PHANTASM: quick links
Commissioned by Chunky Move, PHANTASM is the result of Melanie Lane’s Choreographer in Residence tenure – and it’s inhabiting the Chunky studio in its startling, terrifying and thrilling glory.
Four dancers – Nikki Tarling, Rachel Coulson, Ashley McLellan and Georgia Rudd – embody a collection of folklore, myths and true events that leave witnesses questioning what is real and what is beyond possibility.
PHANTASM: a collaborative creation
With dance as Lane’s medium, her exploration of idealised bodies could be somewhat obvious, given dance’s long and frequently damaging pursuit of flawless physicality and perfection. Yet in PHANTASM, Lane doesn’t reject the idealised notions of what is young and beautiful – whether through its embodiment as a strip dancer sauntering down the stage’s scaffolding, a ballerina fit in layers of tulle or the cheerleader whose pep comes through her shimmering pom poms. Instead, Lane shows them as bodies that women exist in and move through.
Just as the stories blur together, the relationships between the four women shift and grow. A supportive arm around shoulders becomes a harsh yank of the other’s body through space, which turns into one woman pinned down by another, their connection electric. Frequently, interactions are marked by violence, but their need for each other is always stronger than the forces that threaten to take them over.
In program notes, Lane describes the work as a truly ‘collaborative creation’, with a creative team who brought the work to life in ways she did not anticipate.
PHANTASM: immersive atmosphere
For PHANTASM, Chunky’s studio is transformed to create an immersive atmosphere that takes over all of the senses. Soft eerie lighting cuts across a net suspended high, creating illusions of other structures in the space that don’t exist, and a fragrance rains down to fill the studio with notes of bergamot and oud (and is sold in the foyer as a perfume).
Music composer and performer, Rama Parwata, is hidden in the shadows upstage, with demanding beats and soundscapes that heighten the intensity of the women’s stories.
Read: The Orchard review: Pony’s Cam’s radical interpretation of Chekov classic at the Malthouse
PHANTASM is for lovers of the monstrous feminine – and for those who question whether the supernatural feminine is, in fact, monstrous or whether it’s simply beyond what is known. Lane’s work doesn’t seek to provide answers, but instead joins a collective of wicked musings that offer comfort to those who fight against the limits of reality and the systems that bind them.
PHANTASM will be performed at Chunky Move Studios, Melbourne until 16 August 2025.
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