Nelson nearly fills the Festival tent for an opportunity  to taste contemporary cabaret – and the mostly provincial audience got a little more than they bargained for if their half time comments are anything to go by. ‘Disturbing, menacing, perplexed, I dunno’ covers most of the remarks. They didn’t envy me the job of reviewing the show. But judging by their comments at the end of the cabaret dance, I imagine that the bar for their appreciation for contemporary dance has been raised on both sides of last night’s slumber. My companion for the evening pronounces it a success once we are half way home. I expect a few more will wake up the next morning feeling the same.

Julia Milsom is to be commended on taking a traditional genre of cabaret, showy, slick, slightly raunchy, and delivering a fresh new feel that suits small provincial New Zealand stages well.  Like the Christchurch landscape, it is familiar but has changed, and in a way that makes us stop to absorb what is going on, not at all sure whether we like it. Nelson in particular has no contemporary dance company, so Corrupt Productions brings a different flavour to which the audience has to adapt.

Each song and dance sequence starts in a traditional manner; cruises along in the expected format for a few bars, thus preparing you for boredom to come. Then  it all changes. Very thrilling. My eyes widen, I smile, I gasp, laugh. Most amazing of all – it works. I don’t know how. I am so impressed that it works so well. I could happily sit through another performance.

Musically, the skill level is top notch and upbeat, primal and infectious. The singers are great, full of volume and unique sound, operatic even in the case of the drummer. 

The first two Acts hit out at the audience with a horizontal hail of contradictions. There is a rock band instead of an orchestra; an old-fashioned upright acoustic piano instead of an electric keyboard. The piano player, Chris Reddington, is a gangly 2m tall at least and wears a bright red women’s coat with a red feather boa. And it suits him. He is also Tom Waits the singer [perfect voice for Tom] and a dancer becomes the piano player while he sings. But he doesn’t like that, and forces her away from the piano and off stage. He invites us to sing along. Nelson is a bit reticent. He gets pissed off with that, and gives us  a C minus, and stomps off.

The dancers and singers constantly move on and off stage throughout the show, regardless of what’s happening. They change onstage. The dancers get up half way through a song and start dancing, or sit down halfway through a song and leave you with just the singer.  They crowd onto the stage together, or they all suddenly vanish, leaving the audience with just the band. Then the band ignores the audience. [This is a good thing. I need to catch my breath, flick through the images in my head and check I did see what actually happened].

We are transfixed, open mouthed. But we can’t be left in our seats for too long. There’s  a good old fashioned Tennessee waltz, and one by one the audience is led up on stage to waltz, and handed over to another member of the waltzing audience while the dancers go back out into the audience to gather more.

The dancing plays out themes of anger, destruction, disappointment, rejection, resentment, spoiled tantrums, devastation, depression, resignation, resurrection. It is clever, brutal, most of all, supple. I feel like I have been to a yoga class by the end of the performance. My body feels wonderful watching them.  

The audience have their traditions challenged in other ways by the company’s dancing. “Gender bending” Julia calls it. Women dance with women, they sulk when a man dances in and breaks them up. They fall and lift traditionally for a while, one man with three women. Then the women lift each other and finally him. They hold poses more familiar to a circus act than dance.

The ragged effect is fabulous. The rock band plays great music which holds the heat and friction together. Lots of familiar tunes take on sharp new edges. The singer picks up a percussion piece, plays it, then dismissively throws it to the floor, belligerently glaring, defying the audience to challenge her.  [No challenge from me darling]. I can sense how the civilised rituals of society are only mostly adhered to now down there in ChCh.

 Act Three is beautiful. They lighten up and give the audience a cuddle. Dancer Julia Milsom’s  talent impresses me most of all. She has exquisite dance moves, fresh, elegant, romantic, new. Nadia Maria Reid is the writer of her solo song Young/Girl/Mothers lying heart. A very sophisticated polished piece. I hope she puts out a CD soon. Michael Kyme and Ben Eldridge mix a lot of original riffs within the commercial music. All of it works very well.

Individually, either as a band or as a dance company they are worthy of separate performances in their own right. Together, I would rate this cabaret the best performance of the Nelson Arts Festival 2011. 

_______________________________

For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer

Corrupt Productions (a dance theatre initiative) delivers what it promises and more. Described as a ‘contemporary cabaret’, Random Acts of God is a blend of live music and quirky contemporary dance that is ‘edgy’, earthy, and downright cheeky. The ‘dark tension’ promised filters through the production holding audience attention so completely that few tended to the sumptuous table platters they had pre ordered until half-time!

An ambient, dirty /chic atmosphere is established on entry to the venue where the peeling walls and dilapidated ornate plaster surrounds of the foyer have only just survived the grumblings of the ground. This ‘grungy’ feel is continued in the performance area where the customary close tables are set out, the stage has a few red chairs and, sitting watching us, half lit, is the band.

The opening ‘Meine Damen und Herren’ evokes elements of old traditions and alludes to the musical Cabaret but what follows is a riveting evening of music and dance theatre that successfully mixes genres and has passing references to country, folk and popular music and dance. All are skillfully blended under the umbrella of contemporary dance theatre.

The use of inventive and intelligent choreography (Julia Milsom) is established early using these red chairs and the grounded spills and thrills of movement continue to surprise and entertain throughout the show. Who ever would have thought of playing around with line dancing and making it contemporary!

Much of the criticism of contemporary dance is swept aside by this kind of creative, accessible and entertaining choreography. The audience is primed ready for more of the ‘good stuff’ so that by the climatic finale: ‘Girl with One Eye’ there is rapturous applause and appreciation.

The athleticism of the dancers is readily apparent because of their close proximity to the audience. Julia Milsom, Paul Young, Erica Viedma and Aleasha Seaward dance with passion, freedom and skill, their bodies tuned to deliver complexity with assured fluidity. To view such a talented and sure-footed group at such close range is a treat. They grasp the choreography and dance it with verve.

One of the many highlights for this reviewer was ‘Dirty Dozen’, danced by a playful trio of dancers who clearly relish the fast rhythms and perform with real childlike abandon.

Of course all of these dance theatre pieces are accompanied by a superb group of musicians: Delaney Davidson, Naomi Ferguson, Nadia Reid, Rick Harvie, Alex van den Broek and Nick Bosman who alternate between observing and playing for the dancers, to playing and singing just for themselves. Naomi Ferguson alone could solo all night and so this combination serves up a real musical treat.

The nuanced and riveting programme offers pieces from Bob Dylan and Tom Waites to local compositions by Delaney Davidson (and by others in the group). At times the focus is split between the dancers and the musicians and I didn’t know whom to watch. That is why I will return for a second viewing.

Production elements are consistent from the gorgeously simple and coherent costuming through to lighting although to be picky, in ‘Everything is Broken’, the lighting on the soloist is inadequate.

Framed by the religious overtones of the title, this seemingly random collection of pieces are cleverly linked by the undercurrent of sleaze and possible violence of nightclubs, cabarets, saloons and bordellos. To take these ideas in music and dance theatre and intelligently tangle with them is daring and shows initiative.

This off beat cabaret deserves a sell out and an arts festival booking to follow.

I will be going back!

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer