Posts tagged Dance

RAW Mother Africa @ Her Majesty’s until 15 Aug 5K

Mother Africa opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre Wednesday night to a full house with the crew just returning from a two week break after having performed at Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast for 4 months.  Adelaide is the second Australian stop for Mother Africa, performing until the 15 August, before moving on to New Zealand.

From the start to finish, what calls itself a circus is what I would rather label a journey of energy as it goes way beyond circus. So, from start to finish it is a two way performance between the artists and audience. The energy on stage is reflected by the energy of the crowd’s response.  It is a pleasure, a joy to be part of this electrifying experience. The energetic, enjoyable, entertaining and enthralling show takes us on a journey of music, traditional dance and powerful acrobatics with a mixture of mesmerizing colour of the traditional looking costumes.

The world touring show which promotes itself as 100% African, 100% Joy and 100% Party. I must say I 100% agree. It is a party of music, dance and acrobatics. And it is a joy to see the artists enjoying themselves while doing their performance and soaking up the audience’s joyful response. The 40 artists are 100% African, from many different countries of the second-largest continent such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and South Africa. Let me add 100% energy and 100% entertainment.

Thank you Mother Africa. Not often that I would give a full 5K, but this must see show deserves it. With ticket prices starting at $59.90 for adults there is no excuse to miss Mother Africa.

Kryztoff Rating  5K

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RAW: Pomona Road @ Space Theatre

This innovative production combines elements of contemporary dance, spoken word and visual projections to portray a family enduring tough times after surviving Ash Wednesday.

Adelaide choreographer Katrina Lazaroff (pictured below) has put together a truly touching show. This is actually the third installment of Pomona Road, finally uniting a family of five. They are established as warring siblings and loving parents through a varied soundtrack (voiceovers and songs) and choreography that connects with the average person. As the plot unfolds, unresolved tensions seem to rise to the surface, as do questions relating to child abuse and alcoholism.

Katrina Lazaroff

Katrina Lazaroff

Martial arts have also influenced this piece – and are particularly useful when expressing frustration, anger and violence.

Nic Mollison also should be applauded for creating realistic projections of the forest, the bush and the city. The main set piece constructed by Richard Seidel is unexpectedly versatile.

The 60 minute production appeals to more than the typical fan of dance as a genre – this emerging style of ‘documentary dance’ engages anyone with an appreciation for the arts.

Pomona Road is only running until 24th April 2010 at Space Theatre – see it while you still can!

>>> For more on the Arts around Adelaide, check out Kryztoff: Edition 12.

RAW: Shirley @ Arcade Lane

At first I found the show rather offensive. Then I realised it was MEANT to be offensive. Then I spent most of the performance pondering how I was meant to feel. There’s a powerful message in this performance about sex in popular culture and how some disgusting sexualised material goes unnoticed or unchallenged. Despite agreeing with the messages of the performance and understanding why these messages are important the delivery just seems needlessly over-the-top. Yes – I know it’s meant to be extreme, challenging and confronting, but it seemed to be confrontational and challenging at the expense of the choreography.

Kryztoff Rating: 1.5 K

>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latest Fringe Guidehttp://www.kryztoff.com/fringe

RAW: I Need Your Love

Contemporary dancers from The Melbourne Dance Theatre performed a lovely piece at the hot Fringe venue Arcade Lane. The dancers conveyed all things associated with love: loneliness, sadness, vulnerability, beauty, abuse, violence and passion.

The versatility and flexibility of the troupe of 9 ensures that these messages are resoundingly clear, even to the uninitiated. Also expect beautiful balance poses and some spectacular dives to some world music – not a single English word.

Lighting cues were occasionally slightly amiss. The audio was sometimes mingled with sounds from outside the Theatre and occasionally distorted. However, the dancers drew the focus away from these shortcomings rather successfully.

Only on until Sunday 28th February, the troupe from the Melbourne Dance Theatre are well worth checking out.

Kryztoff Rating: 3.5K

>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latest Fringe Guidehttp://www.kryztoff.com/fringe

RAW: Food For Thought @ The Birdcage

A trio of elegant acrobats grace the stage at The Birdcage. Starting with an a cappella version of Que Sera Sera, a housewife (albeit balancing on a trapeze) ices a number of cupcakes to share with her girlfriend (on another trapeze). The hungry butler arrives on stilts, to serve these cakes. From then on, a battle rages between the two mistresses and the butler over cupcakes, cabbage, and much much more.

The girls present half an hour of fantastic gymnastics, breathtaking feats of balance and fluid motions – save your applause to the end.

Definitely worth a walk to the Birdcage, on Victoria Drive, opposite the Torrens Parade Ground, aka The Big Top.

Kryztoff Rating: 3.5K

>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latrest Fringe Guidehttp://www.kryztoff.com/fringe