It is, perhaps, a sign that Christchurch is starting to put the experience of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes behind it since Rebound Dance Company’s latest production is concerned, not with coming to terms with life in a new, unstable environment, but with the social ritual of partying.  This, in itself, is not entirely new territory for Rebound since a concern with social behaviour has been central to previous productions such as 2016’s Someone Say, I Do, which focused on weddings.  Haybales and Chandeliers has much in common with that earlier show in its use of popular dance forms and music as well as incorporating refreshments for the audience, in this case a sausage sizzle during the interval.  Like the dancers assembled at a bar, somewhere in the country, the audience is in the theatre to have a good time, and it does.

The show begins with a group of partygoers arriving at the bar having already consumed generous quantities of alcohol on the bus that delivers them to the door.  The simple set suggests a barn as much as a bar and we quickly realise that human and animal behaviours have much in common, from the alpha male exhibitionism of the cockerel to the preening and prancing of the hens.  Spoken commentary suggests an almost anthropological approach to the observations being made, mixed with a touch of television nature documentary.  Amidst the general hilarity there is, nevertheless, an element of menace with recurring appearances from “The Butcher”, who is on the prowl in order to supply the meat for the barbecue we are soon to enjoy while also reminding us that for humans too, the grim reaper lies in wait.  We must party while we can.

After the interval sheep dominate proceedings, their bleating accompanied by the well-known theme tune for New Zealand’s longest running television show, Country Calendar.  But where there are animals there are inevitably farmers wearing their ubiquitous gumboots, and it is indicative of the populist flavour of the show that the Fred Dagg gumboot song provides the accompaniment to this number.  It is unlikely that Dusty Springfield anticipated that her song, ‘These boots are made for walking’ would be performed while wearing gumboots but there are no sacred cows in Rebound’s farmyard and the audience response was predictably enthusiastic.

What makes Rebound’s production so engaging is the enthusiasm, commitment and unabashed enjoyment that the dancers bring to their performance.  And this is, indeed, very much their show with nine of the sixteen performers contributing to the choreography.  With ages ranging from 40 to 70 the Rebound dancers also demonstrate that dance is not just the preserve of the young and svelte.  In providing performance opportunities for dancers across a wide age span Rebound Dance Company is making a significant contribution to recalibrating expectations of what dance performance is and can be.  At the same time they provide an enthusiastic audience with an engaging and witty production that also offers opportunities for reflection on the differences and similarities between animal and human behaviour.  It was just the right kind of mid-winter show to send us out into the cold night thinking that spring is really not so far away.

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