This was a fascinating, vigorous panel discussion , the second of the Culture Club talks for 2016, that had the large packed audience enthralled and with lots of questions afterwards .
The announced topic was If everyone can ‘dance’, what is dance and who do we want to see on stage?! Over the centuries, dance has shifted from something that was regarded as for everyone to a rarefied art form only to be performed by the supernaturally talented, such as in elite forms of ballet.
In the current. more enlightened times, diverse and democratic groups of dancers are exploring what dance can be and words, humour and politics have become tools of the dancers’ trade. There are also the present hot topics of dance and disability, and dance and body image.
The panel consisted of three major players in the dance world. To begin with; Rafael Bonachela. Bonachela has been the Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director since 2009.
Bonachela has created several pieces for Sydney Dance Company including 360° (2008), we unfold (2009), 6 Breaths (2010), LANDforms (2011), 2 One Another (2012), Project Rameau (2012), Emergence (2013), Les Illuminations (2013), 2 in D Minor (2014), Scattered Rhymes (2014) and Frame of Mind (2015). In addition, he has remounted some of his own previous works including Soledad and Irony of Fate (2010) and The Land of Yes & The Land of No (2011).
Bonachela’s Frame of Mind won the 2015 Helpmann Awards for ‘Best Choreography’ and ‘Best Dance Work’. 2 One Another won the ‘Best Ensemble’ Award in the 2012 Green Room Awards and the 2013 Australian Dance Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Choreography’ and ‘Outstanding Performance by a Company’.
In 2013, Kaldor Public Art Projects brought Bonachela on board to develop the choreography for artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla’s work Revolving Door, which was part of the acclaimed live performance art exhibition 13 Rooms. For Sydney Festival 2015, he collaborated with artist Mira Calix to choreograph for the Inside There Falls installation at Carriageworks.
The next panelist was Kate Champion, the founding Artistic Director of Sydney based dance-theatre company Force Majeure. She has also worked variously as director/choreographer/performer for the Sydney Theatre Company, DV8, Australian Dance Theatre, Opera Australia, Belvoir, Legs on the Wall, One Extra, NIDA and The English National Opera. In 1996, Kate was awarded the Robert Helpmann Scholarship for Choreographic Excellence enabling her to create her first solo work Face Value which was awarded a Green Room and a MO Award.
In 1997 she directed Under the Influence for Legs on the Wall, which premiered in Sydney and toured to Edinburgh, London and throughout Europe. She was also the choreographer on Neil Armfield’s acclaimed production of Cloudstreet. In 2001 she created a new solo show – About Face and in 2002 directed Same, Same But Different for the newly founded Force Majeure, both these productions won Helpmann Awards.
Kate choreographed the world premiere of the stage version of Dirty Dancing which opened in Sydney in 2004 and subsequently toured Europe, UK, USA and South Africa. Since 2005 Kate has directed Already Elsewhere, Tenebrae 1 and 11, The Age I’m In, Not In A Million Years, Never Did Me Any Harm (a co-production with Sydney Theatre Company) and co-directed Food (a co-production with Belvoir).
In 2010 Kate choreographed Opera Australia’s Bliss which also toured to the Edinburgh Festival and Spring Awakening for Sydney Theatre Company. In 2015 Kate directed her final work for Force Majeure, Nothing to Lose at Sydney Festival and toured to Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre as part of Dance Massive. In 2016 she will direct Swallow, the inaugural play of The National Theatre of Parramatta.
The third panelist was Lloyd Newson. In the 30 years of leading DV8 Physical Theatre, Newson has won 55 national and international awards for his stage and film productions; including a Helpmann Award, three Prix Italia, a Rose d’Or, and an International Emmy. He received an honorary degree from Roehampton University and in 2013 was awarded an OBE for services to contemporary dance.
Born in Australia, Newson studied psychology and social work at Melbourne University before embarking on a professional career as a dancer and choreographer. He has danced and/or choreographed with many companies, including Modern Dance Ensemble (Aus.), Impulse Dance Theatre/New Zealand Ballet Company, One Extra Dance Theatre (Aus.) and Extemporary Dance Theatre (UK) before founding DV8 (UK) in 1986.
Caroline Baum was chair of the panel again and began by asking what the panelists thought the current state of health of dance was, and what did they think of dance becoming far more of a hybrid art form ? There was no real answer to this as such but what was raised by Bonachela and Champion was personal integrity. a passion for dance, and dance as a means of communication.
This segued to Baum asking ‘is the most interesting dance happening in theatre and the most interesting theatre happening in dance ? ‘and Newson discussing the issues of diversity and disability, and the current lack of use of older dancers.
This led to a discussion of how Newson and Champion auditioned for dancers who were ‘’different’, and how they had to allow for their different needs /lack of training/stamina (perhaps) and yet also acknowledging their commitment and dealing with large numbers of mostly non trained dance people for big events (eg Big Dance or Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle in Melbourne ). Pop /MTV culture and music videos etc ( remember Bonachela has choreographed for Kylie Minogue) then came up, and what were the panel looking for when they audition? The answer clearlt came- discipline, focus and versatility in various dance styles.
The collaboration between dancers and choreographers was discussed next, how they choose dancers (or not), and working in the studio to create a new work . (Bonachela talked a bit about his creating Lux Tenebris his latest work with the dancers and yes he does abandon various ideas– he has to be inspired, it has to be powerful. Champion then added that it is challenging work and that she has to be captivated by the performers.
This developed into a discussion about the use of technology and special theatrical effects in dance which then segued to a discussion about the use of actors in dance pieces and vice versa , and the similarities/differences between them.
This somehow led to a deep questioning by Baum of Bonachela in particular about the early period when he first took over Sydney Dance Company when it was in turmoil and how he coped and turned things around .He was also asked about the varying audience feedback that he received.
This led to various questions about audiences- has their attention span shortened ? is contemporary dance reinventing itself with a use of non traditional venues?- for example the Sydney Dance’s installation at Carriageworks for the Sydney Festival. There were then questions about how dance companies can attract a diversity in audiences.
Next was a discussion about training. Both Newson and Bonachela were involved in a panel in the UK and were very concerned about the substandard training that many dancers experiences.
The panel was then asked about their future plans. Champion said she has turned to more text based works, Bonachela and Newson said that they would like to explore film work.
The floor was then opened for questions from the audience. There was a question about the role of music in productions. All agreed that music was integral, and a great inspiration. Another question that was raised was how important did the panelists think that the archiving of works was, and they all agreed that it was inherently important.
The event had already gone overtime and had to be concluded to allow for the prepared lunch. The forum ended with very warm applause.
Running time was 90 minutes straight through.
ANYONE CAN DANCE, part of the current Culture Club talks, took place within the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday 22nd March.