Reviewed by Kosta Jaric

At a time when the public is saturated with dance via music videos, TV and film, Garry Stewart and the Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) are asking us to take a step back and ask “what is dance?”

Encouraging his band of young choreographers and dancers to take this question and look at it from every angle Stewart has produced some outstanding pieces for the 2010 edition of Ignition, “But Is It Really Dance?” Put simply, this is fantastic. You couldn’t ask for more from a theme which encourages the choreographers to go beyond rhythmic movement and consider every act – whether as simple as walking and talking – a form of dance.

With six performances all glaringly different, it’s great to see such wide interpretation of the theme. Stewart himself highlights the absurdity of conceptualising a performance in ‘The Universe of No-Body’. ‘Scrap’ and ‘Be That As It May’ are also two highlights; the former uses violent and abrupt movement and sound to convey itself with bodies being literally flung across stage, whilst the latter (choreographed by and starring the talented Tara Soh and Kyle Page)  sees frenetic chaos intertwined with fluid and constant movement and emotion. There is partial nudity involved with one performance, but in a tasteful and restrictive manner.

For those that fear this is too conceptual, don’t. This is highly entertaining and a terrific way to bridge the dance you see everyday with the amazing ideas on movement that are being pushed in the industry. Proving we don’t need TV to showcase the amazing young talent we have in this country, if you don’t catch Ignition this year, book it in the diary for every year after now.

Kryztoff Rating    4K