Spring Dance
Sydney Opera House
September 2010
By Lynne Lancaster.
Hot, sexy, extremely moving and very funny in parts, this is a most surprising and delightful show.
Under the inspired direction of Nigel Jamieson, it stars the exuberant ‘Chooky Dancers’ from Elcho Island in remote Arnhem Land. Elcho is home to approximately 2000 people, about half of whom are under twenty years old. The Chooky Dancers themselves range in age from 16 to 19 years old. The people live in poverty and the youth suicide rate is high.
Video footage of Elcho Island everyday life is incorporated into the production. Speech is included in both Yolngu and English. People sadly die weekly from the complications of poverty in Elcho Island and Frank Garawirrtja, the mentor behind the Chooky Dancers and the Wrong Skin project, passed away during the process of making the show. Wrong Skin includes footage from his funeral.
The show is a startlingly original blend of traditional Aboriginal/Islander dance with a mix of other styles including ballet, break, hip-hop, Bollywood, modern and contemporary with snippets from the big musicals like West Side Story. It is set in our current time in outback Australia and is a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story from an Aboriginal viewpoint. As the laws of clan and kinship must not be broken, Wrong Skin is the story of two teenage lovers from different kinship groups (a ‘wrong skin’ relationship according to Yolngu custom).
Traditional dances are performed such as the dance of the turtle and the shark, illustrating clan allegiances, the traditional Aboriginal/Islander relationship to the land, and traditional life. Projections of traditional Aboriginal/Islander paintings are superimposed on the dancer’s body and we are shown film footage of the company out fishing, shopping and at a Saturday night party.
Photo James Morgan
The Juliet figure, superbly played by Rarriwuy Hick, is sensational. A hot and sultry mover she sets the stage alight. Her impassioned solo to ‘America’ from West Side Story, where her red ruffled skirt ripples like fire, is brilliant and her appearance at the Saturday night party, in contemporary dance style, is sensational.
The male ensemble are strong and entertaining. Their Zorba-the-Greek dance, performed Yolngu style in Aboriginal/Islander loin cloths and makeup, stops the show, as does an exuberant, fluidly sculptural Bollywood section full of fancy footwork ending in a ‘ Kangaroo Bollywood’ tableaux. There is also a cheeky ‘chicken dance’ with the dancers ‘laying eggs’ and a tribute to Singing in the Rain with umbrellas, after a traditional rain dance. Much fun!
The interweaving of modern technology (mobiles and projections etc), as designed by Scott Anderson, works excellently. The projections of houses, vegetation and the beach as set designs enhance the atmosphere enormously and a bird’s eye view of Elcho Island is glorious.
This show has enormous heart. The rapturous reception given at the end by the cheering audience is richly deserved.
Running time – 1 hour 15 minutes
Meet Nigel Jamieson and hear more about Wrong Skin in this video interview:
http://play.sydneyoperahouse.com/index.php/springdance/nigel-jamieson_10.html
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