ADAPTATION
Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland
10/10/2018 - 11/10/2018
Production Details
In their New Zealand premiere, L.A. Contemporary Dance Company presents ADAPTATION, a visceral evening of thought-provoking and cutting-edge contemporary dance featuring new work by one of LA’s leading dance companies.
Performed by this captivatingly virtuosic company, the four works in ADAPTATION reflect the diversity and energy of a city on the edge of the Pacific; a unique destination where the West Coast meets the world.
Offering moments of beauty, chaos, humour, and tenderness, LACDC brings to our shores a taste of new perspectives on the human condition. A must-see show – get your tickets now before this spectacular show sells out.
Q&A // There will be a post-show artist talk following the opening night performance facilitated by Tempo’s Artistic Director Carrie Rae Cunningham.
WORKSHOP // Can’t get enough of LA Contemporary Dance? Don’t miss the chance to be taught by members of one of LA’s leading dance companies. For more details visit Tempo’s website
PLEASE NOTE // contains haze
LACDC is a… wonderful example of LA dance, which prides itself on technically skilled performers who flavor their artistry with an LA savvy
– LA Dance Review
LACDC is one of the ’25 Things We Love About Los Angeles’….
– Dance Spirit Magazine
Presented as part of Tempo Dance Festival 2018
Wednesday Oct 10 2018 &Thursday Oct 11 2018 at 8.30pm
Ticket price:$19.95 – $54.95 (booking fees may apply)
8.30pm
Dance , Contemporary dance ,
70 mins
Incidence and cohesion
In Adaptation, presented by L.A Contemporary Dance Company, I find myself examining the cultural circumstance of contemporary dance. Itinerant dancers display familiar sequences of movements and groupings that are reminiscent of the lineage of contemporary dance and dancers in New Zealand. Beyond themes eloquently expressed in the programme, the group finds incidence and cohesion much more subtly by their collaboration rather than within the gentle chaos choreographed within each dance.
Stimulaze, danced by Drea Sobke, Tiffany Sweat, JM Rodriguez and Ryan Ruiz is a set of almost black comedic solos, duets, group based sequences, passing bodies and uncertain motives, all moving liquidly across the stage. The vocabulary has many moments of 3-dimensional spatial awareness and limbs placed with exquisite care. This work’s momentum shifts with the mix of music – classical composers, arias and Californian, Robert Amjarv’s filmic style.
Of the four works in the New Zealand premiere of Adaptation, the second shines – an absorbing duet choreographed by Genevieve Carson and danced by Tess Hewlett and Lenin Fernandez. The pairs’ moves are thoughtful, elegantly presenting recognisable hues of a relationship, though they are neither provocative nor conciliatory. FAM is set to another sensitive original score by Amjarv.
Sporty is more than that. While programme notes decide the alteration – of Western youth and generations, this work seems specifically oriented to the diverse body as in shape and movement style. Choreographed by Micaela Taylor, more at home in theatrical hip hop fused into contemporary dance, Sporty is oddly graceful and strangely reliant on the older dialectics of ballet dance.
The final work had me gasping. A generation of ‘Me Too’ has influenced the dancing scene. EBBA flaunts the female body clad in skimpy velvet leotards verging on sexy underwear. Gendered themes are coupled with Carson’s solo breakout panache. Costuming and flying hair are cleverly juxtaposed by some great ensemble dancing, strength in female understanding.
Adaptation does not take much acclimatisation. The audience seem very much at home. The dancers seem very much at ease. The body of work presented this evening, nicely visceral and pleasurably watchable, really needs no revision, maybe just some more of the more recent edition.
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