The production also explores the experiences of prisoners of war, the Stolen Generation, and of communities caught up in mass protest.
It looks at the multiple meanings of ‘mass’: a mass of words, a mass of stories to be told, a mass of devastating water, a mass of people bonding together.
On opening night, Hill’s set included a ‘green carpet’, rather than the traditional red, extending like grass from the entrance, through the foyer, and on into the actual performance space. The set proper, which seems inspired by Surrealism and also, especially, the photographs of Rosemary Laing, depicts an enclosed garden with very high white walls that the dancers hang off, sit on, climb up, descend from, and hover against, supported by a colleague.
Choreographically, Mass showcases some extraordinarily fine, strong dancing.
The work opens with the performers mysteriously descending the walls: the men (Thomas Gundry Greenfield and Jeremy Poi) in tuxedos, the women (Lauren Carr, Jessica Jefferies) in elegant black evening wear, save for Nicola Leahey, who is clad in a lacy white dress.
Sometimes there are simple repetitive phrases of everyday movement; elsewhere the choreography is explosive, with particular use of an expressive, extreme backbend combined with fabulous fluid, soft jumps. In one section, Greenfield and Poi hang batlike, upside down, with their hands behind their backs like wings. Elsewhere the company of dancers resembles a flock of birds in a rice field, the black dotted against the green. A possible Pina Bausch influence is evident.
Mass also features the inclusion of folk dance movement – a traditional signifier of community – as well as more contemporary references, such as an allusion to the now famous kiss during the recent Vancouver riots, questions of body image, of the conflicted views of the burqa, of gender roles and machismo.
Hill’s choreography successfully depicts the anguish and despair of a community under siege, with the whole company moving in a seething, sculptural mass. One anguished solo – ‘Spain 1938’ (which can be viewed on the company’s website, and is performed by Leahey) – is striking in the extreme.
Exciting use is made of the specially commissioned projections by Spain’s Mariona Omedes, featuring the text from Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation, though the words have been flipped so that the audience becomes part of the apology and the words have a life of their own: they coagulate, ripple, and explode over the bodies of the dancers.
The music by Micka Luna (also from Spain) was developed in close collaboration with Hill; a creative partnership resulting in a compelling and eerie soundscape that notably includes the gentle melody of a music box.
The many stories and multiple layers of meaning in this show demand attention. A complex, thought provoking work.
Four stars
Dancenorth present Mass
Concept/Design/Direction/Choreography: Raewyn Hill
Created by Raewyn Hill and the Dancenorth dancers
Performers: Lauren Carr, Thomas Gundry Greenfield, Jessica Jefferies, Nicola Leahey, Jeremy Poi
Composer: Micka Luna (Spain)
Vocals: Jocelyn West (UK)
Cello: Gloria Coll
Art Direction: Nueve Ojos
Creative Director: Mariona Omedes
Running time: one hour (approx) no interval
Dancenorth HQ, Townsville
June 30 – July 9
dancenorth.com.au
Lynne Lancaster attended the world premiere of Mass in Townsville as a guest of Dancenorth.
