SYDNEY FESTIVAL : THE CHRONICLES AT ROSLYN PACKER THEATRE

THE CHRONICLES is a new work by Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake. It has a lot to enjoy and commend, but also invites some questions.

Stephanie utilises the ensemble of 12 dancers frequently through numerous short dance segments especially in the first half – more so than you might expect in a contemporary dance work. The dancers are diverse, in size, quality of movement and especially in dress – costumes deliberately look second hand.

There is novelty in the style as the show commences – flexible, even everyday movements – shuffles, parades, striding – are packaged and coded in mechanical rigour, accompanied by acoustic beating tracks of Robin Fox. Robin’s sounds develop with the show, through screeches, natural sounds, banging, vocals and outbursts. The sounds, like the dance pieces, come in and out of focus – one can yearn for the old virtue of coherence. Group movement is quick throughout, filling in effect the whole stage with diverse styles.

Stephanie does like to use a large stage. At times the stage is panoramic, with a long level with vegetation of the back wall, to be filled with 32 children from the Sydney Children’s Choir holding candles and singing Poor Bird (in a lament for the earth), or a solo stirring performance of the Alphaville ballad Forever Young. Sixteen rectangular light shades descend in what is a remarkable lighting/dance achievement (Bosco Shaw). Yet again bales of hay become a prop for play and apocalyptic drama that occupies and covers all the stage.

A full spectrum of positions and expressions – queues, promenades, rows, scrums – are on display, and this is part of my first question. Is the work just too experimental, taking advantage of a lack of clarity and content to continually tease and gesture feeling and meaning without ever realising enough content to fully engage the audience. Why was the show even called THE CHRONICLES?

In addition to distributed ensemble movements there is focus on individual dancers, and one might conjecture that individual and collective could be a theme of the show. The opening solo is ambiguous, an apparently naked womb like body (featured on posters) is remarkable, and this image is repeated (and not a lot is repeated) with an aged dying body at the end. There are other moments when individuals are focused – dropping out or into ensemble arrangement.

The bookend images of the show suggest it has a chronological coming of age sequence – the program note mentions cycles of life, as well as change and transformation. But having seen the show these sayings do not seem to fit, the show instead remaining a program of fifteen or so individual dances, each five or so minutes in length, each a little vague in terms of meaning. The multiform moment at the end, with the solo singer, was satisfying in content – but it was too little too late.

The show is a little bit of a variety, without real links or transitions between otherwise excellent individual pieces, each with their own stylistic and staging stamp. Some sequences deserved to be developed, as dances in themselves. The program is entirely entertaining, and the physique and skill set of the twelve dancers and choreographer were outstanding, as far as they went. There does not appear to be a full program available, at least on request for review purposes – so the names of individual dancers are not available to be credited.

Questions: why was the Sydney Children’s Choir only used on one occasion?

Was this an epic work? In what way was it a reflection on hope?

THE CHRONICLES  was a most enjoyable but also frustrating program that crystallised energy and structure in each of its items, but seemed to lack overall structure or content. This could be true of a long tradition of contemporary dance, and now is not the time to expand discourse on the artform in general or suggest solutions.

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