Common People Dance Eisteddfod 3 | Common People Dance Project
As soon as I walked into the sold-out South Bank Piazza, I was transported back to a school sports carnival – there were banners flying, colour coded teams chanting, and lots and lots of sequins. Videos of performer’s friends and family from across the globe played on the projector, until Neridah Waters (co-founder and MC) took to the stage, donned in Lycra, looking fantastic as ever.
Je Suis Toi | The Sunshine Troupe
The performance began with the three performers being wrapped, tangled, and constricted by long pieces of elastic. As they danced around, they slowly began to free themselves from the constraints.
Street Serenades | Brisbane Festival
I seem to have spent quite a bit of the last week lurking around Brisbane parks (and even a council pool). Don’t worry; I was waiting to see circus, dance, theatre, sword-swallowing, and to catch some local bands. And I wasn’t alone, as I was in the company of a few other hardy souls, as we waited for the latest Brisbane Festival Street Serenade.
Red | Dancenorth
The voyeuristic tone was set from the moment I entered the warehouse. A separate audience bank on the opposite side of the bubble along with the bubble itself were constantly there to remind me I was watching. That I was invading the privacy of the individuals contained within. What could have been read as an invasive observation of an endangered species’ mating dance very quickly became an allegory for the final members of a species scrambling to preserve their world as it collapses around them.
Auntie's Fiafia Night | Casus Circus
Imagine two powerful women with vibrant flower covered moomoos, fanning themselves with woven fans, and big palm leaf plant beside them, laughing and gesturing as the performers take turns trying to earn a smile from them all night long. This shows just how respected elders and women are in Pasifika culture and that was an amazing take away for those who may not be of that background/culture.
Echo | ADC
I found myself appreciating the way each [video] used the editing process to produce new kinds of performances not otherwise possible. I was taken to beaches and country sides, highways and bushland; with each passing car a single dancer became three, and elegant hands multiplied upon themselves becoming ghostly worm-like entanglements. One dancer could pause at the end of a sequence only to be replaced by the next in the same position, continuing the next phrase like an Olympic relay of choreography and movement.
Collision | Casus Circus & Mad Dance House
I am an enthusiast of circus acrobatics and hip hop dance, but admittedly I never thought of these two next to one another. Both these physical practices involve impressive feats, but they engage bodies very differently. Bodies in circus acrobatics move vertically, and “slow” is the magic word. Hip hop relies on quick feet, isolations, and power moves. And while circus acrobatics and hip hop dance are so different, I was pleased to see how they were harmonised in Collision.
Fertile Ground | Ashleigh Musk and Michael Smith
The dancers invite, cajole and even pleade with the audience to take part in the construction of the world at multiple times throughout the performance. With besser blocks involved, you can be guaranteed this isn’t your average audience participation. The interpreter guides us at times, showing us how we can contribute to the world being build around us. Not all audience members took up the offer play a part in the performance, but none of us could deny we had a role to play throughout. The wordless offers from the performers are deliberate, at times earnest or exhausted. We are invited help to build the world around us, or let others do the work, but we have to decide our role.
Three | ADC
The pas de deux of the wind between Lonii Garnons-Williams and Tyrel Dulvarie was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Garnons-Williams had me in mind of a fae spirit, halfway between playful and vengeful. Dulvarie was harried before the tempest as men are wont to dance on the command of elves. They captured wind so exquisitely, the timing and lightness was superb. I could see every eddy, every tiny zephyr, and the kinaesthetic response between the two was flawless.
Corpus Null | AXIS
Corpus Null opened strong. A lone walker approached the audience, slow, barely moving at all. One by one, bodies emerged, running in figure eights, crashing into the walker’s line of sight, as if hit by an electric shock over and over again. It conjured up images of the daily grind, being lost among the chaos of the unrelenting rat race. I was distressed and captivated.
Utopia! And the Calamity Caravan | Observatory Theatre
Using circus, tap dance and clowning, the team at Observatory Theatre have made a vibrant and lively adventure story that is sure to please the kiddos. This is a pretty good first draft of a fun family show, and I genuinely enjoyed it and would like to see it transformed into a real winner, so I am going to put on my circus producer hat for this one.
Betwixt | Pink Matter
Betwixt invited the audience into the ‘In Between’: a space where words connected to movements and movements connected to music to tell unfinished stories to unsuspecting listeners. Through an enthralling combination of spoken-word poetry and dance, Pink Matter produced a fresh storytelling experience that pulled at the heart and compelled the mind.
Peach Papaya | GoldenCoastline
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.
Glass Child | The Farm
This is hands down the best piece of storytelling I’ve seen this year. This is a genuine challenge to any other productions to top it for sheer vibrating power. From the first scene, where Maitreyah’s voice cracks just ever so slightly, I know I am witness to something extraordinary. What follows is a whirlwind of emotions, for each of them, and most definitely for me.
Aftermath | Australasian Dance Collective
A contemporary dance performance to an absolutely riveting electronic set. Honestly, watching that kind of music performed whilst having to sit still in a theatre chair is a practice in self-flagellation. High-octane indeed, the exertion of these young people was extraordinary, and endless.
The Underground Hour | Claire Owen & performers.
The Underground Hour - a crowd-pleasing, glittery cabaret that harks back to times of feathers and Frank Sinatra. If you like your performers giving you all they’ve got and your showtunes to go up a key to hit a big finish, then this is the show for you. Big talent, big energy and a full house almost burst the seams of the small underground bar, Brooklyn Standard, in Brisbane’s CBD. Someone give these people a big band and a wall of lights. They deserve it.
Being Male Is | Jaycob Beven-Delaney & Eli Bunyoung
It was clear to me that these two young performers were drawing on emotional truth when performing this story. They were present with each other and they were present with us. Their dialogue was underpinned by dynamic movement pieces that conveyed an emotional intensity beyond words.
Arc | Australasian Dance Collective
Arc was the first show of ADC since November 2019, and it was a remarkable post-pandemic lockdown comeback. It took place in South Bank, in the grassy area set against river and the cityscape as background. It is not often that you can enjoy the inviting feelings evoked by the Mercurian feet of dancers moving on soft grass.
1.5x12 | Phluxus2 Dance Collective
“I’ve found time to recalibrate my understanding of self in this shifting terrain. More than ever I feel the deep value of my choreographic self, my collaborators, my community and the significance of arts and culture of our country.” Nerida Matthaei on creating in the new normal.
Common People Dance Eisteddfod 2 | Common People Dance Project
On Saturday night, I watched the second greatest battle of all time... The Common People Dance Eisteddfod 2. The teams of suburban gladiators had a dance off once again to prove which side of Brisbane is the best. The event was held at the South Bank Piazza; south of the bank, west of the city, east of the border and north of the rest of the world.