DANCE REVIEW:Triptych

While this style of work is not for everyone, if you like Butoh inspired work this performance of Triptych is a blinding revelation.

The title comes from the use of three movable panels/screens and the sense of three different environments.

DeQuincey Co is Australia's main Body Weather company, building on decades of work by dancer-choreographer Tess De Quincy in Japan, Europe, India and Australia. Body Weather is a contemporary dance style founded in Japan by Butoh dancer Min Tanaka.

Founded in principles of dialogue and exchange, a synthesis of Eastern and Western thoughts and practices, Body Weather is an open exploration which proposes the body as an environment reflecting the greater world environment. De Qunicey draws from dance, graphics and sculpture on the basis of Body Weather practice to create performance environments. Her main emphasis has been on inhabitation and the nature of place.

Body Weather was introduced to Australia in 1988 and DeQuinceyCo established in 2000.

The Butoh choreographic style is at times enhanced by various Graham-style influences and there is a distinctive 'falling backwards' line. The whole feel of the choreography is 'earthed' and ‘grounded’. There is also a Cunningham influence in the choreography I thought (especially in the second section) and in the way the dancers work through or against the music of the coldly melodic soundtrack by Chris Abrahams. Mostly the dancers are in basic black costumes but there is the occasional flash of colour (eg the red lining of a kimono).

Part 1 is Haiku in motion. Against a backdrop of snow and purple flowers, Peter Fraser, like a Zen master, creates brushstrokes of extraordinarily controlled movement with centred stillness.

With very arched feet, each quivering toe, each trembling finger is important. At times he is like a wounded crane with broken wings. He is joined towards the end of this section by one of the other dancers. Extremely controlled movement is at times broken by an explosive run, a matador - like twirl of a discarded robe or a sudden drop to the floor. But all returns to quietness and calm. One of the other dancers is hidden and moves behind the screen like a sculptured rock.

The audience then moves and the screen/panel alignment is adjusted for part 2. This uses lots of computer-blip graphics and is very techno-modern and is abstract and quite Cunningham in style at times (and also perhaps Chunky Move).

In this part there is a backwards/forwards dialogue between two of the dancers in one section and one is very conscious of the sense of space.

Part 3 is quite dreamlike and meditative with the screens showing rippling and flowing, reflective water. The dancers are at times like darting fish or underwater plants.

An enthralling, mesmerizing performance.

Triptych
November 6-15
Carraigeworks
For more information visit http://www.bodyweather.net/dequinco.html