronio
by Francesca Horsley

T here is no doubt that New York choreographer Stephen Petronio sought to fully engage our senses in his work Underland. Made on and performed by the Sydney Dance Company, it was dense with metaphor. Set to a selection of Australian Nick Cave's angst -ridden melodies, with video projection of billowing atomic clouds or cascading falls of rubbish, it featured rugged, worn torn dancers juxtaposed against this concave world.

In this work, Petronio deliberately avoided narrative dance, describing the work as surreal, expressionistic, where "Mad Max meets Alice in Wonderland." It was dark, postapocalyptic - possibly seeking to reflect the raging fires in our collective subconscious.

It was a highly structured work, divided into 14 sections, and at any one time, a number of thematic ideas were explored. A large bare stage gave sweep to a triptych of giant screens featuring a powerful video projection and seemed to absorb the overpowering force of Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's menacing world (produced for this work by Tony Cohen and made into a soundscape by Paul Healy). Remarkable costumes by New York designer Tara Subkoff (Imitation of Christ) added to the under-belly look of the piece.

The dancers seemed oblivious to the flow of images on the screens. Rather, the video seemed to enlarge and interpret Cave's introspective music into environmental catastrophes, while the choreography seemed to relate to the lyrics. This complex array of sensory stimuli deflected from the dexterous flow of movement and reinforced the primacy of composition over choreography.

There were many powerful moments - the opening, as an upside-down Xue-Jun Wang climbed very slowly downwards in the "Descent into Underland" on a net-like structure, reflected - sometimes in close-up and sometimes in wide shot, on one of three screens behind him. In a later scene, "The Ship Song," a pile of bodies breathed, softly undulating, and in the humorous duet "Stagger Lee" the dancers were passionately and inextricably bonded together.

While it was Petronio's choreography - it was still the Sydney Dance Company. Their aesthetic is as much ballet as it is contemporary - full of elevation, high extensions and beats. They are masters of their style - flawless lifts, partnering, ensemble work, counterpoint, magnetic hyper-energy and athleticism.

The big, almost giant male dancers, one or two looking like Transformers, danced with power and vigour. They were largely anonymous, aside from Bradley Chatfield, one of Australia's most celebrated contemporary dancers, who had little difficulty in asserting his imprint on each of the sections he danced.

In contrast the women were small Barbie dolls - one very tiny indeed. In some sequences they appeared stiff and automated - bizarrely pirouetting in brilliant red and green tutu skirts and bra tops - and in others they looked raunchy or liquid.

"Underland" ended with "Death is Not The End," to the song of the same name from Cave's "Murder Ballads," danced by the whole ensemble. With dancers all dressed in white, this section was dream-like and almost wistful - in sharp contrast to the force of earlier movement. Again, it sought not to link itself to the music, finishing with the backdrop being lifted on backstage props and apparatus. Undressed with bare bones showing, Underland left to the audience to unravel whose psyche had been revealed -Petronio's, Cave's or our own.

Researching Dance Performance
Dagmar Simon discusses Linda Ashley's innovative research

The possibility to perform in Old Yeller at the Auckland tempo dance festival caused Linda Ashley to create her dance monologue Several Decades in the Life of a Dolly Mixture. This work was presented in different versions of varying length in different settings. The first performance took place at the Auckland College of Education in September. There it was a half hour piece accompanied by David Lines with his wonderful improvisations on the piano. The second performance, presented at Old Yeller (an evening of performances by mature dance artists), featured a much shortened version. The third one took place at the University of Auckland, where Linda has embarked on a PhD. She presented a more academically focused version at the Auckland University Post-Graduate Student Association's Exposure competition/event, where students presented their research proposals. It's easy to imagine that Linda's presentation was completely different from anything else. A jury that firstly had their jaws drop then rewarded her with first prize for her section!

In her piece Linda puts before the audience issues of dance and aging, hence the sub-title of her piece Youthanasia of Dance. 'Senior moments' star in an hilarious way as well as 'battle' with the body. "You think you finally got the hang of it…and then the body packs up!" Linda forces us in a humorous way to reflect upon the situation of dance practitioners in middle age.

The other prominent theme is the relationship of body and mind. "When I am dancing, I am thinking" is her message, as opposed to Descartes' "I think therefore I am". Thought-provoking statements, which question the superiority of the mind and its disconnection from the body, which is so ingrained in Western thinking. We are all working with our bodies all the time, but are we really sure where we stand philosophically in regard to the body/mind relationship? Additionally, how would our stance in this regard possibly guide our practice? '

One major goal of Linda's piece is to challenge the 'sacred cow' of research and secure its relevance by connecting it to the practice of dance. Her piece poses the question: "what is research?" Dance researchers, coming from a practical art form and faced with a narrow theoretical definition of research, have been particularly interested in exploring and redefining existing definitions. A shift in thinking is happening at some universities, which opens up opportunities to use performance projects as research projects. What a difference from the earlier thinking, which unfortunately is still widely prevalent, that arts practice and arts research are two independent matters.

