Ever, Phillip Adams Ballet Lab, Temperance Hall for the Melbourne Festival, Wednesday October 18th 2017

Ever, Phillip Adams Ballet Lab, Temperance Hall for the Melbourne Festival, Wednesday October 18th 2017

"Ever", by Phillip Adams Ballet Lab was presented at the Temperance Hall for the Melbourne Festival, on Wednesday October 18th 2017.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and it is more of a stream of consciousness.


"Ever", by Phillip Adams Ballet Lab was presented at the Temperance Hall for the Melbourne Festival, on Wednesday October 18th 2017.

It was exciting to be attending "Ever" to revisit the Temperance Hall that was the former home of Anthill Theatre in the 1980's and early 1990's.  There are new toilets and a basic bar upstairs.

The Front of House Manager was welcoming and informed us about the location of the bar upstairs, and the toilets.  She notified us that the bar would close five minutes prior to the start of the show.  Our names were marked off on a list which was good to clarify the ticket holders and also good for a safety check in case of an emergency.

A programme was offered which was a small white brochure, and not in the style of the other Melbourne Festival programmes.  Sadly the information I wanted to read was not in the programme but was posted on a narrow corridor behind the staircase leading to the outside toilets rather than the more prominent location of the larger foyer walls.  

On the wall was posted photos of the artistic staff and dancers.  Some of the dancers had a website address at the conclusion of their individual biographies.  Sadly no website address was posted on the wall for Phillip Adams Ballet Lab, nor was it in the one page programme.  This is a poor oversight and shows a lack of marketing and business acumen.  I want a holistic experience that ticks all of the boxes.

The Front of House Manage spoke to the audience members downstairs to explain that she would be opening the doors after she makes an announcement when the people upstairs came down.  She also told us to enter as far as possible into the venue.

She then tried to make an announcement and a few people from downstairs were talking loudly.  I "hushed" loudly to allow the young lady some respect and draw attention to her announcement.  This could have been better handled by ringing a bell or projecting her voice to proclaim an announcement.  For example "May I have your attention please".

The night was very warm and the audience were fanning themselves as they waited for the show.

Set and Lighting Design by Matthew Adey created a pure backdrop of the space that could be from any bridal chapel.  For some reason the set instantly reminded me of the final scene from "Carousel" as if Billy Bigelow had come from heaven.  The long rectangular room was white with a white picket fence in a large rectangular "U" shape.  The stage area at the furthest end had a white roller type curtain.  A large black machine was hanging from above and looked as if it was a projector that may be used on the white curtain that would double as a screen.    Two rocking chairs sat either side of and in front of the raised stage.  Yes, I observed well and more of that later.

The show started at about 8.05 pm.  Two men and two ladies, all wearing white, walked out through a gate. They positioned themselves centre stage in a circle.  The music began and they began their dancing.  Each dancer had a different phrase.  They all repeated many of the phrases and it was in some ways a cannon effect.

Costumes by Akira Isogawa pay homage to the Quakers, Shakers and other puritanical people.  The open under-arm section allowed the dancers' bodies to breath and also provided a better line to the costumes.  The men's costumes juxtaposed the ruggedness of the white cowboy chaps worn over the top of pure white trousers.  They were not distasteful or disrespectful; they were paying homage to the puritanical people.

The first section went for about ten minutes and was full on dance.  I appreciate it was a warm night and that there was no air-conditioning or air flow, but the dancers were breathing very heavily at the end of this section.  To me they did not appear show fit as dancers usually have to appear effortless.  We were witnessing a lot of effort.

The music for the first half was "Shaker Loops" by John Adams.

At one stage the three women sported white socks and white roller skates.  They glided around the space some more effortlessly than others as trepidation and caution was apparent.

Two separate pas de deux were danced with the two men supporting a different lady on skates.  Some of it was well done, while the supporting skills varied.  One example was the difference in the hand to hand support offered.  One couple used both hands across while the other lady used both of her hands on his one arm.  It looked clunky and not very supportive from a pas de deux perspective.

