THE PLAYHOUSE, CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE
REVIEWED 21 JUNE, 2024
The word momenta is the plural form of momentum, a word that means “the product of the mass and velocity of an object”. Momenta is also the title of the latest work from Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company, and there have been several explanations of why Bonachela titled the work as he did. But no matter how we might discuss the word, Bonachela’s work momenta is certainly filled with mass and velocity with the “objects” being the extraordinary dancers who make up the current composition of the company.
The work begins with some remarkable unison dancing. This is an aspect of Bonachela’s choreography that I have admired over several decades. He has a gift for grouping dancers in constantly changing arrangements, and for giving those dancers such a varied selection of movement, poses and uses of space within a unison component. The opening section of momenta often has the dancers working on the floor and using their lifted legs as a focus, which initially seemed somewhat unusual as a component of Bonachela’s approach. But no matter how or where the dancers were positioned, they responded with an input that took the breath away.
Those opening moments set the scene for what follows. As momenta progresses the large groupings break down into solos, duets, trios and other arrangements of performers until it reaches the end sections, when the unison work begins again. Momenta is very much an abstract work for me, but it is compositionally varied within that overall abstraction and as such the choreography never loses its engrossing quality.
In this performance an absolute highlight was a duet between Naiara de Matos and Piran Scott, while the work of Emily Seymour also stood out. But was quite astonishing to watch the flexibility, the fluidity, the energy and the absolute attention to the tiniest choreographic detail from every single dancer in the current company, many of whom are relatively new performers of Bonachela’s work.
In terms of collaborative input, the highlight is the lighting from Damien Cooper. It is mostly relatively dark, although the colour of that darkness is not always the black we might have expected. As the work progresses, there are hints of dark green, sudden flashes of red, a burst of white cloud, at times a sudden brightness, and at others a mysterious hazy quality. The lighting design is enhanced by the constant presence of a circular rig of 19 spotlights that moves up, down and around in the performing space and limits, at times, where the dancers can gather.
The soundscape comes from Nick Wales whose original, commissioned composition incorporates Distant Light by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. Costumes and set are by Elizabeth Gadsby. Her costumes are varied in style and colour but there is a minimalist quality to them in keeping with the overall abstract quality of the work. Their simplicity gives the dancers every opportunity to show that the focus of momenta is the body in motion.
The work closes with showers of small pieces of sparkling cellophane falling onto the stage. I’m not sure why this happens and it is perhaps the one aspect of momenta that seems entirely unnecessary. But momenta is such an absorbing production that this odd addition can just be pushed aside. The work is a huge credit to the underlying approach to contemporary dance that we have come to expect from Bonachela in his leadership of Sydney Dance Company.
- MICHELLE POTTER
'Momenta' is currently touring Australia. For dates and venues, go here.