SKID by Damien Jalet, is in part an optical effect or illusion. Take the whole dance floor and turn it at an angle 34 degrees facing the audience, light it with a broad bright spot at an angle from above, then have dancers tumble over the top and try to stay on the sloping floor. Skid begins a bit like an old fashioned amusement park ride. The aerobic or phys ed movements provide a rich source for a fresh choreographic style, which is certainly arresting. The images, of bodies movement top down again and again, played out for the first 11 minutes, with music of Christian Fennesz and Marihiko Hara’s electronic score.and connotations are suggested. The myth of Sisyphus in reverse? Dante’s Hades? The bodies seem so limp as they fall out of sight they could be corpses. 

 Later in the work a naked man walks slowly, with great anticipation, up the floor – the image invites a creation story or some other analogy. At another time a body hangs like an insect fetus in a strength material with tight lights. The potential for the experimental style to be matched by narrative and significance is there, but nothing like this can be assumed as intended. The technique was as difficult as it was fresh, and execution was superb. 

 SAABA by choreographer Sharon Eyai was the second work on this double bill. At first the exaggerated style of demi pointe shuffling, stiffened heads and arms, bent knees and pronounced crotch, could be resisted by the audience. But gradually the repetitive determination of the work – its closely structured ensemble formation and processions – grows on you until by the end the dance is arresting and intoxicating. This is a strange concoction of controlled, almost perverted femininity, a catwalk of nude body costumes, designed by Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, with heavy repetitive and very loud music by Ori Lichtik. The processions work to a controlling beat, but there is great contrapunctual nuance in its precise body articulation and pace. The result is without doubt compelling image making, a testament to social formation, the individual and the collective. What might seem like alien life on display becomes endearing with increased familiarity. That alone might be a theme. 

However, like SKID, SAABA lacks content – both are conscious experimental exercises in pure dance. Both express grand gestures, both reach for a big picture, but there is no clarity in any outcome. Produced by Sweden’s prominent contemporary dance company, they display a prominent edgy dance style. The focus on style did not disappoint the audience who were greatly impressed and included a long standing applause for SAABA.

Performances go from 24-28 January, at the Roslyn Packer Theatre Dawes Point Sydney. Geoffrey Sykes attended the performance on January 23.