Dance wise, the extensions were not complete.  Relaxed feet was a common choreographic device, as per Dianne McPherson's 1980 choreography at VCA performances at Kew High School.  Diane McPherson, a Julliard School Graduate was vilified by the Anne Woolliams the VCA Dean at the time for such choreography.  Sadly she left her tenure at VCA as her choreography was very challenging and her teaching was brilliant, electric and encouraging.

The fouette sautes were not sharp enough in their precision and changes of direction. Plus some of the extensions were not fully extended and appeared to be relaxed attitude derriere on many occasions.

There is a section that reminds me of the Wild West, cowboys and lassos. First one lady whips her lasso around and then the guys do similar actions.

Some of the precision and foot work was unrefined - particularly the jumping as they landed without rolling through their feet.  If they do not roll through the foot then they may end up with shin splints.

A lift over the shoulder was very ungraceful by one couple.  The lady looked like a potato bag thrown over his shoulder.

A solo by a young lady was full of shaking and other gestures.  This was the best dancing for the evening as she demonstrated many different intensities and moods as she sliced the air with so much emotion.  Sadly I cannot identify her due to a lack of programme details as the photos on the website do not look like her.  This young lady had polish and demonstrated that contemporary dance needs not be a poor cousin to other dance forms.

The best part was the four dancing together as in a contact release of rippling, and cause and effect as they bounced off each other.  This contact section flowed better than other sections of the choreography.

A man in a black hat entered. He danced and the others all reacted with various actions and gestures.  Some movements looked shameful as the lady covered her face, while others were respectful as if praying.  Other movements appeared as if tilling or ploughing the crops.

The four dancers in white and the man in black left the space.

The music changed to "Metamorphosen" by Richard Strauss and two men in black appeared.  They opened a hatch underneath the stage and pulled on two large black tapes.  They hauled out what looked like a blue plastic swimming pool and stretched this full length of the stage to the double exit doors.  They spread it out and it looked as if it was going to be inflated.

A short video by James Wright played for about 15 minutes on the white screen.  A man's hands dipped into paint that he then spread, splattered or stroked onto long ribbons.  Yellow, red, blue, black, and other colours followed.  I remember watching the colours as they swirled and created patterns as if a kaleidoscope.    I do recall that white came last and the colours all appeared to be those of a Rubik's Cube.

A person sitting near the main double doors just had to check their phone for an extended time during the video.  This was distracting and not a good example to set for the two children sitting close by.  This was rudeness personified.

The blue large swimming pool began inflating and came to life as the film rolled on.  Eventually the blue large swimming pool became a large bouncing mat for pole-vaulters.  Then the white curtain raised and a yellow body bag rolled from the stage and onto the blue large swimming pool.  It was so hot and the poor dancer would have been sweltering in this outfit.  The yellow body bag rolled slowly towards the double doors.  Many audience members began chatting among themselves.

Then a red body bag appeared and began rolling towards the double doors.  Then a blue body bag did the same thing.  Finally a black body bag rolled from the stage and onto the blue large swimming pool.  Audience members were carefully discussing the safety aspect as the black body bag was nearly falling overboard towards our side of the audience.  Gradually the black body bag corrected itself and got back on course towards the double doors.

In some ways this paint dripping was like watching a cricket match with not much action and then, something significant happens as the batter hits a six or someone catches someone out.  The significant action followed and was like coloured cricket balls being caught:

The double doors opened to provide a burst of fresh air and a man appeared with a large contraption with various rectangular cushions in the similar colours to the body bags.  He then catapulted these rectangular cushions towards the various coloured body bags.  Most hit the third body bag and many in the audience laughed and cringed that they hit "the head" many times.  Sympathy rose from the audience.

The yellow body bag reached the end and the blue large swimming pool structure began to deflate.  The other coloured body bags had difficulty rolling any further.

Black out.

Applause as the body bags lay still.  Maybe the paint needed to dry out.  More applause followed.  The zipper of one body bag opened slighting as the dancer wanted some fresh air on this very warm night.  The audience left I think cognisant that the dancers needed to get out of these oppressive costumes on such a stifling night..

"Ever" was good quality Melbourne Festival dance that challenged us as per some of the earlier dance programmes scheduled in the 1980's and 1990's.  

"Ever" obtained a 7/10.