Slow Music

Slow Music (3.5/5)

Vivid Festival

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

4^th June 2010

(Curators: Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed. Artists inc: Laurie Anderson, Emily Haines, Marc Ribot, Blind Boys of Alabama, Eyvind Kang, Holly Miranda, Doveman, Colin Stetson, My Brightest Diamond, Chirgilchin, Doug Wieselman, Skuli Sverrisson)

Soothing degustation serving, in various combinations, a selection of Vivid Festival artists. Small groups and slow numbers let the artists show off their skills. The curators purveyed intriguing combinations, none more so than Chirgilchin (Mongolian throat singing) plus Eyvind Kang on violin and Colin Stetson’s bass sax to create a sound of great depth and colour. Worthy if a little one-paced and a frustrating lack of information, I wanted to know why these combinations.

Where the heart is

Where the heart is (2.5/5)

Expressions Dance Company

Playhouse, QPAC

3^rd June 2010

(Choreographer: Natalie Weir)

Somewhat lesser than its parts. Nice theme – young man returning to deserted family home recalls events from his past. Interesting mournful music for piano and violin played on stage and accompanied by the excellent and haunting contralto of Pearly Black. The contemporary choreography was well executed by the six dancers but lacked a resonance with the subject. Occasionally everything jelled and the heart was here, more often it was somewhere else.

Bodytorque

Bodytorque. À La Mode (3.5/5)
The Australian Ballet
Sydney Theatre
29 May 2010

Birthday Suit: choreography Damien Welch; Fold: Robert Curran; Nocturnal Phantasm: Timothy Brown; South of Eden: Daniel Gaudiello; Trace: Alice Topp

Curran and Welch’s experience and style as principal dancers stood out amongst five new works on display. Opening with the gentle sophistication and classic style of “Fold” set a high standard nicely juxtaposed by Welch’s humorous take on dressing up (Tzu-Chao Chou outstanding in the lead). The other pieces showed potential if incomplete ideas. In its seventh year Bodytorque remains an innovative and exciting Australian Ballet initiative fusing new choreographers with contemporary designers and composers.