Mixed Bill

Four Incredible Australian choreographers: Adam Blanch, Kristina Chan, Craig Bary & Omer Backley-Astrachan have created four new contemporary dance works on Catapult’s professional company

“Catapult’s mixed bill is a refreshingly diverse night of contemporary choreography. While occasionally lacking the finesse of a full scale company production, each work at approximately 20 minutes offered the audience the opportunity to witness distinctive choreographic styles and in several instances, pause for reflection. It shows the wonders that can come from the opportunity to create.” Claudia Lawson:

TRIP FOR BISCUITS

Choreographer: Adam Blanch
Composer: Zackari Watt
Dancers: Ella Driene, Alexandra Ford, Allie Graham, Nicholas Jachno, Mikayla Nangle, Skip Willcox

“The opening piece is “Trip For Biscuits,” a work by Adam Blanch. A rising star on the Sydney choreographic scene, the work is set in the scattered mind. It explores the endless cycle of chaos and our constant search for purpose. As the curtains rise, the dancers are dressed like they are ready to compete. Red shorts and white singlets, the dancers move chaotically as if searching for a finishing line that doesn’t exist. The choreography is intense and engaging, arms and legs jerk with strength in between moments of softness and fluidity. At one point, a dancer limp with exhaustion falls to the floor while other dancers struggle to pick her up. It is as though her body is succumbing to the fatigue of finding her purpose. The final scene is gripping, the dancers move in a frenzy as the curtains fall around them. Allie Graham is the star of this work, it is hard to take your eyes from her through the entire piece.”

HUMAN REMAINS

Choreographer: Omer Backley-Astrachan
Composer: James Hazel
Dancers: Alexandra Ford, Allie Graham, Nicholas Jachno, Mikayla Nangle, Skip Willcox

“Backley-Astrachan’s work, Human Remains, focused on a post-apocalyptic theme, where out of the ashes, we as humanity can rise again, exploring the concept of surviving where no other have, and beauty and grace from ashes. There where whiffs of the mythological, presented as a retina of images moving through the work. Animalistic tableau gave resemblance of something familiar, moving into exploration, and sitting in the moment as the dancers wove their way through and developed the idea, whilst morphing from idea to idea. There is a subtle beauty, even in the obtuse, in Backley-Astrachan’s work that pervades the whole work — from the way partnerships are transitioned, to the shapes themselves and the detail within, to the consistent return to motif, which makes for satisfying viewing. There is a brilliance to the partnering work — limbs work sympathetically so that the duo easily slides into a trio or slips into a group encircling each other and then moving into interacting in a completely different manner without the audience being particularly aware of how we got from one to the other. Use of perhaps Hebrew, albeit non-English language, was an interesting feature, with one woman shouting it out as if in countdown, adding the intrigue of the work. Backley-Astrachan knows how to create a world for the dancers to exist within, and the audience is drawn in.”

SHIMMERING TOWARDS SILENCE

Choreographer: Kristina Chan
Composer: James Hazel
Dancers: Eliza Cooper, Nicholas Jachno, Mikayla Nangle, Skip Willcox, Georgia Van Gil

“Kristina Chan’s ‘Shimmering Towards Silence’ was a minimalists dream; utilising composer James Hazels’ organic and naturalistic score to immerse the audience in a world outside of the theatre. The dancers’ evoked real and surreal elements of the natural environment, moving with a powerful fragility. ‘Shimmering Towards Silence’ presents an elegant outer shell, but this only a momentary illusion: a haunting complexity lays beneath.”

LADEN BLUE

Choreographer: Kristina Chan
Composer: James Hazel
Dancers: Alexandra Ford, Nicholas Jachno, Jesse Murray, Mikayla Nangle, Skip Willcox

“The final work is Craig Bary’s “Laden Blue.” The complex synopsis to the work is difficult to interpret, but the piece itself seems to vividly explore themes of bullying and domestic violence. It is chilling, and perhaps the most striking piece of the night, the audience is completely transfixed. The work begins with the dancers dressed in casual clothes, interacting with each other knowingly. The choreography is cleverly suggestive of relationships between the various dancers, yet fluid enough to make the audience wonder at the work’s direction. As Zachari Watt’s composition builds, the petite and dynamic Alexandra Ford emerges as the star of the work. During the work, she takes to a microphone and sings. Later, with her tiny frame she is pushed and pulled by the other dancers. Dark themes emerge, but the work ultimately lets the audience sit with their own interpretation.”

NEWCASTLE Civic Theatre: March 6 & 7

SYDNEY ARC Theatre: March 8th

Photo Credit: Ashley de Prazer