Vivid Dreaming Round 2 consists of two starkly contrasting pieces both in a contemporary vein. Others, a trio choreographed by Carla Harre with dancer collaborators, Oli Mathiesen, Lulu Qiu and Cade Hansen, begins with the three dancers still, equidistant apart on stage. It is accompanied by initial ambient music that gives a mediative feel, drawing us into the piece. This quiet beginning gives the audience a chance to notice the dapper different primary-coloured jackets they are wearing over white embroidery anglaise shirts and pants. Later in the piece, jackets gone, the detail on the shirts catches the light in different ways, adding texture as the dancers move.

Gestures of an out reached hand, a finger or elbow point are familiar yet different in this context and often cleverly returned to later in the piece. Relationships between these different dancers constantly change as they perform in unison, as a trio, in pairs, one versus two and as solos, sinuously transforming from one to the next with no underlying gender differences apparent. All dancers embody the contemporised movement vocabulary extremely well. The liquid fluidity of the moves is seamless as they change levels, meet and part and lift and fall, creating different patterns as they thread and loop through the space.

The piece builds in momentum often signalled by a change in the music. Jolted movement and jumps disrupt the dynamics and are matched in the music score by Tobyn Gregory.  The structure of the piece that underpins the choreography, coupled with the vibrancy of the dancing, make this piece.

The second piece is a duet choreographed by Jess Crompton, Shavon Mortimer and Celia Hext, with the latter two being the performers.

This piece seems to be a collection of several differing elements; dribbling liquid from the mouths both at the beginning and the end, aggressive intwined physicality and burlesque poses; medusa meets two headed twin, with obsessive hands in each other’s mouths, topped with fetish undertones. At one point, a seated solo dancer makes shapes with foot and hand and the light captures the skin on the leg and arms in an aesthetically pleasing moment. Like the first piece the performers embody the movement material and dance with assurance. I left agreeing with this part of the programme note “a jumbled garage sale collection of parts of people and things”

Vivid Dreaming Round 2, Thursday 8 September 2022 performance

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Vivid Dreaming is an underground dance show, and a sympathetic snapshot of what’s been happening for New Zealand dancers over the last couple of years. Vivid Dreaming shows that contemporary dance is gently re-emerging, drenched with a fresh, creative innovation. The dancers are able and confident in moving.

An appreciative clap broke out as the lights darkened in the small black box space of the Old Folks Association, Gundry Street Auckland. A concertina backdrop opened for the first dance, ‘Others’, enough to let some light in, and three dancers, Cade Hansen, Lulu Qiu, and Oli Mathiesen.  

Non-elaborate white pyjama type cotton underlays, and primary colours for jackets are the costumes by Carla Harre. They place the bodies in sync for a filmic slow-motion set of simple hand and arm gestures which, with the dancers’ different performance temperaments, slowly grow into a picturesque smoothness.  

Soft rhythmical solos and undulating trios are tinted by sharp elbow movements and a frontage of jumps; two legs together. As each dancer doffs their jacket, they enter a solo. They are occasionally punctuated by brief duet moments. Movement dynamics, however brief, cause the dancers to move on through the work together and by themselves in industrious simplicity, and directly connected to the agreeable score by Tobyn Gregory.  

An early voiceless distraction from this pre-formed process becomes a disadvantageous interruption of the imaginary. Otherwise, the well-rehearsed dance movements cast a sense of relationship and moments of synchronicity. Of particular note as visceral connection, are the fluid grips on each other’s foreheads. That creates soft extensions belonging to otherwise amorphous relationships. In intention and choreographic motivation ‘Others’ is a watchable trio. It was good to hear the applause.

The second work of the evening bore similar qualities of rehearsal and well-crafted intention. Once again, the dancers settled themselves in a slowed down position from which the dance slowly grew. ‘Puffy Sob’ is choreographed by Jess Crompton with performer collaborators, Celia Hext and Sharvon Mortimer. Baroque colours, a white chest frill, cream thunder pants and crunchy satin costuming that became terribly sweaty (devised by Jess and Celia) played a significant role in setting their scene. I was curious about my interpretation of the white fluid seeping from their mouths at the beginning and end of the work. Could this have been ‘semen’? If so, it is at odds with this purely feminine dance. 

Programme notes describe Puffy Sob as ‘a montage of relationship waves and lulls’. As an emotive and creative work, the mixture drifts between beautiful and absorbing physicalised sexual inuendo, performance burlesque and straight-out but somewhat incongruent contemporary dancing. These aspects all deserve another rendition. Bodies entwined are satisfyingly whimsical, and the relationship ledgers are kept fanciful by subtly held gazes and stillness of the dancers. Once again, it was good to hear the appreciative applause. 

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Vivid Dreaming takes us on a journey from green bush to the satiny susurration of the ocean to the starkness of a bare stage. Dappled sunlight is replaced with moody overcast skies which becomes the tranquillity of a darkened stage. Against these backdrops, the dancers, Oli Mathiesen, Cade Hansen and Lulu Qiu, are smooth and fluid. 

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