Bodytorque - DNA June 18 2014

Bodytorque - DNA June 18 2014

State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne.

This is the first time that the Australian Ballet has presented their Bodytorque season in Melbourne. The theme this year was DNA and five works were presented with varying degrees of success.

"CORPUS CALLOSUM" choreographed by Richard Cilli with music by James Wade and costumes by Monica Morales was easily the highlight of the evening.

This piece had the best flow and segues between movements.  Visually it made sense like an animated science explanation of DNA.  The groupings and relationships created a variety of shapes and images.  At times it was like we were looking under a microscope with the ripple effect of moves.

This work seemed to be the most polished of the evening with their precision and finish to the choreography. It did not appear to be just a series of impressive groupings or tricks but instead showed us a depth of choreographic understanding to keep the audience intrigued.

"I CANNOT KNOW" with  choreography and costume design by Joshua Consandine  and music by  George Lentz showcased an Alice In Wonderland style adventure.  Starting in silence before the main curtain our "Alice" type character reveals a galaxy of moving images.  They could be stars, moons or comets.  It was like a variation of the above animated science explanation of DNA, each moving in their own unique manner.

The dancers wore beautiful black and sparkling unitards which glistened against the blue lit back curtain.  These costumes made an instant impact that wanted you to watch these bodies move.

The choreography varied at times and really showcased the dancer's strengths.  This was evident in Chengwu Guo's brilliantly executed and explosive jetes and sautes.   Yes it made you sit up and take notice that he created dynamic shifts in attention but to the detriment that his impressive solos were jarring and incongruent to the rest of the choreography. 

I loved the partner work and worry there is not always a natural flow to create the final beautiful image of various challenging lifts.  Some of the lifts or images are created at the expense of the choreography.  What I really admire is the ability of Joshua Consandine to create such innovative lifts and images.

"SAME VEIN" choreography and costume design by Alice Topp with music by Sergei Rachmaninov began with a soloist toying with a pair of antlers and creating various images.

The media artist Brendan Harwood provided a swirling kaleidoscope of images.  This to me was where the real dancing occurred and distracted from the physical dancers.  I thought there was too much reliance on the multi media as at times it was hard to see the dancers against the rear backdrop and due to the lighting design.

The "fluffy" costumes were impracticable as "fluff "was falling off and could be dangerous if a dancer slipped on them.  These costumes were designed for impact and not for the rigours of dance wear.

The stillness moments or freezes were shaky and needed more composure.  This was the work that I thought needed more refinement to the choreography - when I  could see it against the competing multi-media backdrop.

Act Two began with "CONTROL" choreographed by Richard House and music by Gabriel Faure and costumes by Kat Chan.  This was supported by Graham Silver's lighting design of green spotlights and white fluorescent lights that created a pulse and a dance of images.

This work showed us variations of what is to be in control and when out of control.  It was like a visualisation of Martin Seligman's master work "What You Can Change and What You Can't."  I loved how one partner controlled the other in off-balance positions.  It showed the reliance on each of the dancers.  This was evident in the over-extended pointe-work and the exaggerated shifts in their centre of balance.

The men wore black shorts while the women wore black leotards with various designs. The most impressive costume was Ingrid Gow's costume that had a horizontal cream stripe across her upper chest and a stripe down the  side of her body. The choreography seemed to be made to highlight this costume superbly.  The most impressive image was when her stripes were highlighted in a seamless extension of her arabesque penche en-pointe.  They showed to great dramatic effect - either the strip on her chest or along her side depending on whether she was in epaulment or not.  The lines were perfect and the image is imbedded in my mind.  Even though the other women's costumes looked great, it was a shame that they did not create such a holistic image in concert with the choreography. 

I thought this piece was so well rehearsed and danced beautifully with poise, grace and respect for their partner.

"EXTRO" choreography and costume design by Timothy Harbour was danced to harpsichord music by Henrik Mikolaj Gorecki.   This work was like a ballet class with enchaiments joined together with some linking phrases. 

At times, due to some of the groupings, this reminded me of a ballet class version of the "Jets" and "Sharks" from "West Side Story."  Also with the repeated and explosive developpe with arms through fourth  reminded me of the opening sequence of the above movie.   This overused phrase had wrists flapping inconsistently with both the men and the women.

This piece was like a historical musical visualisation by Ruth St Dennis.  The men seemed to be like Ted Shawn with their crawling positions.  The men seemed to be the introverts when they were in the crouching and crawling positions similar to Hofesh Shechtor's "Political Mother."

The harpsichord music and the groupings reminded me both the music of Phillip Glass' and the frantic pace of Twyla Tharps' "In The Upper Room."

The finale image was powerful with the support of the focused triangular shaped lighting was like an advertisement for "So You Think You Can Dance Australia."

 I enjoyed this work though felt it could do with some refining and polish of some arm positions and purity of group line formations.

Overall, three out of five good works and two that need a bit of work. 

Let us hope that Bodytorque is a regular event that is shown in more cities annually.  This will give an opportunity for these new works to be seen by more audiences and give the dancers an opportunity to showcase new choreographers.  I think that Bodytorque should be a part of the Australian Ballet's season and would be the perfect vehicle for a second arm to their touring arm.