Mod Dance Company - SUITE SYNERGY

Mod Dance Company
SUITE SYNERGY
State Theatre, Melbourne
March

FIRST AND foremost the newly formed and privately sponsored company Mod Dance is to be applauded for its enterprise and courage. A commercially-run modern dance company which sets out to attract a wider audience – and provide work for local dancers – is an admirable initiative. This is modern dance which aims to entertain (a lot to be said for that!) and not take itself too seriously so that the conceptual element does not take precedence over what is actually seen on stage.

Having said that, Mod Dance’s opening season was not wholly successful. They chose to present extracts put together from two originally full length works by Graeme Murphy – Synergy with Synergy (1992) and Free Radicals (1996). Given that a number of the new company’s dancers had previously been with Sydney Dance Company (SDC) and were therefore fully conversant with Murphy’s style, the choice to revive Murphy’s works was an obvious one and a good one. The elfin Teagan Lowe for instance, who is co-founder and associate artistic director of Mod Dance, excelled in the former SDC, and is still a standout with her strong classical training combined with fluidity of movement; Chylie Cooper with her freer style of movement is another former Murphy dancer. The selection of repertoire was made on the basis of commercial appeal – not bad thinking for a company which needs to survive on its merit and popularity. Unfortunately however, the program was not representative of Murphy’s best work. In fact, it was the last ensemble piece, A Doll’s House Story,  which was strongest choreographically, forming a rousing finale to the evening with its group clusters, ritual feel and architectural use of bodies, something Murphy excels at.

Many of the other segments combined novelty ideas seemingly inspired by the circus or music hall with a kind of hybrid jazz. Novelty acts such as Sticky Moments or Light Play (in the latter Emee Dillon giggles her way through a routine with flitting lights which chase her) or Banged and Tapped (in which Michael Askill plays a percussion kit attached to a dancer) depend very much on the personalities of the performers to work to their optimum and some came off better than others.

Standouts included the explosive power and virtuoso dancing of Caleb Bartolo in Thumper, Sarah Williams’ (ex-New York City Ballet) steely pointe work in Pipe Dreams, and Henry Byalikov in Tap Attack, whose powerful intensity of focus and dramatic use of footwork, upper torso and arms unfortunately showed up the inadequacies of the accompanying quartet of dancers in this style.

Michael Askill, an erstwhile collaborator of Murphy’s, returned to the role, working with three very talented young percussionists. While their energy, musicianship and proficiency were fabulous, there were times as the show wore on when I personally would have wanted some respite or more variety from the accompaniment. The different soundscape created with “water” sounds in Pipe Dreams was an example of just such a contrast which really worked. More such contrasts would only enhance the overall experience.

The other thing to be said is that this ensemble is not quite an ensemble yet – not really a fair comment given they have only just started working together. However, comparisons with Murphy’s SDC which had gelled into an outstandingly coherent ensemble with a single vision under Murphy’s directorship are inevitable in this repertoire. Whether Mod Dance can attain the same level of coherence of vision and movement style remains to be seen. Also, while the dancers were all very talented, there were discrepancies in proficiency and experience between them resulting sometimes in an uneven quality.

Costumes ranged from pretty awful to stunningly lovely, as in A Doll’s House Story.

All in all, there was high energy and light-spirited fun in plenty, but what was really lacking was soul – an emotional and dramatic engagement with the music and its powerful gestures and rhythms which were crying out for that kind of response. So the show remained one-dimensional, missing that element of feeling and a deeper emotional involvement which Murphy’s best works do possess.

It remains to be seen whether Mod Dance can lure the TV dance show audience to their show – after all, these programs derive much of their popularity from the audience’s direct engagement with the personalities of the contestants. Their next challenge would then be to take that audience further on a journey into a possibly less commercial but no less accessible and certainly more involving repertoire.

– IRINA KUZMINSKY