Resolution Review #1: SATURDAY 20 MAY

LINK to full write up with Bruce Marriott’s thoughts to compare.

Amiangelika, Angelina Gorgaeva, Anastasia Vlasova and 1100: ICARUS
Divija Melally: The Skeleton is White
Alex Groves and ZE: Anti/thesis III

”Using elements of contemporary dance, Frame Up (a style of sensual heels dancing originating in Russia), live electronic music and real-time projections, the creative team behind ICARUS creates a dark, thematic rendition of the myth of the man who flew too close to the sun. The ensemble builds from one dancer to many as they join in cool contemporary movement gliding through space and along the floor against the morphing projections. While engaging and visually stimulating, there were times I felt distant to the theme and lost clarity of what was happening amidst the vortex of movement and transforming styles.

In The Skeleton is White, Divija Melally shares a bravely vulnerable perspective on the experiences of racism and its lasting effects on how one moves through the world. The movement influenced by contemporary forms, Indian classical dance and physical theatre supports a deconstructed monologue as Melally repeats and interrupts herself trying to get her stories out. Dumping a basket of white styrofoam balls onto the stage, Melally manifests her feelings into physical expressions of her experiences and uses the objects as props to make sense of the movement we saw earlier in the piece. As the work moves forward, I will be excited to see the creator continue developing the qualities and intentions of the movement to find extremes before her resolution.

Anti/thesis III, the final piece of the night choreographed by ZE and accompanied by the music of Alex Groves, playfully combines a pastiche of Merce Cunningham with contrasting techno and live horn performances against the backdrop of a stripped stage. The performers and choreography feel young but exuberant with shining moments where it all clicks together with dancers traversing through space against the driving techno beats and swirling horns. A final adage adds a lasting moment of juxtaposition before ZE spins with abandon as lights fade to black. In demonstrating these contrasts, I might ask how the work can explore the quality of how the feats are performed to expand the dynamics and find more advanced levels of nuance within the piece.”