Linda demonstrates that there is an obvious connection between research and practice. Firstly, many aspects of her piece are based on historical research from her books. Secondly, she makes research findings while working on a piece or performing. For example she saw on the video recording that she responded unconsciously to the improvised music, even though the concept was for the music and the movement to be disassociated. This is a research finding.

Linda emphasises that artists' careers are made up of phases of research. You collate information, spin a web, which is not at all different from scientific data gathering. These research phases are paramount to the process of creation and for the growth of the artist.

New Zealand School of Dance Graduation Season 2004. Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
by Francesca Horsley

The end-of-year show by Wellington's New Zealand School of Dance "Graduation Season" presented a programme of alternate classical ballet and contemporary dance pieces, with graduating students performing in their specialty disciplines.

The Pas de Deux and Grand Divertissement from the Bournonville masterpiece "La Sylphide" was full of youthful poise and accomplishment. Angela Lo was a petite La Sylphide, showing all the allure and mystique of the role, and a refined technique. Her partner Paul Matthew, dancing
the role of James, the Scottish farmer who has deserts his fiancée, was skillful, with good leaps, although he lacked a little Celtic fire. The Grand Divertissement was softly charming - with the 10 sylphs and Queen of the Forest Sylphs in perfect harmony capturing the quiet poetry of the ballet.

The following contemporary male solo to Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" was unnecessarily at odds with the previous restrained classicism. It was a strong work that needed to be better integrated into the flow of the programme. Bare-chested macho dancers, William Pratt (on the first night) and David Tandy (the second), gave it their all to Natalie Weir's passionate and gymnastic choreography. Both dancers showed great physical strength and conviction, carving out and commanding both space and floor.

Australian Garry Stewart's "Currently Under Investigation" was a white, funky and upbeat piece, suiting the youth of the dancers. They were smooth and slick as they moved in and out of clever patterning, partnering and ensemble work - melding hip hop, gymnastic and break dance moves to the contemporary movement vocabulary. Balanchine's choreography and Gershwin's songs are a winning combination - and the duet to "The Man I Love" from the ballet "Who Cares" was a challenging duet for Bianca Hopkins and David Tandy. Seemingly full of thirties lazy beguile, it was nevertheless an exacting piece that the couple pulled off with jazzy style.

Bright exotic colours and fine craftsmanship are Sue Healey's hallmark for her intelligent work. In an especially commissioned work for the season - "Ten Minutes of Time" - she played with tempo and perceptions of time, pulling in and out of movement and building up concentration, depth and nuance. But her subtleties were sometimes lost on the dancers and they lacked the maturity to fully realise the piece's intricacies.

Jeffrey Tan's ballet duet "Façade" was beautiful. Set to Barber's lyrical Adagio for Strings, Tan says of the piece that it reveals our inner selves. Antonia Hewitt and David Tandy, in 'near naked' leotards, revealed strength, control and sensitivity in lovely partnering as they balanced on and wound over each other. It was both distant and abstract, intimate and impassioned.

There was a sense of reverence to the ensemble contemporary piece "With The Company We Keep" by David Massingham. The dancers, in somber brown robes began by placing and picking up mats as if they were precious votives. Confined to one small area they moved communally, in soft and folded movement. They were gradually replaced by purple robed dancers who dissipated the intensity, moving out and into space, breaking in and out of patterns, lines. A new work, it was solemn, hypnotic - reassuring.

The last piece, Street Songs by Val Caniparoli was full of caprice. Set to Carl Orff's Orff-Schulwer that incorporated children's choruses, it was full of charming vignettes. There were clever virtuosic dancing, duets as romances came and went, moments when disembodied point shoed feet waved and fluttered from the side. It was whimsical and engaging choreography and the dancers sparkled.

Even though the graduating dancers were not always capable of totally encompassing the challenges that some of these complex pieces demanded, it was refreshing to see powerful classical and new contemporary danceworks being performed exceptionally well. To give young dancers the opportunity to stretch themselves on works that demand strong technique and perceptive interpretation is laudable. The School is to be congratulated for its vision and adventurous spirit. It bodes well for the future of New Zealand dance.

Coppelia
by Briar Wilson
Royal New Zealand Ballet, Aotea Centre, Auckland, December 2004

This was a performance that I spoke of beforehand as the last Coppélia I would go to. Unexpectedly, I found I was not bored but was drawn into its magic by the music of Delibes and (like many before me) by the way the dance relates to the music - or is i, the way the music relates to the dance?

Delibes, like Tchaikovsky later on, was commissioned to write for this dance and its story. He had the gift of writing music full of melody that inspires a dancer, and his orchestration is admired as adding colour to the action. Most commentators credit the survival of Coppélia -his music.

The original production of 1870 had much that was new. It was a collaboration between choreographer, (Arthur Saint- Léon, ballet master at the Paris Opera), composer, (Leo Delibes), and librettist (Charles Nuitter), and it successfully achieved what is usually expected today -the integration of music, movement, sets and plot. There were other firsts - although the plot is unreal, it had real people in it rather than supernatural beings; it used the theme of bringing a doll to life; it incorporated national dances such as the czardas and the mazurka.

