Sydney Dance Company. Her Majesty's Theatre. 8 May 2013
Rafael Bonachela has finally brought Sydney Dance Theatre to Adelaide for the first time since he took over as Artistic Director in 2009. He's been busy creating new works and collecting accolades - Bonachela was noted as the 'Most Outstanding Choreographer' and 2 One Another was called 'Best New Work' in the 2012 Dance Australia Critics Survey.
2 One Another is a complex and detailed masterwork beautifully executed. Bonachela explains in the program notes left over from the Alice Springs show that he themed the dance on poetic snippets by Samuel Webster and together they interpreted the interactions of people, and particularly and not surprisingly, of dancers. But you will not find the soft ballet curves of longing and empathy here. Bonachela's choreography is all hard edges and sometimes contortion. The dancers barely acknowledge each other in any emotive way and perform like electrons in cold motions of repulsion and attraction. That metaphor was evinced by a back curtain of cold white lights that mostly reminded me of a circuit board but was sometimes cleverly manipulated into a swarm of bees or falling stars (Tony Assness - design).
The dance was energetic and decidedly crisp but was of a singular blazing pace and style. The brief few duets and small groups were a welcome relief from the frenetic and diffused activity of the ensemble pieces. Nick Wales' eclectic musical selection and original score with some of Webster's snippets weaved in were powerful vectors.
Costumes were uniform and unisex. In the first half, the dancers wore grey tight-fitting outfits, the sort that Captain Kirk wore in fights to the death on evil planets, while in the second, blood red toga singlets and matching underdacks were the go.
The dancers themselves, God bless them, are billed on the back page of the program sandwiched between the more lengthy credits of the Sydney Dance Company's and the Adelaide Festival Centre's very important and no doubt equally talented administrative staff. Thomas Bradley, Chris Aubrey and Lachlan Bell were terrific in their trio, and Juliette Barton and Andrew Crawford were a stunning duet.
David Grybowski
When: Closed
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: Closed
