THREE 2.0 | Australasian Dance Collective

 What does it mean to be human? Being human can be complicated: humans have souls, minds, emotions, and creative capacity that are unique to the rest of our planet’s species. There are a few obvious implications …

THREE 2.0 is a new contemporary dance show, presented by Australasian Dance Collective, aims to answer this question. It features three pieces of contemporary dance work, each presenting a compelling perspective about what it feels like to be human and to be alive.

Contemporary dance is one my favourite dance styles as it is very expressive, and a diverse art form that encompasses a wide range of possibilities. I recall the last time I was on stage performing urban and dark contemporary dance pieces, so it was great to be an audience member to get the opportunity to watch the six ADC dancers perform contemporary dance in a way that I have never seen before.

All images: David Kelley

The entire performance was captivating overall, right from the first the moment. As the show began, six dancers were in a starting position, and one of them ran towards the group as the others lifted them up into the air under a spotlight. During the two hours of the show, I found myself mesmerised by the dancers’ movements and the way they used different body parts to create various raw abstract emotions and physicality.

The stage and space were effectively utilised, with the performers employing movements that ranged from low, medium and high levels. The lighting effects also created extra dynamics to the atmosphere in the pieces. What particularly caught my attention though was they did not use existing music or songs in any of the pieces. Brand new music was created for THREE 2.0, which was composed of soundtracks from previous work, recordings of the dancers’ voices, and other random sounds such as taping their shoes during rehearsals, which nicely accompanied the choreography. This especially showed for me in the first piece, ‘Limbic’ by Cass Mortimer Eipper, where the ‘beep’ sound at the beginning and end of this piece symbolised a human being’s entire life, from newborn to their very last heartbeat as it slowly faded away.

The dance pieces intrigued me and left me thinking about the meaning and message behind them. Each piece was abstract and unique, and brought out their own essence, mood and atmosphere. The choreography, utilising various techniques, with both soft and sharp movements, efficiently expressed human being’s emotional boundaries, the surrounding political physical space, our individuality, as well as our relationship with other people.

This was evident in the piece ‘Something There Is That Doesn’t Love A Wall’ by Kate Harman, which highlighted the contrast between the bodies of the dancers pulling and rolling on top of one another and later the clear gaping disconnections from each another. For me, this illustrated how we as human beings sometimes create barriers around ourselves to protect ourselves, but when we break down those walls, we allow ourselves to truly connect with others in order to grow and to be seen.

All images: David Kelley

The Incandescent Dark’ by Gabrielle Nankivell reflected on personal experience and feelings, and it was a blend of reality and imagination. The movements in ‘Limbic’ were provoked by the body and its senses. It mainly tackled concepts of consciousness and the subconscious sensory nervous system in our brain. I particularly loved how each dancer’s movement affected one another in canon and in mirror, which represented for me how our senses can trigger reactions.

The performance I attended included an ‘Insight Matinee’, a special presentation by the company where the audiences was given a glimpse into the creative process by choreographer Gabrielle Nankivell and ADC artistic director Amy Hollingsworth. The audiences were fully engaged, and asked several questions about the creative development. This continued at the end of the show, where I heard many discussing their thoughts and exchanging ideas about which piece they favoured the most. It was fascinating to me. This involvement of the audience enhanced the theme of THREE 2.0, which was about people connecting with each other- in this case, through the arts.

All in all, THREE 2.0 is a beautifully conceived and unique production, which made me feel a lot. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates contemporary dance or want to experience a snapshot of ‘humanity’.