‘Puncture’ premieres at Sydney Festival

Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
January 23, 2015

By Dolce Fisher of Dance Informa.

If the social dance scene has lost its manners in this day and age, Puncture brought it back with a mix of the old, new and a lot more. Set around the idea of social dancing, this new concert dance work accessed the boundaries that can exist and that can be broken, punctured to reveal new things.

Premiering at Sydney Festival, Puncture was a collaboration between Legs on the Wall, Form Dance Projects and Vox-Sydney Philharmonia Choirs – and there was no room for error. There was something for everybody; sometimes so much so the viewer was spoiled for choice.

Set in the Riverside Theatre, but not as you normally know it, the audience was seated in the wings and around the edges of the stage, allowing the performers to interact with the audience.

Live singers ebbed and flowed with the choreography, threading the soundtrack along with musicians Luke Byrne and Bree Van Reyk. The dancers created numerous scenes, circles waltzing, aerial trios and solo performances.

One section was exceptionally clever with moving projection onto the dancers. It all culminated in an intimate duo between lead dancers Kristina Chan and Joshua Thompson.

This collaboration has been a win for all involved at this year’s Sydney Festival. If the question is “shall we dance”, then Sydney, we would love to!

Photo (top): Puncture. Photo by Prudence Upton.