Review: SALT: OZ ASIA FESTIVAL 2018 at Odeon Theatre

Reviewed by Petra Schulenburg, Tuesday 30th October 2018.

Both choreographed and performed by Indonesian dancer, Eko Supriyanto, Salt, is an exploration of "the spellbinding duality of the tensions between life-giving water and caustic salt."

Performed on the black box, bare stage of the Odeon Theatre in Norwood, the entirety of the set design consists of a simple but effective strip of metallic fabric stretched across the front of the stage, reminiscent of salt beds or the surface of the ocean gleaming in the sun, blinding and otherworldly. The only other element on stage is a small pile of salt-like shavings and powder, which Supriyanto uses to great effect, at one point kicking it out into radial patterns on the black stage floor, amid clouds of floating dust. The effect is potent for such a simple device.

The piece opens with the set largely in darkness, the audience slightly blinded by the lighting bouncing off the reflective strip at the front of the stage. Supriyanto emerges from the darkness slowly, a sculptural form of subtle movement which contrasts sharply with the intermittent, loud and piercing soundscape playing during this first 'act'.

The lighting, designed by Jan Maertens, delivers a visually stunning production, cleverly using deceptively simple techniques to alternately highlight or hide the dancer within the dark space. The soundscape/music, composed by Dimawan Krisnowo Adji, moves from loud screeching noises, through dreamlike sequences, to electronica and everything in between. Regrettably, not all of it serves the piece, and older audience members literally had their fingers in their ears during the jarring opening segment. Costumes, designed by Oscar Lawalata, were simple and yet sumptuous. In the second act, particularly, a diaphanous sarong/skirt worn by Supriyanto is reminiscent at times of a dance of the seven veils.

Supriyanto is extremely well qualified as both a dancer and choreographer, having studied and performed widely in his native Indonesia as well as in the United States, Asia, and Europe. His listed credits are numerous and varied, ranging from being a featured dancer for Madonna's Drowned World Tour, to serving as a dance consultant on Julie Taymor's production of the Lion King. He has performed at the 2006 Mozart Festival in Vienna, as well as with the Berlin Philharmonic and the San Francisco and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras respectively. He has also choreographed for musicals, film, and opera.

Salt is an eclectic mix of influences and styles combining the forms of Jatilan (Magelang folk trance dance) and Cakelele (war dance from North Maluku) with other, more abstract and interpretive contemporary dance moves. Not all of it gels together, and an overlong break in the performance, during which Supryanto goes off for a costume change, with stage lights up and no music, left the audience wondering whether, perhaps, the show was already over.

All in all, though, there is a lot about Salt to be enjoyed. Supriyanto is an extremely accomplished dancer, creating visually mesmerizing sequences that replay in the mind's eye long after the evening has ended.