A LAND OF QUESTION MARKS
“What happens if we hoose not to follow them” is a quote straight from the program. It took me a while to realise that it is just one of those mean little, printing errors the editor overlooked. Of course, it should read: “choose”. I may be picky here, however, this mishap triggers a flood of questions about Rafael Bonachela’s revamped effort for the superb Sydney Dance Company. Therefore, I choose the program booklet as a tour guide for this review.
Bonachela reveals that he is quietly obsessed with signs. Maybe that is the reason why this production looks like the work of someone who is still desperately looking for the sign which might lead him into the direction where he may find his very own unique inspiration? The sign that would point him to the fountain of a chorographical language his audience would understand and embrace with the enthusiasm contemporary dance deserves? Bonanchela visibly has plenty of borrowed choreographing skills at hand. However, there is nothing we have not seen before.
In THE LAND OF YES AND THE LAND OF NO Bonanchela predominantly remains floor bound. There are 2 ½ moments when a dancer is allowed to leave the floor and delicately gets airborne. The rest is monotone repetition, glimpses of minimalistic sign language and strangely enough a total lack of visible emotion. The dancers are forced to keep their faces as stoic and motionless as possible. The viewer is left only to indulge in watching them count in sync with the music.
The composer, Ezio Bosso, has titled his contribution “Road Sign Variations.” The only variation I was able to hear was a Hallelujah stripped to minimalism. Talking of minimalism: Bosso’s composition for “ten instruments and voice” sounds as if he just had discovered the likes of La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams, and decided to reinvent the art of post-modern Minimalism. When, at his prime, Baryshnikov used “bare necessity” by choosing his own heartbeat to be the “music” for his mesmerising solo it was epoch making. Here it just isn’t apt!
Like Bonachela, the production designer, Alan Macdonald, gets a whole page for his production design notes in the program booklet. Thanks for that. Nevertheless, what if someone cannot read, does not understand English or simply did not buy a program?! They will see a wall with vertical and horizontal fluorescent light tubes suggesting entrance and exits and giving a hint of what sign might be the theme of the episode we watch. They will not know that what they witness is “the city in a constant state of flux, and we need to translate and respond to this contemporary language.” It’s just awkward!
Theo Clinkard is the costume designer. “The audience can connect with the costumes, as a reflection of their own society, but I have shifted them into an almost futuristic abstract version of that world.” Really? To me they looked like a mutation of ancient Greek or Roman outfits with baroque kitsch angels. Probably I just do not like men in shorts that look like little frocks! The only beautiful aspect of these costumes is the fact that Fiona Holley lovingly tailored them. She is definitely a superb costume maker.
Guy Hoare is responsible for the lighting design. His credits must be so long that they only can be seen on his website in full. His design is as simple as can be, and utilises white, red and blue colour changes. It is disappointing that he forgot about footlights and left facial expressions in the shade!
Amy Hollingsworth is the Dance Director and her work finally brings us to the dancers. They are all beautifully trained and each of them is a brilliant. I would love to see them in a production where they can showcase their true talents and then we could give them a standing ovation. The program booklet has only two pages left for them. There are fifteen pictures and fifteen names. At no time, were there more than ten dancers on stage! Well, that is four more than in the original production. It is unclear who of the fifteen were on stage and in which episode?!
And this brings me to the last question in this Land of Yes and No. What would a choreographer be without her/his dancers? Fill a program booklet with academic effusions about what could be if there were dancers? Go on stage and tell the audience to close their eyes and imagine his vision? Therefor I only can remind all these fifteen dancers of what a little Greek gypsy girl once said to Pina Bausch: “Dance! Dance! Otherwise we are lost.” It was at this moment when Pina found her driving force was. “I am not interested in how people move, I am interested in what moves them!” Last night I only saw people move.
For all the hard-core dance freaks out there, this production may be brilliantly exhilarating because they cannot feel differently when it comes to dance. For all the others it might be a good remedy to avoid insomnia. The only thing keeping you in your seat for these, almost endless, seventy minutes is to fall asleep, as my wife did. And she actually loves dance.
The Sydney Dance Company’s production of Rafael Bonachela’s THE LAND OF YES AND THE LAND OF NO opened at the Sydney Theatre on Wednesday 19th October and plays until Saturday 29th October, 2011.
© Markus Weber
20th October, 2011
Tags: Sydney Dance Company, Sydney Theatre, Rafael Bonachela, THE LAND OF YES AND THE LAND OF NO, Enzio Bosso, Alan McDonald, Theo Clinkard, Fiona Holley, Guy Hoars, Amy Hollingsworth.
