REVIEW | ‘Dance never stops’ – Perth Arts Live
September 23 2024
Of all the performing arts, dance is perhaps the one that favours youth the most; the physical toll on dancers’ bodies must, to a great extent, dictate performers’ professional longevity, much as it does in the world of professional sport. But the arts in WA, generally, tends to put an emphasis on youth with funding opportunities and platforms that come with an upper age limit attached. So what happens when the performance opportunities thin out as the years roll on? When the body starts to show more signs of wear and tear? When life moves you into new stages away from the stage?
Choreographers Storm Helmore, Liz Cornish, and Evgenia Plotkin Mikhailov and the dancers of Momentum Dance make it clear that this line of rhetorical questioning is irrelevant, moot. Through three works presented in Momentum Unveiled, part of Co3‘s IN.RESIDENCE 2024 program curated by artistic director Raewyn Hill, we see that dance never stops. Once dance has inhabited every fibre of a dancer’s being, has shaped it, propelled it, and invigorated it, dance never leaves.
First in the program was Sharing Space choreographed by Storm Helmore in collaboration with the dancers. The program notes tell us indicate that this piece came together organically in the studio as the dancers moved through the space together, ‘trying on’ each other’s styles and movements. But what I saw (without looking at the program) was a lovely morning at the beach, complete with creatures digging in the sand and early risers going for a breezy stroll. I might have been way off in this imagined narrative, but the feeling that radiated from the dancers was unmistakable – joy. As the ensemble gathered and moved together in pairs, groups, and as a whole chorus, everyone seemed truly connected, acknowledged, and held in that space, even the audience. I was struck by this sense of easy connectedness and joy as it spread beyond the ‘fourth wall’; it’s not something I’ve experienced very often from an ensemble dance work.
Second in the lineup was Wrinkles choreographed by Liz Cornish in collaboration with the dancers. Joining the ensemble on stage was harpist Anthony Maydwell, as well as an interesting set piece: a ‘stave’ of parallel lines of rope that traversed the stage against the rear curtain blacks. As the piece progressed, these lines sagged in the middle, alluding to the sagging lines in our skin as we age. For me, this was the most cerebral of the three pieces, but the interplay of the ‘strings’ and the bodies was intriguing and allowed for several solo moments for many of the dancers.
The third and final work, choreographed by Evgenia Plotkin Mikhailov in collaboration with the dancers, was Purple Patch. The piece began with a quote by Guy Burgs, who the internet tells me is a meditation teacher, projected as a kind of prologue, and whose voice we hear later set to music. A single dancer begins under a lighting configuration that triangulates her figure in shadow across the back, reminding us of the power of good stage lighting to convey meaning. Mikhailov tells us in the program that the piece “explores the journey of finding peace and purpose” and this idea was well translated in the choreographic narrative and interpreted with emotion by the ensemble. Moments of trouble and turmoil were apparent in this journey, but the resolution was satisfying and indeed peaceful.
Each piece had its own carefully considered and assembled costumes, tailored lighting concepts, and unique music scapes. The ensemble varied slightly with each work, and it seemed like each dancer had at least one feature moment. Another beautiful revelation that came through this trio of pieces was how each dancer had their own individual way of ‘hearing’ the music in their bodies. There was less emphasis on uniformity of specific movements when the whole ensemble performed in unison, and it was apparent that each dancer connected with the music in subtly different ways that was fascinating to watch.
These pieces and the Momentum performers showed us that the term ‘age-defying’ isn’t just for cosmetics campaign slogans – it describes the real, tangible outcome of doing what you love, what brings you joy and gives you vitality, across your lifetime.
– Cicely Binford