AFFIX by Indefinite Dance Company

Post

Subscribe

Posted 2019-06-04 by Felicity ⇒ follow

Sun 02 Jun 2019

Motivation to brave bone-chilling wind on a Sunday night in North Melbourne takes something pretty special. It was clear from the atmosphere brimming around Meat Market Stables that this is what Affix was set to be. This encore performance had enticed a diverse audience. They milled animatedly behind a stadium-style ladder of seats.

A VIP ticketholder could be seated first, in a prime viewing position. With how cold this basically outside space huffed, there was sheen in being able to huddle down sooner. As everyone settled there was a braced expectation. A squiggly electric pink pattern skittered along the vast stage floor. It was shrouded in coloured mist that the audience's breath in the night air complimented. Half my mind queried how I was ever to survive the temperature. Within a few seconds of the performance commencement, this ceased to be a mental question. The stage rippled with a tension that snaked under your skin. senses simmered and cold became fire that lit up the faces of the audience, tingling through their veins. Breath was caught and held in transfixed delight.'Expression with intrigue and power' is detailed on Indefinite Dance Company's website as a key intention. Their current artwork Affix has both of these qualities in multitude.

The word affix contains the tension of two opposing concepts. The idea of glueing one thing to another and that of fixing something that is broken. This heart-rending production was taught with cords of connection being constantly torn apart or discarded and fused back together.

The dancers cut an intimidating line all in black. Their suited costume gave the impression of CBD Melbourne. This immediately communicated the idea of connection and disconnection. The staging had the feeling of the 1920's film Metropolis. The back wall caught and held the dance of shadows

It is a narrow line between humanity and the mechanical. The performance held this exploration as the dancer's movement flowed between harsh and gentle. Sadness wrenched from deep within the performers, contorting their faces. There was a maturity and intensity far beyond their years. The moisture in the night air felt like held tears.

The contemporary music used for this production had a lilting and haunting tone. At many points, the dancer's body's fused into instruments. The lyrics tore through their faces. Every dancer was alight with commitment and passionate expression. The themes of the songs all reflected rejection and attachment.

There was desperation, power and desolation as the flexible chord of performers both broke apart and rebuilt. The energy translated as onlookers breathing started and stopped with the music. A beat in the sound spoke of the heart and made more palpable the stress on emotional and physical reserve. This was central to the message of how integral every one of us is to each other's ability to live.

Indefinite Dance Company has been established as an opportunity for dancers to grow their emotional and physical skill. One of their aims - to make you feel and think differently - was effectively achieved with Affix. This production gained immense impact from the dancer's unison focus. They were so connected in how deeply they felt and expressed the music that when the chords between them broke, it cut all that much deeper. It seemed to reference the idea of bullying and the cold isolation of modern society, where acceptance is a currency and linked with survival.

The lights accentuated another ballet of shadows. These danced the performances meaning off into the wall. As fragments of bodies were expanded and shrunk in size, the psychology of the music created a crescendo of emotion within every onlookers being. The thunderous applause after every stage gave clear validation to how much everyone was moved by the experience.

Sunday was a one night only return, recapping a successful season. It showcased the talent of both choreographer and dancers. There is no better spent evening than that immersed in the imagination of dance. The inspiration for this company's creativity is spirit lifting. I strongly recommend keeping an eye on their website for upcoming projects as this performance had refinement, grace and grit in multitudes.

Indefinite Dance Company is linked with the Space Dance School in Prahran, which has a strong reputation for exceptional teachers. Seeing this performance could inspire an audience member to go back to ballet class or put 'see more ballet performances' on their must-do bucket list. If already a young dancer, the opportunities Indefinite Dance Company offer to develop emotional and physical maturity of expression are well attested to.

The Meat Market Stables complemented and accentuated the emotion, revealing how versatile this heritage art space is for diverse types of artistic expression.