Intertwining movement with live voice, installation, film and music,
GroundUP! needs to be viewed in its entirety as a piece of performance
art rather than just a contemporary indigenous dance production.
Choreographed by former Bangarra alumni, Bernadette Walong, GroundUP!
takes its inspiration from the Aboriginal mythologies of the rainbow
serpent, also known as the water snake. A prominent feature of
Dreamtime, the serpent represents fertility and rebirth. Rather than
literally choreographing a myth or story, Walong uses the cyclical
nature of life as a base theme for this work, with the intention of
illustrating how creation myths can apply to different contexts. The
result is an ambitious and imaginative piece with an interesting
handling of mediums, where at times, they successfully culminate.
As soon as the audience enters the Performance Space of the industrial
Redfern arts venue Carriageworks, the performers are set in place and
are in character. The stage is vast, (considering the cast of four),
with the rear and side walls used to project live and edited film,
while dotted throughout are suspended vines to evoke the aerial roots
typical of the swamp landscape. Walong, who also performs, is curled
towards the front with her back facing us. A young woman, (who does not
feature for the remaining duration of the performance), gently taps her
fingers up and down Walong’s lithe limbs as if massaging her in some
kind of ceremonial preparation for what is to unfold. A camerawoman
zooms in and out of this intimate ritual with the footage projected
live on the back screen. The three remaining female performers are
further down stage, chattering away like birds in an indigenous
dialect. Though most of us can’t understand what they’re saying, the
sound of excitable female banter is unmistakable.
Live vocal improvisation in GroundUP! is in fact as much a feature as
the physical component of the performance. Vocal designer, Jill Brown,
devised phrasing that’s supposedly typical of many indigenous vocal
forms, and though this may have been authentic, it at times felt
monotonous and distracting from the many other elements going on in
this busy work. The performers, however, execute this to the best of
their ability, considering that for most of them, movement would be
their specialty.
As images of wheat blowing in the wind intersperses with Calvin Rore’s
organic musical score of natural and synthesised sounds, the
performance takes on a more meditative quality. The choreography wavers
from literal images of gathering and fishing, to more figurative
bird-like movement, no doubt to convey the integral link between people
and nature in Aboriginal culture. Walong’s aim to create contemporary
relevance to the creation myth was evident at times, though only in
hindsight. The four dancers at one point take on the air of modern,
empowered women as they strut the stage Sex-and-the-City-style. During
the opening, the score is a bizarre composition of the clanging of
washing-up, which is a startling contrast with the instinctive, tribal
movements. This domestic soundtrack, however, brings this indigenous
setting a contemporary context, though in a very arbitrary way.
I’ve been to a few Bangarra productions but this is probably the most
abstract work I’ve seen. In terms of meaning, what seemed to stand out
more explicitly in GroundUP! for me, was the universal theme of female
kinship. From the lively conversing between the women, to the gentle
way in which they ceremoniously paint each other’s backs, there was a
strong sense of female nurturing and camaraderie.
It’s also interesting that all four performers physically look very
different, too. With varying builds and different ethnicities, the cast
add an extra dynamic quality to the production. Each also bring their
strengths; Barbra Adjei, like Walong, has danced with Bangarra and is
familiar with the indigenous roots of the choreography; Victoria Chiu
has had a more classical training; while Deirdre Taueki is a happy
medium excelling in classical and contemporary. Walong uses the girls’
fortes to her advantage, devising sections to showcase what they do
best, at one point, with Chiu and Taueki on point.
GroundUP! certainly has its high points like some beautiful foot work
and creative choreography, though these seemed to be overshadowed by
excessive ambiguity. The multiple mediums in this production also
sometimes worked against it. Walong’s work is certainly pushing
boundaries however and for some, it would even be ticking boxes.
Bernadette Walong GroundUP!
Venue: Performance Space @ Carriage Works, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh, NSW 2015
Dates: 14 - 23 Aug, 2008, 8pm, (23 Aug, 5pm). Free artist talk on 21 Aug after the show.
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
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