“Nothing” is still something if you think about it, and thinking about it, this piece is really something. Elijah Kennar has made some bold choices in his new work Abyss Between Counts and they have left me feeling confused but equally satisfied.

Now, I don’t mean confused in a bad way – I mean confused in the way there were components I like to see in a contemporary dance piece that weren’t there but it didn’t matter. I forgot there was no music, instead listening to all the other sounds of clinking nuts, bolts and timber, the dancers breathing, the navigation of bodies in the small spaces. I allowed myself to open up to the intimate nature of the space and I became transfixed in the idea that building on nothing could create something, waiting to see how that would transform itself in this work.

Whether it was Kennar’s intention or not, the transitions at times felt a little clunky, a response to the space perhaps(?) but it became increasingly beautiful as time went on. It was as if he has looked into the negative spaces of the movements and chosen from that ‘abyss’, if you will. The often discarded pieces of choreography that one might try fix have found a way to include themselves here.

The cast of dancers balance each other well with their physicalities and performance abilities and I feel they are all given equal weight in this production. Their movement, increasingly frenzied and responsive to those around them was engaging and the provocation of touch and manipulation was satisfying. At times this connection was lost but again, maybe this was intentional and I have to remind myself to look past what I want to see.

This work challenged me in all the right ways and I know there are still more layers waiting to be found and understood. Abyss Between Counts needs to be seen more than once and I urge you to attend. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer