Review: Objekt by Australian Dance Theatre
Although its full Adelaide season has been postponed until 2021, Australian Dance Theatre presented a one-off performance of artistic Garry Stewart’s work Objekt.
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“Live performance!” cried the Premier at this public showing – blessed relief – of Australian Dance Theatre artistic director Garry Stewart’s Objekt.
Created in 2016 for the Germany company Tanzmainz, Objekt had a brief season in Adelaide after its premiere, and was to be presented by ADT in the 2020 season.
Those plans are on hold to 2021, but having put the effort in to rehearsing the work, and 155 days since the company’s last public performance, it seemed only fair to give it an outing.
Stewart describes Objekt as a “poem about objects”. It’s certainly poetic in a visual way, and that is arguably its significance.
The black triangles that overlay the rich pink/purple costumes are in stark contrast to the enormous cube that dominates the set, even more so when the cube unfolds to create an angular performance space.
The dance, initially for half a dozen out of an eventual ensemble of 11, is classic Stewart, a blend of jerky, mechanical movements and intricate ensemble work. The anonymity of the dancers, all of whom are hooded and faceless, emphasises the material, rather than the personal, thrust of the work.
A rope emerges, serving as a kind of wall on which the dancers lean or balance, then they are pressed against the set, their costumes blending into the wall, as laser lines of an almost runic character are drawn on their bodies. This kind of precise positioning is another feature of Stewart’s best work.
As the hoods disappear, and the dancers become recognisably human, the work takes a darker turn – Stewart described this as a transition from object to agent.
Sharp, right-angled props become weights that burden, or even imprison, and the rope returns, now an object that binds, in a gripping quartet.
The props are later used in a fine section of creative tableaus. There is even an insectile, flailing dance. The final section, leading to the “construction” of a commanding human tower, is strongly driven by Stewart’s set design.
The score from long-time Stewart collaborator Brendan Woithe is arguably his best, ranging from an almost Wagnerian richness to spare, minimal pulses. Together they make Objekt an intriguing, engaging work of considerable impact.
Objekt
Australian Dance Theatre
Odeon Theatre
August 21, 2020