TOMO by Gabrielle Thomas is a contemporary Maori dance work that explores concepts of wairua (spirituality) and the connection between the physical and spiritual realms. The work opens with low lighting revealing four large rectangular boxes on stage, which as the lighting brightens, we see are in fact mirrors. These reflective boxes rotate around the stage until finally, dancers begin to emerge from behind them. The mirrors are manipulated by the dancers throughout the piece, creating various images on stage and giving the dancers spaces to disappear and re-emerge from.

The movement vocabulary in this work establishes itself early on, and we see various motifs emerge, such as the abstraction of gesture, body percussion, and a fluid, watery quality of movement about the stage. The dancers frequently use their breath to complement their movement and given the subject matter, this heightens the experience. Breath signifies life and this work is in part about life, death, and those left behind grieving those they have lost to the spiritual world. There are movement excerpts that we see repeated numerous times throughout the piece, which serves to quickly build the world within which the work sits. The three female dancers, who breathe life to the spirit world, achieve femininity and beauty at the same time as creating grotesque facial expressions, and the juxtaposition of the two opposing qualities is enthralling. The women, Jahra Wasasala, Bianca Hyslop and Abbie Rogers, match each other in their unison and establish themselves as mana wahine: all three are strong and claim the space with their movement. The fourth dancer, Sean MacDonald, is exquisite in his performance, displaying isolated articulation and carving the space with his limbs. A particular highlight is a duet between MacDonald and Hyslop, a sad kind of tension arising from a connection between the light and the dark that struggles to be completely fulfilled. The partnering between the two dancers is effortless, they move together with authority and fluidity.

The use of lighting and music throughout is simple, yet well-designed. The lighting is low throughout, which creates gorgeous shadows and allows the dancers to move in and out of the light, reflecting the theme of crossing between the physical and spiritual spaces. The music is often a natural backdrop of rain or ocean waves crashing, occasionally interrupted by a deep, humming bassline. The modesty of these elements seems appropriate for the concepts explored and serves to highlight the embodiment of the ideas by the dancers.

TOMO explores notions of wairua with smooth, strong movement performed by skilled dance artists, a fabulous offering from Gabrielle Thomas and Atamira Dance Company. With all elements of dance and set combined, this work is visually beautiful and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.

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