Supernature | Adelaide Festival 2021 review

In Supernature we careen into the distant future, where humanity has either evolved, or perhaps regressed.

Supernature by Australian Dance Theatre. Picture: Sam Roberts Photography,

Supernature

Dance / AUS

FESTIVAL

Her Majesty’s Theatre

Until March 14

Garry Stewart’s Supernature brings to a conclusion a trilogy that began five years ago with The Beginning of Nature and continued in 2019 with South.

The overarching theme of the pieces is the relationship of humanity to the natural world, for good and for bad.

The Beginning of Nature looked at evolution and ancient culture, with leggy creatures and sprouting seeds.

South went directly to the seemingly irresistible impulse to explore and inquire, with particular reference to the trials of Mawson and the antarctic explorers – a quest, it must be remembered, where nature triumphed in an often dispassionate way.

Dancers Ally Clarke, James Vu Anh Pham and Darci O’Rourke in Supernature by Australian Dance Theatre, part of the 2021 Adelaide Festival. Picture: Matt Turner.

In Supernature, we careen into the distant future, where humanity has either evolved, or perhaps regressed, into the robots of Devolution (2006) or the alternate dimensions of Multiverse (2014). Indeed, the entire 75-minute piece is other-worldly.

The stage is initially dominated by a huge, pulsing life form, implicitly releasing its spores into the atmosphere, and suspended pupae. Around the life form, androgynous figures move in gentle sympathy. Perhaps they are its offspring.

And so, in this intensely dramatic fashion, the piece proceeds. There are many long, measured sequences and others where there is tremendous energy, whether violence or simply unfiltered, instinctive action.

The atmospheric score from Brendan Woithe and lighting by Damien Cooper are in complete synch with the work.

Supernature by Australian Dance Theatre. Picture: Sam Roberts Photography,

There are many hugely resonant moments, like a sensual coupling on a lily pad (Zoe Wozniak and Mason Kelly), and a naked figure (James Vu Anh Pham, a brilliant dancer from Akram Khan Company) atop a huge seed, tearing the flesh away to expose its mysterious, alien insides.

There are also bionic extensions and exoskeletal frames, technology that is already with us, if not in such extreme form.

The final sequence, where three naked dancers (Ally Clark, Darci O’Rourke, Chris Mills) are drenched with the blood-red spawn of vast seed pods, is unforgettable.

That said, Supernature drags at times. There are passages where the imagery, let alone the intent, defies comprehension, and patience is tested. The work is arguably yet to find its final form.