It is fun to recall the highs of the dance year. And almost as much groan-aloud fun to recall some of the lows - such as the heavily marketed Rock the Ballet that came from the US with an eclectic program strung together from a whole lot of short, sharp ideas that look good in TV dance shows but not as an evening of dance on stage: too many climaxes and not enough foreplay.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Another US company, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, offered a very serious yet similarly wide range of styles … and no climaxes. That was worse. A smaller overseas group, preceded by ecstatic reviews, proved to be a retro disappointment in Singular Sensation, which could have been retitled Reinventing the Wheel.
But there were exciting, memorable visitors. The wondrous work Sutra combined one Belgian-Moroccan dancer-choreographer, 17 Shaolin monks expert in kung fu and tai chi, a delicate ensemble of strings, piano and percussion, and 21 huge coffin-like boxes. From bodies hurtling and hovering in space to episodes of quiet contemplation, it was surprising, spectacular and spiritual.
Hofesh Shechter brought his company to Spring Dance at the Sydney Opera House and held audiences spellbound with Political Mother, a piece of riveting theatre in which the language is dance. In a serious tap show, Bare Soundz, the US superstar tapper Savion Glover demonstrated that his reputation is still deserved.
Local contributors to Spring Dance included the choreographer Narelle Benjamin, whose playful work In Glass, shifting perceptions from reality to virtual vision, had two exceptional interpreters in Kristina Chan and Paul White. Departing Chunky Move director Gideon Obarzanek devised and performed his intriguing solo confection Faker.
Sydney Dance Company had memorable highlights in two programs of New Creations. Rafael Bonachela's 6 Breaths had sections of beauty and intensity, among them solos and a duet for Richard Cilli and Alexander Whiteley. Juliette Barton was outstanding in Adam Linder's Are We That We Are. Emanuel Gat's Satisfying Musical Moments offered the company's excellent performers bold opportunities that were taken up with skill and commitment to a style that is fashionable but curiously dysfunctional. Bonachela also contributed two Australian premieres: Irony of Fate (2004) as a distinguished farewell performance by Amy Hollingsworth, and Soledad (2005), danced stylishly and sensitively by Cilli and Emily Amisano.
The Australian Ballet's beautiful Peter Wright production of The Nutcracker, which has just finished, will be uppermost in audience minds from the company's 2010 program. But there was also Peggy van Praagh's sparkling Coppelia, a disappointingly bland program of Australian works and Graeme Murphy's charming full-length ballet The Silver Rose. In addition to the cast I reviewed in this work, I was very impressed by the interpretations of Rachel Rawlins as the Marschallin, Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello as Sophie and Octavian, and Robert Curran as Baron Ochs.
Bangarra Dance Theatre celebrated its 21st anniversary with works by the resident choreographer Frances Rings and a promising newcomer, Daniel Riley McKinley. Alexandra Harrison made a notable solo dance debut in Dark, Not Too Dark. Shaun Parker created a delightfully unpretentious show about happiness in Happy as Larry.
There is not room to review every dance performance in the crowded arts pages of the Herald. Among those I saw and enjoyed without telling you were the swashbuckling Cuban contemporary dancers in Brisbane; Akram Khan's Vertical Road in Melbourne, inspiring in the way that Peter Brook plays can be though disappointing at its conclusion; and in Sydney, an idiosyncratic installation/performance by the artist Ken Unsworth, The House of Blue Leaves, which made much of the talents of four senior dancers, Susan Barling, Anca Frankenhaeuser, Patrick Harding-Irmer and Ross Philip.
