PROJECT RAMEAU
Project Rameau
Dancers Charmene Yap and Bernhard Knauer perform a duet from Project Ramaeu choreographed by Rafael Bonachela.
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Reviewer rating:
Sydney Theatre, October 28
Until November 3
Reviewer's rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote Baroque music with Rococo charm, French wit and courtly pomp, a strange choice, one might think, for an edgy date between two of the most photogenic companies in town, the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Yet the chemistry on the night radiated energy, joy and its own kind of wit. Seated on a raised platform at the back, the silhouetted bows and pipes of the instrumentalists were a visual counterpart to the lean, energised sonic underlay that the ACO, with their habitual attention to articulation, provided to the modernised sensuality of the dancers.
Project Rameau ... an edgy, energetic date between the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Photo: Ben Rushton
When the orchestra rose to moments of ceremonial splendour with full brass, wind and strings, the dancers acknowledged this with only the most whimsical deference to formality.
The musical selection, primarily from Rameau's ballets and late operas, began with the instrumentalists giving out their most austere and spare sonorities in the "sleep" scene from Dardanus (familiar to Sydney Baroque opera buffs courtesy of Pinchgut Opera, which performs more Rameau next month).
Yet this was a rich collection of Baroque instrumental sounds and the suave bassoon sound and the delicate fluidity of Tommie Andersson's theorbo (placed centre stage at the back so that the elegance of its neck offset the dancers') provided exquisite colour that no modernist angularity could suppress.
Rameau was an innovator of orchestration and harmony and his multifarious airs and pastorals emerged here with distinctive originality and charm.
The ACO did not pursue the supreme logic of the line that they displayed in their recent Baroque project with Richard Egarr, but rather courted concentrated vitality allowing a pointy, even rough sound to emerge in places like the Presto from Summer in Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
This was Rameau without the wigs, bristling with life and irresistible.
Ensembles project energetic Rameau
Dance reviewed by Jill Sykes
Energy pours off the stage in this combined effort from the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which provides the backdrop as well as the music - reviewed separately - to this thoroughly enjoyable venture.
Rafael Bonachela has choreographed in his customary contemporary style, but he has obviously tuned in to the elegant courtliness of Rameau's early 18th-century music – you can see it in the stylish framework of his ensembles that break down to solos, duets, trios and an interesting blend of double trios and triple duets that give fresh variety to his larger ensembles.
There is some interesting action going on, ranging from fast and furious to slow and gentle, which can be lost – so look out for it – in the pell-mell pace of the work as a whole.
Project Rameau is an exhilarating gallop through 21 musical excerpts. While the moods change – Bonachela has fun dropping in some bottom-wiggling if he thinks things are getting too serious – there is an overall cohesion of music and dance.
The strongest impression is made by the 14 dancers themselves, who put their hearts as well as their skills into this performance. Apart from one serial offender in mistiming his moves, it was pretty well a flawless performance with some outstanding individual contributions from the speedy Janessa Dufty, coolly controlled Andrew Crawford, sensitive Richard Cilli (leaving soon: he will be missed), Charmene Yap, Juliette Barton, Natalie Allen, Lachlan Bell and Chen Wen.
Costume design by Fiona Holley and Bonachela is diverse and delightful; lighting and set design by Benjamin Cisterne unfortunately has its warm tones spiked with bands of fluorescent light that, unless used more skilfully than this, are such a pain to the eyes and visual appreciation. May they soon become unfashionable.
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