Not even this reviewer is perfect. So I was, embarrassingly, and regrettably, late for the gala final of Fast+Fresh Dance, at Riverside (Theatre, Parramatta). Which means, for all I know, Amber McCartney's solo, Beak, with music by David Page (Guinea Pig), might've been the pinnacle. It's quite likely, as Amber took out the choreography award, if memory serves. In any event, I'm sorry I missed it. Ditto, for Sarah Worthington's Mayhem, with a baker's dozen dancers on stage, to the tunes of Burkhard Dallwitz (Haunted By The Past), Michael Price's Mayhem and Moby's Stock Radio. My apologies to all concerned.Of what I saw, there were obvious winners, in my mind. I can't, for example, pretend enthusiasm or admiration for Never Will The Energy Die, by Adem Howard; danced by same, alongside Brianna Attard & Aimee Honess. To a cut-up, supercool pastiche of songs, including by (the) Black Eyed Peas, Architecture In Helsinki and Fergie, the trio strutted their stuff, but it came off a little too much like a poorly-edited director's reel: there seemed to be no narrative or thematic extension; rather a jerky, disjointed technical showcase, falling into the trap of trying to do too much, in too short a time. It doesn't pay to show off. I was reminded, too, that people who dance aren't necessarily dancers.
Wildcat, by Ivey Wawn, accompanied by the eponymous track, from Ratatat, warmed things up a little. In fact, this piece established a correlation evident throughout the evening: the fewer dancers on stage, the better the dancing. Ms Wawn justifiably took out Best Female Dancer.
Rikki Lee O'Reilly's More Than Anything, to Carter Burwell's Lion And The Lamb, followed by Seth Century's The Waitress Song, was danced by Teagan McKeen & Olivia Berrell. While in and of itself reasonably compelling, in terms of the physical theatre of the piece, it left me in something of a quandary and failed to satisfy.
But it wasn't till the music and dance reverted to a much more traditional vein that movement became authentically dancerly. Shayarnes Matheson's Birth Of The Blues showed immense maturity, taste, restraint and style and her performance was a lesson to many of her colleagues; in poise, grace, elegance, line, athleticism, training, rehearsal and avoiding the pitfalls of trying too hard to look way cool. Hers was a substantial, dynamic, exciting piece; tight as a drum; short, but sweet. Dare I say, fast and fresh? 10/10.
My excitement was sustained absolutely by the act that followed Matheson's tautness: Aimee Regan & Neale Whittaker's (yes, Kev) extraordinary two-hander de force, Diffestosa Mente, featuring divergent, yet well-chosen music by Sarah McLachlan (the opener, Paul McCartney's Blackbird), Rob Zombie & Gotan Project. Authentically and believably romantic & passionate, as against melodramatic and cloyingly saccharine, like Matheson's, their work shows maturity far in excess of their youth and all the potential in the world. In evoking a couple's committed quest to communicate, on all levels, it was blindingly, breathtakingly good! Fittingly, they won Best New Talent(s): hear, hear!
These last two, ostensibly point the way for much of the rest and highlight the yawning chasm between technically pretty good and the only, oft-overlooked, real-world accomplishment of doing it with feeling, whether dance, or plumbing.
A change of pace was wrought by Emma Watkins' Celtic Crew, who took the floor, along with Ashley Chisholm, Taylia Collis, Lucy Wiggan, Kristina Dickson, Alyssa Hill, Josephine Lagana and Elle Young, backgrounded by Reel Mix, in some kind of Riverdance gone awol homage. I'm not sure what the motivation, intention or general idea was, but it was very lithe, leggy, spritely and entertaining.
Witheld Words was a creditable effort, by Christine Theophanous, with Tra Mi Dinh and Alannah Wastell, accompanied by Strays Don't Sleep's For Blue Skies, 'though it failed to connect or leave me with anything.
Lowe Napalan is, obviously, his own man, and brought innate fluidity and a kid of balletically-infused, but hiphop-informed, sensibility to his solo: Slow Me Down, to the song of same, by Emmy Rossum. Expert & dignified, it was more than good enough to earn him Best Male Dancer. If the test is to make the difficult look deceptively anyone-can-do-it easy, then he passed, with high distinctions.
Natasha Sturgis' All I Have almost certainly reflected her commitment to her almost impossibly ambitious work, which required, or accommodated, 18 dancers, on too small a stage. We knew the stage was too small, when once dancer collided with another. It's all very well to foster spontaneity, individuality and self-expression, but if 18 dancers are going to do it more-or-less together, it calls for all the more discipline, and awareness of the dancers around and about, otherwise the effect of looking less together is liable to lapse, despite all good intentions, intermittent charms and a surfeit of hormonal energy, into relative chaos which, regrettably, it did. But who am I to judge? It picked up People's Choice!
Brendan Atoui, who would seem to be a natural, readymade comic entertainer, almost without a doubt gave the audience the most easily, accessibly gratifying experience of the night, with Get Back In Here, a kind of wetdream sequence for bored schoolboys in search of hiphop superstardom. Engaging, amusing and, obviously, practiced infinitely, it showed a gifted individual using the medium of dance to foster his rounder development in 'show business'. He scored the Youngest Choreographer award.
Finally, Dreaming With A Broken Heart, choreographed by Sally Egan and co-danced by Elise Kiely and Alexandra Kealy, to John Mayer's song, might've done well to withold at least some of its prepubescent excesses and indulgences; nonetheless, the trio brought a lot of heart and style (albeit Hallmark) to their work. All-in-all, I'm afraid, it was all a bit Eurovisionary for me to take too seriously.
Just a year after its debut season, the youth dance extravaganza that is Fast+Fresh (thanks in no small measure, I'm sure, to Western Sydney Dance Action (WSDA) director, Olivia Ansell's commitment) has tripled in size. That says a lot about the appetite for dance among young people, its relevance to youth culture, and the greater west, which seems to be getting still greater all the time. Better yet, it shows that choreographers, whether born, or made, can emerge very shortly after doing so from the womb.
One thing's seems sure, these young people are getting a more than typical share of ecstasy, not by 'dropping' it, but through the endorphin rush that comes with creating and practicing movement to music.
FAST+FRESH DANCE
Venue: Riverside Theatres | Cnr Church & Market St Parramatta
Heats: Tuesday 17th - Thursday 19th Nov
Final: Saturday 21st Nov @ 7.30pm
Tickets: $10
Bookings: 8839 3399 | www.riversideparramatta.com.au
