Dance show on the green at South Bank is a must
With the CityCats going past and the backdrop of the Goodwill Bridge and the city skyline Australasian Dance Collective’s outdoor performance Arc is a refreshing treat and you have one last show late this afternoon if you want to enjoy this free Brisbane Festival offering
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It’s what this year’s Brisbane Festival is all about - free shows in the great outdoors.
Arc, by acclaimed Brisbane company Australasian Dance Collective’s (ADC) Brisbane Festival offering is a joyous celebration of life.
Most of Brisbane Festival is free this year and there are plenty of events outside including Street Serenades which is taking performers to locations all over the city for pop-up shows.
Arc is performed at South bank’s River Quay Green with one show yesterday and one more today at 5pm.
Take a blanket and a snack and find yourself a seat in that verdant amphitheatre and enjoy the performance in the elements with a stunning setting.
Created by ADC’s artistic director Amy Hollingsworth this 30 minute dance epic features 38 dancers including the company’s 30 strong Youth Ensemble and it’s wonderful to see the young dancers cutting loose after months of restrictions due to COVID-19.
It’s a triumphant work of scale that captures the odyssey of the human spirit and the dancers are sometimes like a school of fish intuitively swimming in the same direction or darting here and there as one body.
The show invites audiences to celebrate being human together, relishing in the joy of community and shared experience.
It’s performed to a killer soundtrack, a score by award-winning composer Wil Hughes and it’s moody and urgent and profound and all sorts of other things all at once.
As the dancers moved and swayed passers by stopped and by the end there was quite a crowd, a socially distanced crowd. Only a certain amount are allowed into the roped off area to watch but there’s plenty of room outside that area of you just want to stand and gawk while passing. When we were there a few people were walking their dogs and they stopped to watch too so there was an occasional yap. I liked that.
It’s that sort of informality that I find fun at this year’s Brisbane Festival and I love the outdoor setting at the River Quay Green with castles of clouds billowing above us, pedestrians streaming across the goodwill bridge and the life of the river in front.
It’s a beautiful experience and you have one last shot at it this afternoon at 5pm and if you get there early enough you will get a seat on the grassy verge but even if that area is full you can still rubberneck from beyond. Lovely! Enjoy.
brisbanefestival.com.au