When I was in Australia last week I had the intense pleasure of seeing Sydney Dance Company’s production of 2 One Another. It was amazing. Definitely ranks in my top 5 dance experiences, probably even top 3 competing closely with Alvin Ailey and a stunning post 9-11 New York piece by ZviDance.
2 One Another was performed spectacularly by the company. In particular Natalie Allen who had a solo which immediately followed after a section where all 16 dancers were on the stage at once and she was stunning, captivating the audience as fully as the entire company had. I also really enjoyed Andrew Crawford who had duets with several different dancers and partnered beautifully and Charmene Yap, Chris Aubrey and Bernhard Knauer all stood out without pulling focus.
The design was breathtaking as well with a perfect set and costumes which felt very current without being showy. The music as well complimented throughout the piece. The piece was influenced by the writing of Samuel Webster. He was invited in to rehearsals to do spontaneous writing which was then in turn used to influence the continued creation of the piece. I really love this cross disciplinary idea of mutually effecting one anthers art. They incorporated a small amount of the text, and I would have loved more, but mostly it was just used in the creation process.
The real props here, if you are still reading, has to go to the choreographer. Sydney Dance Company’s artistic director Rafael Bonachela. He is magnificent and if and when I have the opportunity I would love to see more of his work. The vocabulary was unique but still fully accessible and the harassing was captivating from beginning to end. I was tired and jet lagged so a little worried I wouldn’t be able to stay awake through the entire show, but there is no way someone could fall asleep during this performance. The way he moved bodies through space, combining duets, trios, quartets, all the dancers at once, it was incredible. I especially loved the way his dance had a message and a story, but refrained from being overly literal.
Bottom line, incredible company, stellar choreographer.
