Recap: NIGHTDANCE

The biennial Dance Massive was back with their Arts House program in March, featuring 15 contemporary dance works created by Australian companies and choreographers. It is Australia’s biggest festival that places the ingenuity and innovation of the Australian dance scene on full display.

NIGHTDANCE by Melanie Lane merged the spaces of theatre and club culture, both of which exist primarily at night. Having premiered in August 2017 at the Arts House, the show is back for another round of Dance Massive.

Lane worked closely with local entertainers and performers from the nightclub environment, such as exotic dancers, burlesque performers, drag performers and club musicians, on this pulsating artwork. Incorporating sound, light, space and audience, the lines are blurred between entertainer and the entertained. The performance examines the potential for metamorphosis, self-expression and an exploration of identity while adhering to the aforementioned constructed elements of sound, light, space and audience.

The performance is accompanied by an original score from UK music producer Chris Clark of British indie record label Warp Records. Clark and Lane worked on previous projects including Tilted Fawn, Merge and Wonderwomen.

Lane, along with her co-creators, Gregory Lorenzutti and Lilian Steiner investigate the agency of the performers and the audience, begging the questions: “Are the performers there for your entertainment or their own enjoyment? Are you the audience a customer or a voyeur?”

We felt somewhere in between.

NIGHTDANCE
Dance Massive 2019
Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
dancemassive.com.au/program/nightdance

Image: Bryony Jackson