Australian Dance Theatre's performance of The Beginning of Nature is a hypnotically moving experience as it weaves a tapestry of evocative images, triggering both our imagination and empathy with nature. This is, indeed, a performance of international significance.
"Conventionally, in the West, we think of nature as something that is separate to humanity," Garry Stewart said, "So the work is an attempt to close the gap between our idea of nature, and our idea of what it is to be human."
The choreography, devised by Garry Stewart, Sarah-Jayne Howard, and the dancers of Australian Dance Theatre, is of the purest form of contemporary dance. The physical prowess of the dancers was truly compelling as they interpreted the complex concepts underlying this creative work. The multifaceted patterns and movements created by the dancers, and overlayed with the lighting designs, reflect the complex images of fractal geometry, understood to be the patterns of nature itself. There are hints of the international break-dance scene, led by the phenomenal, Poe One, creeping into the choreography and executed, in breathtaking style, by Matte Roffe. The extraordinary precision and athleticism of all of the dancers ensured the audience experienced the phenomenal intensity of the uncompromising demands of the choreography.
Brendan Woithe has created unique, culturally interpretive, music that drives the pulsating interpretations in the intense sound-scapes. Integrated with the complex live music of The Zephyr Quartet, the libretto, in the Kaurna language, was created by Jack Buckskin and sung beautifully by Shauntai Batzke, Karen Cummings, and Heru Pinkasova.Damien Cooper's truly stunning lighting designs interpret each scene, from the gentle and intimate, to the predatory and monumental. With astonishing accuracy, Cooper's lighting could pinpoint the dancer's bodies propelling themselves through space and then create a scene of intimacy with tiny rain like rays of light falling to the floor. The use of intense, almost blinding backlighting to evoke silhouettes of ancient images in a poignant scene with rocks is burnt into my memory.
Davis Brown's costumes are creative interpretations that allow the dancers' bodies to execute their movements complimented by a sympathetically moving silhouette. The tunic forms provoke images of basic human wraps but are, in fact, complex designs that accentuate perfectly the movement of the dancers and evoke memories of ancient cultural tunics. They were made of a fabric with the weight needed to move freely, but also hold its style and cut. Dyed to an organic green tone, they gave characterisation to the concepts of both humanity and nature.
The Beginning of Nature is an astonishingly powerful contemporary dance and is sure to become a highly significant work on the international stage for Australian Dance Theatre.
The standing ovation at the end of the evening was resounding, loud and long. This particular performance was receiving a special ovation for the performers who, in true professional style, even when the entire theatre lost power and all lights went out, continued their performance on stage.
Reviewed by Pam Watts, Thursday 11th July 2018.