Hot dancing didn’t start the fire
Review
Footnote New Zealand Dance and Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Regent on Broadway, Palmerston North, Tuesday, February 19. Reviewed by Richard Mays
The dancing was so hot it set off the fire alarm. Five minutes into the second-half evening performance of feature work Mass Solitude, by the combined Kiwi Footnote and Chinese Guangdong dance companies, the theatre had to be evacuated.
It had taken the audience a bit of time to realise the electronic alarm and flashing lights were not part of the performance.
Twenty-five minutes later, the curtain rose again to cheers and applause as the dancers reignited the piece.
While there is plenty of media speculation about the uncertain state of New Zealandchinese relations, there were no such strains on stage, with the 14 scarlet-clad dancers unleashing a magnificent tour de force.
The atmospherically lit work choreographed by Sarah Foster-sproull to a driving rhythmic Eden Mulholland score makes use of constantly shifting sculptural tableaus that framed featured Guangdong dancers Christy Ma and Belinda Zhang, and Footnote’s Joshua Faleatua.
A walk across a carpet of hands morphs into a blood-red stack of bodies. Ma and Faleatua fight, flinging themselves at each other, their flying fury restrained and channelled by the elaborately contrived bodies, arms and organically fluid movements of the combined ensemble.
Mass Solitude explores issues of constant interconnectedness. In an age defined by social media, it asks whether it is better to be a part of or apart from the ever-present allenveloping crowd, with the lights fading on Faleatua finally disconnected and alone onstage.
During the final bows, a large swathe of the audience rose from their seats in acclaim.
The evening opened with excerpts from The Spring Tide, by Wu Chien-wei, to an Alexander Waite Mitchell cello-driven score that becomes increasingly industrial and discordant.
Executed with graceful synchronised acrobatic athleticism, the bold, sweeping wow-factor ensemble piece, featuring Ma and Chen Baiyu, evokes the story of modern China and its rapid transition from traditional rural roots to dynamic ultraurban powerhouse.
Footnote’s Elliptical Fictions, by Zahra Killeen-chance, couldn’t be more contrasting. Austere and minimalist in front of a steadily advancing black and white ‘‘minute maze’’ projection, the five dancers perform confined stylised and syncopated movements, with the odd nod to tai chi.
With its increasingly strident soundtrack, by Emi Pogoni, and looming visuals, the slightly long and relatively static work never quite lifted off. However, there was no faulting the dancers’ superb control, balance and focus while performing the challenging work.
Entry to Tuesday’s two performances was by koha, thanks to support by the Asia New Zealand Foundation and sponsorship from the China Cultural Centre.
Hemispheres,