Neilson Studio at Sydney Dance Company, Sydney.
20 September 2024.
This year celebrates 10 years of DirtyFeet’s proudly Out of the Studio program, with 2024 bringing audiences a triple bill program, once again presenting, and supporting, emerging artists. All artists featured shared new diverse works that displayed each of their unique voices and backgrounds. Performances were in conjunction with venue partner Sydney Dance Company in the Neilson Studio, an intimate yet versatile space but so well suited to this production.
Our evening began with a welcome from long standing Anthea Doropoulos, her introduction to the artists and their work, and her reflection on a decade of the Out of the Studio program was heartfelt. DirtyFeet’s legacy extends far greater than just the last 10 years of this program but so much further. They have been sowing into the independent dance industry and into the community across all of the initiatives they create. So, there is much to be celebrated and supported as they move forward.
Opening the triple bill, Amy Flannery paid homage to her first nations heritage in Sap(ped). Her choice of both instrumental sounds, music and vocals to accompany her choreography was a wonderful blend with her movement. This gave a feeling of connection to nature and made way for her theme of sap. In nature, sap has its own movement and place in nature. Flannery reflected this in the coming together and then moving apart of the performers. It is obvious that her respect for the land flows from her heritage and into her work.
Vishnu Arunasalam gave us an unexpected piece of dance theatre with a mix of mini monologues and collaboration of contemporary and cultural dance in Mugavari. Through spoken word, he shared his connection to his Tamil culture, relationship to his mother, his name and how his ‘nose’ were all important to his unique story. His story was shared with authenticity, and the audience learned about his family’s story of separation, adversity and then eventually finding safety in migrating to Australia. Bharatanatyam is the style of classical Indian dance which was featured both because Arunasalam’s background and training. The use of the mudras or hands gestures captured the essence of his story and was infused with contemporary dance.
To close the evening, Emma Riches gave us Cue Lab. The only work of the evening with a small group of dancers, they entered the space with a what seemed a very sporadic pattern, removing and adding pieces of clothing. The soundscape seemed like just voices in the background, but if you chose to tune into it deeper, you soon realised that it was a recording of the artists in the rehearsal process. The group of dancers were skilled and brought the work to life, allowing themselves to embody the improvisational challenges set for them within the choreography. In the artist’s statement, Riches described her work ‘a web of activity,’ which it was, and that ‘no two performances can ever be the same,’ so it spikes a curiosity to see how the movement would evolve in another performance. This aspect does throwback a little bit to the Merce Cunningham Chance method. It is refreshing that a choreographer’s method, whether similar or completely different, can take shape and morph with their own identity stamp on it. Riches’ choreographic voice is emerging just as DirtyFeet’s vision intends.
By Dolce Fisher of Dance Informa.
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