The overture speaks of wistful dreams and of having fun, but not of disappointment - and that is how it all turns out. Dr Coppélius has the vision of bringing a doll to life, but accepts failure after reimbursement - it is, after all, a comedy not a tragedy. The story is about a rocky time in the courtship of Swanilda (danced beautifully and cleverly by Yo Takayama) and Franz (danced not so impressively by Mikhail Plain). Takayama was light and gay, wonderfully in character, with clean movements. Plain, while presenting Franz well as a lively show-off, produced some shaky lifts, and some ungainly turns. Sir Jon Trimmer's mime, as Coppélius, added a darker, not so comic, edge to the story.

The choreography is not the original, but is based on the revision by Cecchetti of a version by Petipa, as staged in London by Sergeyev in 1933 - and where Franz is, unlike the original, danced by a man. Our ballet company first danced it in 1955. Most of the interesting action is in the first two acts, the third containing divertissements and character dances. The mime was well done (the audience could easily understand it), but the burlesque could have been toned down - how could a comic innkeeper protect Coppélius from bullies? Also seen on some dancers were those terrible fixed smiles. This production borrowed perfect set and costumes from Australia (designer Kristian Fredrikson) - the workshop in Act II was wonderfully spooky with a marvelous collection of dolls.

Book Reviews …by Jennifer Shennan
This review discusses two books as unlike as left foot/right foot,- but I need both for walking.
How about you?

Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino
by Emily W.Leider
Faber & Faber 2003 514 pages, 86 b&w photographs ISBN 0-571-21818-0 Cloth UK 20 pounds

I once asked my Mother who her girlhood filmstar hearthrob had been: "Rudolf Valentino" came the swift reply. I was thus easily tempted into buying this biography to find out more about that most interesting of decades, 1920s -and perhaps something about my Mother. I was not disappointed on either front. Emily Leider traces the life and loves of the Italian-born, Americanmigrant, hugely celebrated film actor and dancer. One of his partners was Natacha Rambova who had trained at Paris Opera and in New York with Kosloff. They married and the two co-starred in numerous films, for which Rambova also occasionaly did the design. This marriage lasted longer than his first one had ( to Jean Acker who momentarily forgot she was lesbian and agreed to the marriage - but it lasted only a few hours ).

The era of silent movies gave the viewers'eye twice the pleasure and this dark hero was no mean looker. There are 86 photographs to prove that ... but Valentino had much more than just good looks. Videos of the films - (the legendary Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - starring Valentino as Julio the Tango dancer - was restored in 1990) and lets us see the acting talent that many, including Charlie Chaplin, generously praised.

The book is more than a biography however.

Leider manages to explore, in tandem, notions of the outsider in 20th century American culture, of the hallmarks of attractive and desirable masculinity within gender consciousness, the history of filmmaking, and the attendant phenomena of media constructions of celebrity. Valentino studied Nijinsky portraits and those of other dancers besides. Ken Russell's 1977 film, Valentino, ridiculously distorts the life but Nureyev, who played the lead role in it said: "Valentino was an instinctive dancer who moved with great elegance. He was remarkable for his feline suppleness, his animal way of propelling himself with a minimum of gesture and great naturalness. It was his intensity that set him apart. It wasn't his looks that counted, it was his acting. He had conviction." So I can see what did it for my Mother.

The book is a fine and stimulating read. Tere's much in it for those interested in dance history as well as film and social history - and New Zealand readers will find some echoes and parallels with the beautiful book by Haworth and Miller of the dancing life and times of Freda Stark in Auckland.

Getting Closer - A Dancer's Perspective
Photographs by Rosalie O'Connor - Foreword by Julio Bocca
University Press of Florida 2004 ISBN - 0-8130-2768-3 Cloth US$29.95

Yet another book of stunning ballet photographs? More camera than choreographic art?

Well it's true the photographs are stunning. They're mostly action shots from performance, or backstage, or in the studio,- close on a hundred of them, grainy black and white, with the moments and angles superbly judged. Intimate, not posed, dancers inside roles, focussed, off-guard, pensive, disciplined, liberated. But haven't we seen this before? (There exist plenty of "books" of randomly assembled photographic studies of dancers in extreme poses. Such is, in fact, my least favourite genre of dance book since it cultivates the notion of a mindless art).

What's new here is that all the photographs are taken by O'Connor who danced in American Ballet Theatre under Baryshnikov's direction, photographed her colleagues for a hobby, retired from performing after a major foot injury - but kept right on photographing. So these are images taken "from the inside". O'Connor then interviewed each dancer or a close colleague and asked for their comments and memories of that particular caught moment (or else wrote the comment herself). That's what makes the book unusual;- extended captions of dancers talking about their own experience of the act and the art.

My sole quibble: I'm always saddened when an otherwise beautiful photo has to be severed by a centre page fold- but there are only a few of those in this book. You would want every day to leave it propped open at a different favourite page (and there are plenty of those) for inspiration as you pass by. Fabulous.

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