GASP!, a collective of Dunedin’s most locally active and visible contemporary dance practitioners are sharing their site specific work, TimeScape, at the University of Otago this week.

The site for TimeScape is situated in a shady valley of two old stone buildings – a stunning throughway for students. The work as a whole has subdued tones, from location and costumes to sound and movement. These tones work cohesively together to form a heavy, calm and contemplative space.   

This collaborative choreographic project is composed of three intermeshed parts as the performers travel from one end of the throughway to the other. As they traverse the site they are accompanied by the sound of radio transmission composed by Kerian Varaine. The performers weave playfully through the branches of a many-thronged tree, reference the everyday activities of the space with gestural vocabulary, and join in unison to perform a methodically paced series of movements.  For me the later was the most visually striking, as there was a sense of grandeur, simplicity and careful framing.

The performers in the collective clearly have differing backgrounds and experience in dance but they work well together, with a shared understanding of the choreography and an easeful commitment as performers. They are all so decisively themselves and this beautiful to watch.  

 Whilst I enjoyed the quiet, it is a shame that the work couldn’t have been performed at times when there was a heavier flow of foot traffic.  It would have been nice to witness the contrast between the meditative state of the work and the flurry of tension and excitement that comes with University exam time.

 All in all this fleeting work is successful in capturing, relaying and layering some textures and tones of the site and it feels like the beginnings of what could become a richer work that delves deeper into the concept of time in relation to this stunning space.  

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