Short and Sweet Dance Gala Final 2014

Reviewed by Marie Su
On Sunday, February the 2nd, we were promised a Gala event of Dance at the New Theatre in Newtown. I attended the 7.30pm showing and was happy to be watching the grand finals of Short and Sweet Dance. The 14 presentations of dance talent, mime, inspired choreography, precision timing and often abstract musicality, were engaging, puzzling, humourous, witty, relevant and emotionally connecting. Well done, I say, to all the participants, mentors and organisational and technical support. You pulled off a great night of entertainment and gave the audience food for thought.

I enjoyed Joseph Simon’s work in “Familiar Strangers”, as did the audience. He connected with us by using his muscle tone to express an artistic message about Celebrity.

“And Then Patterns” was an interesting piece which was well rehearsed. The four dancers, Georgia, George, Ivey and Michael, communicated well with each other in an expressive way, which gave us a well-integrated piece of dance/movement.

Jay Bailey and L.C Beats collaborated well in an enjoyable, playful performance about birds. Their beat-boxing provided rhythmic expression of emotion and heartbeat, in some sections, while at other times, there were witty, amusingly clever representations of some of ballet’s more recognisable icons. The audience responded well to the tongue-in-cheek mockery as well as the highly skilled ballet moves.

“No Fungus, No Tree” began slowly but subtly and clearly developed to show why Sean Marcus and Anna Healey were worth co-recipients of the Choreography Award at this year’s Gala. Both performances reached an expression of symbiotic movement through rhythm and balance which received much appreciation from the audience.

The four dancers of “Nyunga” drew on contemporary ballet skills with an urban edge, which affords an audience a wider perspective. Indigenous dance forms connected with storytelling in an abstract way, rather than a heavily traditional way. The cyclical synchronised moves worked well with the lighting to convey the dancer’s insights and appreciation of all the sun means in our world. Well done to Thomas E.S Kelly and his co-dancers, Taree, Caleena and Phil, for an enjoyable performance.

Harrison Hall, winner of the Outstanding Male Dancer Award, certainly showed us how powerful energy can be represented in a concept piece with remarkable skill. His work was unique, yet referenced modern forms, as he communicated his ideas on light, shadow and darkness in a precision piece. He took over the theatre space in a controlled representation, conveyed by muscle tension, arm movement, lighting and a clown costume. The audience too, were gripped in the tension he created; a formidable talent was exhibited here.

“Sink or Swim” was a fun piece to end the first half of the program. There were four mermaids who became a dance chorus line and, a young woman involved in a cathartic display. This amused the sometimes stunned and often confused audience. Many people appreciated the dramatic mime techniques and hilarity acted out. This piece showed creative and innovative uses of props and costuming.

Short and Sweet Dance

Reviewed by Regi Su

Photos by Scott Gallagher

The Short and Sweet festival has expanded beyond theatre and cabaret into dance and this week, I saw the Short and Sweet Dance heats at the New Theatre in Newtown. The Company C heats showcased 12 dance performances to a full house. The quality of each performance and the variation from dance to dance had me pleasantly surprised. I did enjoy myself and I think choosing a People’s Choice to go onto the finals this Sunday will be difficult. Personally, I tend to value the performances that are thought-provoking, insightful or they tell me a story. In other cases, the dance itself was enough to captivate me.

1. STRING was beautiful and artistic. As a video, it focused on Black and Whites, lighting, movement and the human body. The bio reads that the piece was a collaboration between fashion photographer Konstantin Kochkin and Australian dancer Joseph Simons. The fashion photography element really came through, it was a very beautiful piece.
  
2. TESSELLATE was a contemporary, street art pop piece that told a story, with clever visual aids and elements of hip-hop. Three talented dancers testing the themes of Innocence, Confidence and Maturity.

3. WE STEP focused on the lines of the body with the stage washed in golden lights. A contemporary piece exploring themes of birth and exploration, exploration of the body and movement, testing the boundaries of the body. For me, it was memorable and beautiful. A little bit reminiscent of the recent production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre in London. The rebirth of a human, exploring the movements and functions of a body. Oddly stunning.

