It’s that time of year again….time to load into a hot (bordering on stuffy) Te Whaea theatre with friends, family, and industry members to watch this years’ crop of dance graduates.  The 2.5hr show would be hard to get through if these kids weren’t so darn good.

The classical students open with “Concerto Barocco”, brought to us by arrangement with the George Balanchine Trust in the States.  (By the way, did you know the Balanchine Style and the Balanchine Technique are registered trademarks?  Even ballet has become commercialised!)

One of his earliest, this piece is quintessentially Balanchine, with relevé’s  aplenty and an emphasis on clean lines and musicality.  The music is courtesy of Bach.  It’s the perfect work to show off the hours of hard slog these students have put in.  It’s deceptively simple, right down to the costuming (all white leotards and skirts) and has the feel of a class preparing for their ballet exams, but the foot work is fast, arms and legs are extended to the max, and it never stands still.  They handle it well.

“The Speech”, a solo dedicated to those who died in WWI and performed by Jeremy Beck, is set to experts of Charlie Chaplin’s powerful speech, “The Great Dictator”.  If you haven’t heard it before, a Youtube search will give you plenty of versions to choose from; all set to various background music and usually accompanied by grand images.  The text is extremely powerful and I’ve never been convinced any physical movement could match it.  Choreographer Wessel Oostrum has forgone “typical” dance vocabulary for hand and facial gestures.  Beck performs well, but the very literal adaptation of text into gesture is, what could be considered, an easy choice.  One that could perhaps be viewed as too obvious.  Others may disagree and find it a touching tribute to the fallen.

Malia Johnston’s “Trigger II” is an evolving riot.  The contemporary dancers (who could nearly double as acrobats, so fierce and flexible are their movements) have contributed the majority of material, says Johnston in the programme notes.   It starts in subdued greys and blues and builds in colour and style.  Humour and opera are featured, as are gender stereotypes.  It works, trust me!   These dancers certainly looked like they had some serious fun with it.

Contemporary ballet pas de deux, “Double Stop” follows, performed by stand-out students Samantha Vottari and Tynan Wood.  It was great to see these classical majors getting the chance  to loosen up their torsos in this fierce and stunning choreography by American Val Caniparoli.

Next we’re treated to a relatively rare appearance of a Douglas Wright piece.  “rapt” was originally commissioned as part of the 2011 Auckland Festival and later performed in Holland.  The full-length work of dance theatre has been stripped back to its pure dance sections by original cast member Craig Bary, graduate Megan Adams, and Wright himself.  Here is where gesture and nuance are used effectively.  The programme tells us that “the dance language…is loosely based on the Lord’s Prayer as signed by the deaf”.   Loosely indeed.  It’s far from literal, but a story is definitely told.  It incorporates all the devotion, and all the madness, of a religious experience.  It’s fast and furious but the movement is so well executed that we seem to have all the time in the world to register and appreciate it as if it were gentle and delicate.  It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from the contemporary students of NZSD.  Get thee to ‘church’ to witness it.

And finally, to end the night, we have both classical and contemporary dancers in “Purcell Pieces”.  It is, of course, set to the music of 17^th century English composer Henry Purcell.  I’m sure as a reviewer, I’m forbidden from using a word like “boring”, but at the moment I’m at a loss for another description.  I’m sure it will appeal to some, but the Baroque quality was staid and a little bland.  Though no fault of the dancers, it was pretty, but without a great deal of substance. 

Despite the finale, it’s a night well worth attending.  The School of Dance does churn out some great talents, and this particular crop is especially good. I wish the graduates luck in their future creations or performances and hope they’re filled with all the qualities they display in this graduation season. Especially substance.  

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