Co3’s GATHERING.1 is, as its title suggests, an ode to the vital human instinct to come together and connect.
In this case, it’s a mixed-tape selection of short contemporary dance works that drives these bonds and the show’s director (Co3 Artistic Director Raewyn Hill) has tried to wrap the audience in a dance-party bubble, where everyone – both dancers and the crowd – share the experience as one.
In this way, the show is an obvious celebration and there is good reason for the choice.
Co3 is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and, after a decade at the helm, Hill and some of the company’s founding artists (who still perform with it) are keen to salute their past and present achievements.
The celebratory event – held at one of Perth/Boorloo’s long-abandoned but recently reopened mid-century cinemas – includes the work of four choreographers, all of whom have long-standing links with the company.
The first is by Hill and is steeped in Co3/her hallmark moves.
On a small elevated stage to the sounds of Hill’s long-time collaborator, composer Eden Mulholland, 10 Co3 dancers dressed in varied black costumes (designed by Luci Young) move together and apart in ways where they seem to unfurl, clamber and coalesce. Their faces strain in anguish as they move in continuous cycles of extension and collapse. It’s an emotional journey made beautiful by Mulholland’s resonant score.
Read: Dance review: The Chronicles, RISING, Playhouse Arts Centre Melbourne
Then, we see Logan Ringshaw’s short piece The Rest Is Noise. Ringshaw’s work shifts the room’s energy and encourages the audience to start moving themselves. Its backing track (UK DJ Jamie xx’s ‘The Rest Is Noise’) sits at around 120 beats per minute, and the dancers relish inhaling the music’s energy and throwing it back out to the crowd. It’s a fun work. But it ends almost as quickly as it begins, and we are left wanting more.
After a brief ‘chat and mingle break’ featuring dance snippets by dancers from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ (WAAPA) LINK Dance Company, three Co3 dancers (Francesca Fenton, Macon Escobal Riley and Luther Wilson) move through the packed crowd to take their positions for Kimberley Parkin’s piece Tri-Hard – a work exploring the tricky dynamics of the three-person crowd.
At first, Fenton, Riley and Wilson appear zombie-like, moving in unison with steady blank stares. But as they progress, we see individuals wrestling with feelings of both attraction and frustration. To a fitting soundscore by David Stuart, with shifting lighting states designed by Mark Haslam, the performers lead us through a loose narrative journey that never feels dull.
Finally, Mitch Harvey’s work HUH – an ensemble work first shown in 2021 at an independently-produced season of dance named In Good Company – is a favourite for those already in the mood to party. While some of Harvey’s moves reference combat-style martial arts, his work is anything but aggressive. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
As the dancers punch, duck, crouch and dive, it’s clear we have arrived at this event’s peak moment of communion (veteran Co3 dancer Russell Thorpe stands out for his masterful moves, which reveal his unwavering strength and control).
All this dance is pretty fantastic – especially Parkin’s work, which is the most choreographically interesting and well-structured of the four.
But unfortunately there’s a common problem affecting almost every segment in the show. The issue stems from the director’s vision to create nightclub dance floor theatre space with no seats and lots of free-roaming areas to mingle between works.
It’s a worthy concept, but in reality it compromises some viewers’ ability to actually see the dance.
A line of elevated viewing blocks around the edge of the space helps ease the issue for some. But for the majority, the best they can do is catch a quick glimpse of movement, or see one or two dancers flash past them when they move through their spot in the crowd.
On the other hand, many in the room on opening night weren’t seemingly bothered by the restricted sightlines at all. They were too joyously ensconced in the art-bar/dance vibe scene, so it didn’t seem to matter that they missed the official dance part of the show (or at least some sections of it).
They were too busy having fun! (This is an experience high-art connoisseurs rarely to admit to, but which is another vital human instinct art can offer us in droves – so why not?)
Whether these party-goers were also unperturbed by the throng of photographers and videographers capturing footage of the show on opening night (presumably for Co3 archival and promotional purposes) is an open question. But their presence (at times intrusive) also took the edge off the director’s intention for connection with the art and is surely a scenario better suited to dress rehearsals or a season preview show.
Read: Dance review: BLKDOG, RISING, Playhouse
Those gripes aside, GATHERING.1 is nonetheless a fitting addition to Co3’s 10-year anniversary. Though it is also sad to see a state’s flagship dance company with 10 years under its belt celebrate this milestone year with just three modest seasons in its annual program.
What this mixed-bill show reveals above all is that WA’s contemporary dance scene is exploding with talent and ideas. So, why aren’t there more opportunities for audiences to come together and connect with dance in these joyful, highly accessible creative ways?
It’s a curious question that Co3 is doing its best to remedy with these stylish, generous events (but better sightlines next time would be great!).
GATHERING.1, Co3
Liberty Theatre, Perth
The Rest is Noise
Choreography: Logan Ringshaw
Sound: The Rest is Noise: Jamie xx
Tri-Hard
Choreography: Kimberley Parkin
Original Composition: David Stewart
Sound: It’s a Fine Day: Jane
Huh
Choreography: Mitch Harvey
Staging: Zee Zunnur
Original Composition: Louis Frere-Harvey
Co3 Artistic Director: Raewyn Hill
LINK Dance Company Director: Michael Whaites
Rehearsal Director: Ella-Rose Trew
Production Manager, Lighting and Projection Design: Mark Haslan
Live Soundscapes: Mowgli, DJ Aslan
Costumes: Luci Young
Stage Manager: Simonne Matthews
Production Coordinator: Paul Rowe
Co3 dancers: Francesca Fenton, Russell Thorpe, Luther Wilson (Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa), Zachary Wilson (Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa), Ella-Rose Trew, Storm Helmore, Alex Kay, Macon Escobal Riley, Logan Ringshaw, Millie Maden (secondment student NZSD)
LINK Dance Company dancers: Siahn Howatson, Rebecca Fleming, Ebony Pluess, Georgia Douvartzidis, Hunter Ewen
GATHERING.1 will be performed until 22 June 2025.
