Colossus, Stephanie Lake Company, Fairfax Studio, Friday October 4th 2019
"Colossus" by the Stephanie Lake Company was presented by the Melbourne International Arts Festival at the Arts Centre Melbourne's Fairfax Studio on Friday October 4th 2019"Colossus" choreographed by Stephanie Lake for her company suited the Fairfax Studio with its intimacy. This is one of the best dance works I have seen in 2019 but I have some reservations.
I arrived at the Fairfax Studio and was longing to read the programme prior to entering the theatre. At about 7.10pm I went up to a group of ushers and requested a programme. They obliged and were preparing to hand out programmes in the foyer. I was impressed that the female usher then stood at the base of the stairs handing out the programmes to new audience arrivals.
Stephanie Lake has created a good dance piece that should tour international festivals mainly due to the exciting structure of the piece. It could be more exciting as some of the flow was broken from time to time. There were some missed opportunities to allow the flow to continue organically. Occasionally, the structure was anacoluthon as it rapidly changed direction. The show was clearly divided into different scenes with lighting black outs in between.
As you entered the Fairfax Studio the fifty dancers lay faceup on the stage in a large circle. This stillness was hypnotic as per entering the State Theatre last night to see the dancers all sitting in a meditative formation. Here the "Colossus" dancers all had their arms outstretched over the heads and their eyes open. Having your arms overhead for such an extended period is not comfortable. Well done as barely an arm or toe moved. I was impressed with their meditative and disciplined opening pose. Coincidentally, "The Rite of Spring" at the State Theatre on the previous night had the dancers sitting on stage for an extended time before they moved.
The fifty "Colossus" dancers laying supine in the large circle formation looked like they could be the Colosseum in Rome, a snowflake, or a pattern. The opening image was powerful, assertive and commanding.
I knew they would begin with some small movements to warm up their bodies as they lay at least for ten minutes before the show officially began. A drum beat announced the opening and the fifty pair of fingers curled in unison. They rolled their wrists and other body parts. Their feet stretched, they curled up and then rose in a sit-up with incredible core strength. They rolled down and did many stretching and flexing movements to prepare for larger movements. They arched their backs in unison. Flexing and stretching hands, or bending and stretching elbows were respecting the dancers' bodies but also ensuring the audience were attuned to what was to follow. Stephanie Lake in this opening sequence created a solid contract with her audience to invite us into this world of "Colossus".
The dances, as I predicted would roll up through the spine to walk. They created a crowd formation and then the first soloist appeared in the centre of the circle, She pointed and directed the circle. Mexican Waves of wrists rolled around the large circle. We then were treated to so many "illegal" Mexican Waves of heads to the right and left; arms raised and bent: legs raised and bent; rolling, twisting and swaying from side to side. This was sheer brilliance in structure as it built momentum.
The Mexican Wave then split upstage (at 12.00 noon position) to continue down each side to finish at the centre downstage (6.00pm position). This was repeated a few times. This is where it jolted as the two Mexican Waves should have crossed and gone in the opposite directions to build momentum and continue the flow. This is one section that could be expanded. Do not get me wrong, I loved it, but it jolted as if anacoluthon.
The dancers moved to the sides to frame the action. I actually found the crowd formations in many ways more interesting than the solos, duos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, etc.
The ensemble gathered around and sweep up the first soloist to reveal the second soloist. She stood centre stage as the ensemble moved into two groups each side. This soloist became a conjurer as she controlled the forces of energy from either side. Ying and Yang spring to mind as the dividing image. Here she led each group to follow her directions as a conductor, a dictator or guru. They followed with some really interesting formations and movements. The ensemble followed her lead with varying levels of intensity as directed. Sometimes the tempo challenged the ensemble. The two sides ebbed and flowed to her commands. This was another strong piece of choreography, although very academic in approach, I was enthralled.
A section of window wiping lower arm moves really challenged the capacity of the dancers. This is where you could tell those who had a strong core as they chopped the air with their window-wiping arms, while some could not keep the pace, let alone accelerate as directed. This did not bother me as the effort of the individual was being supported by the masses. The effort is what I really admired.
So many different formations were created.
These are not in any particular order:
Tap Dance sequence was very much like "42nd St" as the ensemble performed time steps in varying degrees of competence. A small group began and then swelled to the entire ensemble doing time steps in the manner of class or an audition.
Marching groups occurred. One was as if from a scene in "Evita", another like a Surf Life Saving Club doing marching drills, and another as if performing their Calisthenics Club routine. I loved the marching sequences with the slapping of the thighs to create rhythms. Maybe a bit more musically challenging rhythms could have expanded this section.
