In its 15th anniversary celebration programme, a triple bill, mixed ability dance company Touch Compass shows just how far it has travelled in a decade and a half.

In their first ever performance a troupe of seven dancers included two in wheelchairs and one with Downs Syndrome, who collectively warmed and won hearts in a spirited instant….

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Touch Compass, New Zealand’s leading integrated dance company, took to the stage at Auckland’s Q Theatre last night to present their 15 year anniversary show; Run, Slip, Spring. This triple bill featured choreography by Carol Brown (NZ/UK), Marc Brew (UK/Au) and company director Catherine Chappell (NZ).

Before I launch into the review I think it is important to briefly acknowledge the accomplishment of this company, as they have survived and continue to thrive at the ripe old age of fifteen. That’s ancient in New Zealand dance company years! The visibility this company has created for the validity of ‘all bodies’ expression within (and outside of) the NZ professional dance sector is remarkable. So, sending out many thanks to Catherine Chappell and company members past and present for your work and contribution to changing attitudes and lives through dance in NZ.

And now for the show:

The program opens with a re-worked version of Carol Brown’s Slip, I’m not falling I’m just holding on for as long as you can hold me (2010). The work revolves around a personal story from each of the six dancers; Alisha McLennan, Emilia Rubio, Daniel King, Melanie Turner, Georgie Goater and Jesse Johnstone-Steele – who are joined on stage by singer Tracy Z.

As an audience member I zoom in to encounter the re-telling of life changing events, and then back out to view the expanded picture, a group at play. Whilst individuals are highlighted the group remains visible, supporting as back up dancers to an album of life’s greatest hits. What appeals to me in these narrative accounts is that they are told through multiple mediums and that the ‘whole’ is never revealed in an easily definable way. We are instead exposed to partial stories through differing forms of expression: original song (Russell Scoones), costume (Christina Houghton), and movement (Carol and dancers). The proficient integration and layering of these elements, at times produces poetic moments of poignancy, emerging skillfully from the ever-changing rhythm of the work and revealing a depth of human experience that resonates clearly in the performers’ bodies.

In particular I am drawn to Dan preparing to tell, Georgie shedding the cotton-wool skin of her dress, and Alisha suspended and ‘falling’ whilst openly supported by the weight of the group. However some moments, for me, lack the impact that I think was intended. In particular I struggle with the more up-beat sections of the work, they feel forced and the dancers appear to lack a physical connection to the material in these instances, (Jesse being the exception). I wonder how these sections may be approached choreographically and performed in a way that is more genuine and in keeping with the sincerity that permeates most of the work?

Following this is Marc Brew’s choreography, Run, self-described as a work that explores escaping the past whilst fearing moving towards the future. From this image I expected a standstill of sorts, riddled with tension and Run most definitely delivers on this front. Conveyed through sharp, direct and at times mechanical movement Adrian Smith, Daniel, Georgie and Suzanne Cowan perform this choreography with committed gusto. I enjoy the punchiness of the vocabulary and am intrigued and drawn into the floor work that exhibits a skillful knowledge of low-level movements that my body is not accustomed to.

The musical score by Drew McMillan is a driving force, emotively conjuring tension and suspense. This music teamed with the other production elements, black and silver costumes and rectangular boxes of light, has me making associations with action movies from the 90s. I am however not sure if this aesthetic is intentional? And think that perhaps these stylistic choices (costumes and lights) need to be re-considered, because, for me, they don’t support the work as effectively as they could.

In talking of the work Marc emphasises ‘challenge’ as being an important factor within the choreography. This ‘challenge’ is evident in the physicality of the performers as they navigate difficult movement pathways. However there is ease in my watching of the work, as I follow the ride, witnessing a whirl of tension, I begin to question how Marc might also catch me out with a challenge. Despite these criticisms, on the whole I feel that the performance traverses and explores a particular physical state, and does so with success, exhibiting a skilful rigour in the rehearsal direction and performance of the work.

Concluding the program is company director Catherine Chappell’s new work Spring. For me this choreography is a quiet surprise – a spaciously rich work that demands a kind of attention from both performer and audience that I had not previously experienced at a Touch Compass show. Spring was devised through an exploration of the bungee equipment the company have recently acquired. It appears that the quality of movement that this equipment generates infiltrated the entirety of the work: the music (so carefully crafted by Eden Mulholland), the performance design, and the open attentiveness that oozes through the dancers (Alisha, Matt Gibbon, Adrian and Sarah Houbolt) bodies from beginning to end.

I admire Catherine’s simple approach to this work, both in the opening pre-amble as bodies playfully position themselves in space and in the choices of material performed on the bungees. I expected loud overt tricks but receive gentle subtle ones instead. In particular I enjoy watching the way in which the action and elasticity of the bungee cord reverberates through each of the performer’s bodies with such liquid ease. And how the act of working with these cords, in such close proximity to another body, requires unfaltering attention and constant moment-to-moment decision-making. They were not showing, they were doing and this I like.

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