Sydney Reviews

Photo – Marion Abboud

The broad sweep of Briwyant's technical, conceptual and artistic complexity are a revelation. From the opening moments, when Van Hout casually states that the noise you can hear – a kind of meaty thud as dancers hurl them selves against canvas – is the sound of stories wanting to be told, there is the strong feeling that all the rules of engagement are about to be smashed. Van Hout starts with a creation myth and subsequent themes of gender roles, violence, survival, sexuality, drinking, city dreaming and meaning making are layered carefully over the top.

Briwyant refers to the Yolgnu word ‘bir’yun’ meaning brilliance or shimmer. It describes the effect of traditional Top End cross hatching painting technique, where fine lines produce a shimmering movement over the surface of the work, a manifestation of ancestral forces. Throughout, Van Hout’s blunt, urban humour shimmers through Briwyant. From the word play in the title (pronounced ‘brilliant’) to the comic genius of Ghenoa Gela speedily embodying a happy drinker at the Erskineville Hotel, the frenetic mixed media and dance creates a picture of the Inner West and asks the big question: can you find your dreaming here and does local knowledge amount to a song cycle? It’s a question that isn’t answered but which offers, with a generous heart, a new way of looking at our daily reference points.

Beautifully realised and conceived, Van Hout’s classical training with NAISDA and contemporary studies with Martha Graham School of Dance in New York are perfectly blended in Briwyant. The short run belies the importance of this work and you can only hope it finds a place in the sun on the festival circuit and tours widely.


Performance Space
Briwyant

Concept, choreographer, director Vicki Van Hout

Venue: Bay 20 Carriageworks | 245 Wilson Street Eveleigh
Dates: 13-16 April, 2011
Times: Wed – Sat, 8pm
Tickets: $30 – $20
Bookings: www.performancespace.com.au | Ticketmaster on 1300 723 038