Rescue scene where a guy was brought into the group that then developed into a mob scene.
There were fun bits too - with the Bollywood style "Light Globe turning" sequence. A bad joke is coming: How many dancers does it take to change a Fairfax Studio light globe? Yes, 50! I was beaming inside and with a huge smile in the front row as I loved the joy in this section.
Class Photo sequence as the dancers lined up in formation of a class photo, or a graduation shot, or a Grand Final portrait of a football team. The ensemble then followed the directions - maybe the teacher, the photographer, the historian - it does not matter who. They followed the directions of opening and closing mouths, looking up and framing their faces etc. Interestingly, the looking up sequence should have begun with just the eyes looking up first before anyone lifted their chins. Little tweaks will strengthen this work.
Window wiping sequence consisted of the splaying of the lower arms that was similar to Brad and Janet driving in the rain from "The Rocky Horror Show". Some dancers struggled to keep up as the tempo accelerated.
After a duet, the ensemble reformed from the boundaries of the stage and performed duets similar to a dance or an American Prom.
A party scene had the ensemble mingling with low, indistinguishable conversations as individual dancers' worked-the-room in the crowd.
My favourite part was what I shall call the RETROGRADE sequence where the ensemble moved from stage left to right. First a lady, then two men who did a short throwing pas de deux, and the rest of the ensemble followed in their own combinations. This whole sequence was reversed. It was danced backwards - which is called the RETROGRADE. They did this retrograde sequence at least three times. I loved it as my heart was beating at the excitement that they created as an ensemble.
At times, the work reminded me of the umbrella scene from "The Concert" by Jerome Robbins.
There were times when "Colossus" reminded me of Maurice Bejart's "The Competition" that was performed by The Australian Ballet in 1989.
Another section reminded me of the swelling crowd scenes from Natalie Weir's "Carmina Burana" performed by The Australian Ballet in 2001.
These comparisons are a compliment as the pulsating and swelling crowds revealing moments of interest are common in all of the works mentioned.
There were moments that reminded me of birds murmuration. I wanted an obvious flying bird murmuration sequence with arms outstretched as there was one brief moment that had a glimmer of "Swan Lake" style flock. It reminded me of the sensational Peter Brook's version of "The Conference of the Birds" where the birds would hover and swoop from a great height, that was presented at the HSV7 Teletheatre in Fitzroy in 1980. This is where birds murmurating was choreographed with exquisite detail. Visually the sense of height was lacking in "Colossus" except with the use of the lighting and shadow effects on the back wall; and the two men with the throwing lift from the retrograde sequence.
Many times I watched the ensemble as they observed the soloist or duos or trios perform. It was interesting to watch those who looked into the audience to espy a friend or the reaction of the audience compared to those who concentrated on the central action. When those who saw me looking at the ensemble, they quickly diverted back their concentration to the central action. This Greek Chorus of observation is crucial to ensure the energy is directed to the central point as otherwise it breaks the flow of the work. The swelling of those concentrating supported the central action to a higher plane than those who sat back and relaxed. The ensemble is that - an ensemble - to create a unified atmosphere or experience. These brief moments elevated the work and I longed for more.
The ensemble left the main stage for the finale, leaving a soloist to conclude the show.
These dancers should be proud of being in such a good work.
I could see "Colossus" by the Stephanie Lake Company again. Even though the quality of the dancing was not necessarily the best contemporary dance I have seen, it was the ensemble's qualities and atmospheres that lifted this work. Some of the soloists lacked the qualities and finish that I saw from others in the ensemble.
Overall, I gave "Colossus" and 8/10 while my partner gave it 7.5/10.
Follow up:
I could see "Colossus 2" with scenes of pedestrian behaviour, football crowds, protest crowds, Hari Krishna rituals, celebratory parades, The Hajj at Mecca, Boxing Day Sales crowds, queuing up for a new produce; queuing up for the latest book launch; queuing for the latest technology; camping out overnight for tickets to the Grand Final; Bison stampede; African elephants stampede; other animals stampedes; evacuations etc. There are possibilities to include protest marches or protest sit-ins, panicking crowds, peer crowds and evacuations. There are so many possibilities for another version.
I believe Stephanie Lake could do an even better version.
After effects:
I had to press my ears during the show on a few occasions. The music did not sound loud during the performance but I did feel the thumping went through my entire body. Both my partner and I had ringing in our ears for four hours after the show. I am curious if anyone else had a similar effect.
