Sydney Dance Company presents Interplay

There are plenty of things I enjoy in life without really understanding them. Roller coasters, ice hockey, souffle, lightsabres and Raymond Chandler novels to name a few. These are the type of things that simply give me joy on an emotional if not intellectual level.

Add to this list contemporary dance. I sure as hell don’t know what all the movements symbolise, but I sure know it looks pretty. And something that looks very good indeed is Sydney Dance Company’s Interplay, the three-part dance epic commemorating the 45th anniversary of the company that’s pirouetting its way down the East Coast.

Presented in three pieces created by different choreographers, Interplay is sort of like a dance degustation. The opening act 2 in D Minor, by SDC’s Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, sees the company dancers draped in black and writhing to a moody Bach violin partita, performed live on stage by Veronique Serret of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Trent Reznor would approve.

A brief intermission then Interplay jumps into overdrive with Raw Models by Italian choreographer Jacopo Godani. It’s a frantic, hyper-energetic piece that sees the dancers twisting and writhing at full speed under blindingly fast strobe light effects. It’s the sort of thing you wish your next gym class was more like.

Interplay ends with L’Chaim (Yiddish for “to life”), former Chunky Move choreographer Gideon Obarzanek’s ambitious work featuring the entire company. Set like a school dance, an anonymous voice from the audience asks the dancers questions such as “Who is the oldest” and “What are you going to do next?” While it’s interesting to hear the dancers respond I felt questions fractured the dance and took something away from the spectacle. Sometimes dancers are better seen and not heard.

Still, what do I know? All I know is that Interplay looks very, very good. And you’ve only got three days left to see it.

Interplay is playing at the Southbank Theatre, The Sumner until 10 May.
To book tickets visit mtc.com.au.