Sunstruck

The Sunday Age

Sunday October 26, 2008

John Bailey

SUNSTRUCK

By Helen Herbertson and Ben Cobham. Season ended.

Another Melbourne International Arts Festival over - the last for Kristy Edmunds - and the US-born incumbent artistic director has surprised nativists by creating a program where local components outshone international guests by a mile. Local choreographer Helen Herbertson's Sunstruck stood out among a formidable array of visitors, testament to the fact that Melbourne's strongest suit in the world game is its dance scene (see also: Chunky Move's superb Two Faced Bastard). Herbertson has collaborated with designer Ben Cobham to create a brilliant experience of ambient dance: audiences are guided through the pitch-black, cathedral-like space of a Docklands warehouse to a ring of seats. Inside, two dancers play out moving, complex motions touching on themes of masculinity, connection and distance. A single, roaming spotlight circles the space, turning the performers into the shadow-casting "style" of a sundial. Dancers Trevor Patrick and Nick Somerville are utterly attuned to the spontaneity required for such a work; the result is an experience that both challenges and soothes. Darkness never felt so good.

© 2008 The Sunday Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home