4. NO, I WOULD NEVER was a clever little piece of experimental performance. Blending audio confessions of people, whose initial reactions to various situations are just downright wrong. The sole dancer and choreographer, Hayley Raw, was exceptional in her literal storytelling. The performance seemed to be a collaboration of mime, dance and movement, as she reacted to each tone, nuance, background noise in the audio clips. It was eclectic, esoteric and incredibly memorable.

5. SEPTEMBER was a really wonderful dance. Professional use of lighting and costuming made the entire performance rather effective. There wasn’t an underlying story, but the dance was really beautiful to watch. The chorography focused on lines and synchronicity, silhouettes and shadows. It was stunningly visual as all the dancers were connected.

6. MAY I PLEASE was a whimsical frivolous look at the pull and grasp of temptation. Incredible use of props and colour, the piece had elements of humour and was very creative. The dancer, Mariana Parazio, gave everything to her performance. It made me question whether the piece was as simple as yearning for an endless supply of jelly beans, or whether it had an underlying message about temptation.

7. FROM HERE was fierce look into conformity and rites of passage. It seemed like a blend of contemporary, hip-hop and pop & lock. It effectively told a story as each person became a character and each character contributed to the company. Very effective.

8. THE FEAR OF… was a performance about phobias and was to the standard of Rock Eisteddfod. I found it chilling, scary at times and that’s a real testament to the choreography and performers. A special credit to the dancer who opened the piece for really setting the scene. From contemporary dance to high-intensity tap, the performance was symbolic and successful in conveying it’s message.

9. VANISHING POINT was symbolic and very artistic. With lots of trust movements, explorations of the self and an awareness of the space, the piece included visuals that were highly effective.

10. SALT seemed to me to be a social commentary. Very thought-provoking, this experimental piece was eclectic and very interesting to watch. The choreographers were the dancers and their synchronicity was impressive.

11. /LU:P/ was an incredibly clever piece using knowledge of environment, space and connection to the audio track. The dancer/choreographer was exceptional in her fluidity and movement. The synopsis states “a cyclical process that we are always experiencing- within each loop, different information is revealed”. I understood exactly that from the piece.

12. SWINGDANCIN’ finished the night with a bang. Vibrant energy and overwhelming enthusiasm had the audience in the palm of their hands. Over thirty dancers on stage performed a blend of classic swing, jazz, hip-hop, Fosse Charleston and the jitterbug. The synchronicity made it a visual spectacular and it was a great way to end the night.                                                               

Short and Sweet

Short and Sweet - Sydney's Short play festival, 180 plays showing from 4 January until 31 March. The Festival involves 300 writers and directors and almost 500 actors. This year is it's 11th year, it has seen amazing growth and following over those years.
The Festival starts with a call out to writers and Independent Theatre Companies to submit their works, these are then assessed and the plays for the Festival are carefully chosen. Directors are then invited to choose which play they would like to produce and finally the actors are auditioned and the rehearsals commence. Of course that sounds easy but can you image organising that many plays, with that many actors, the lighting, sound, props and staging?
Each week shows 10 plays and each night the audience is invited to pick the two which they enjoyed the most. The audience votes are tallied and the top two for the week are showcased in the Peoples Choice night.

The King Street Theatre (formerly the Newtown Theatre), Newtown was a buzz of excitement as the audience anticipated a night of mini performances; which of them would we love and which we would gladly never see again? We burst through to the stage to grab a seat and settle into the night.

Interview with Pete Malicki

Pete Malicki is the Festival Director of Short and Sweet Sydney. Short and Sweet has been running for 11 year's and is the world biggest short play festival. Each night see 10 plays each lasting 10 minutes. The Festival starts on 4 January and runs into March.

For more information and book click the title of the post.

Click here to listen

The interview took place on Triple H 100.1 fm on The Hubbub.

(please note the link will become inactive in about 3 months time, call 02 99403649 if you would like to listen)