Peach Papaya | GoldenCoastline
Mad Dance’s inaugral festival premiered in May 2021. Pitched as a celebration of Queensland’s street dance scene, it brought together local talents to wow crowds at home after they’ve conquered stages and comps around the world. Peach Papaya premiered as part of a double bill with Betwixt by Pink Matter.
The final show of Mad Dance Festival began with a talented trio from renowned dance crew GoldenCoastline, who swept hearts and minds in a captivating and eye-opening performance. Complete with hoots and hollas from an enamoured crowd, this show was a delicious tub of neapolitan ice cream for the senses, as with each new, original song came new flavours of movement, texture, and style. From hip hop, to lo-fi, to music that transported you to Californian parties and orange sunsets, the show moved breathlessly from piece to piece.
Taking place at Metro Arts’ newest venue, New Benner Theatre, the setting was close and intimate. There is something special that happens when dancers come to support other dancers, and that is the way their energy bounces off one another. Even when nothing is happening. The performers might be standing completely still in near complete darkness, tinted only in the softest red. This is enough to spur a shout, or a cheer, or a “Get it!”. As though true silence is forbidden. And just as a moment of silence hangs in the air, Clarence, Jazi and Keiran burst forth, illuminated in yellow, with a beat and a choreography that could only be described as sexy, seductive, and charismatic.
Image & cover image: Janna Imperial
The show featured impressive feats of body control and connection to music; in particular, Clarence, whose popping and isolations produced shapes and rhythms that left me in awe. I could feel an electric energy permeate throughout the room during these moments, and a conversation seemed to develop between crowd and performer. The crowd would respond to an amazing move with a cry and cheer, and the performers would feed off that to go harder and larger, until the experience wasn’t just what the performance gave me but what the room was producing: excitement, joy, and connection.
Peach Papaya was more of a dance experience than a narrative experience, as performers moved between set pieces. They characterised the music in the environment, sometimes switching between suave and cheeky to sad and solemn. This approach did risk the performance verging on repetition, but the show was just the right length to keep it entertaining and exciting.
Peach Papaya is a work in progress that elicited, for me, the same feelings of hype, energy and connection I would find in a battle or a cypher. What GoldenCoastline has produced here is visual entertainment in its purest form.
