whY Chromozone
SHOWCASING A SPECTRUM OF MASCULINITY
whY Chromozone
Featuring new works by the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Loughlan Prior, gold medal hip-hop champs IDCO, South Auckland performance collective COVEN and many more surprises at Q Theatre, Rangatira, Auckland, 7 & 8 Oct 2017, 70 mins.
Reviewed by Sue Cheesman, 8 Oct 2017
whY Chromozone is crammed full of entertainment, variety and powerful performances by all throughout the thirteen mainly solo works.
The night does as suggested in the programme showcase the spectrum of masculinity in all its many forms, from traditional to more experimental, opening up the questioning of identity and gender. At intermittent intervals throughout the show, film clips snapshot the performers'/choreographers' viewpoints about what masculinity means to them. The change of name from Y to whY is a provocation from artistic director of Tempo Carrie Rae Cunningham.
The many solos capture contrasting subject matter, style and movement vocabulary.
Not, a solo work by Oliver Carruthers, begins the performance in a curious way, seeing him being carried onto the stage tangled up in a knot-like shape. From this position he opens out and dances in a seamless liquid motion as the movement traces through his body only to be recaptured and returned to the knot shape at the end.
Another contemporary solo Me, Myself but Why by Stephan Hidalgo is a very clever and witty piece in conversation with his other self on screen. The result is a hilarious and touching banter between the two spliced with odd dance move or two.
Enough choreographed by Val Smith sees us witness two very hairy creatures, one in white and black and the other in vivid red, process across the diagonal, one leading the other, dropping connection and levels and eventually rolling slowly off stage.
In the range of solo works the following you might associate with the circus more than dance, however there is a considerable blurring of boundaries in relation to categorizing these days. Cyr Wheel performed by Joe Carvalho is mesmerising to watch as the wheel spins faster and Joe balances in different ways – one hand one leg, two hands on the rim increasing the difficulty all the time. Captivated by the whirl of motion you can hear the audience gasp as he is spinning inside the giant hoop which is almost parallel to the ground.
Waacking was certainly central to the solo Liberate-He, performed and choreographed by Earl De Castro. Dressed only in jeans and killer back stiletto-heeled ankle boots, the performer strutted his often circular movement vocabulary directly at us embodying the music as he performs. A stunning finish sees the backdrop change to white with his movement in stark relief, fore-grounded.
In sharp contrast, the youngest performer, fourteen-year-old Dane Head, dances a traditional ballet solo well, with all the expected male turns and leaps crammed into a very short time.
A welcome contrast comes in the form of Outcast, choreographed by Fenjay Sapon and danced superbly by Charlie Thomas, Raisedinland Iose, Jhawan Raika-Morgan and Oliver Carruthers from Unitec. This piece is well structured and played with a number of deferring relationships between the four men – one versus three, two versus two, all together. There is a wide range of vocabulary used to good effect and of particular note are the rhythmic section and the lifts and subsequent resolutions.
The oldest performer. Sir Jon Trimmer, now 78, performs Lark with William Fitzerald. This delightful work full of humour and expertly performed duet depicts the camaraderie between the two men, one older and one younger. This is an endearing piece, skillfully crafted by choreographer Loughlan Prior with gestural arm motifs cleverly manipulated throughout the piece set sitting in chairs. A satisfying ending sees the men return to sitting in their respective chairs with a simple outstretched single leg gesture.
Blue Bird, performed and choreographed by Christopher Olwage, is a burlesque solo. Christopher's glamorous appearance is replete with luscious feather wings and a giant tail as well as wearing a sparkly blue sequenced midriff. He flutters and twirls around the stage on point and concludes almost naked in the dying swan pose.
Nine young performers from IDCO Next Generation perform with all the hallmarks and swagger of this street dance style, making their mentors proud. There is a youthful exuberance about this crew as they take up the challenge to perform with precision, strong formations and split-second timing coupled well with individual showmanship. IDCO Next Generation finish whY Chromzone and their piece by throwing their white peaked caps in the air with gusto.
All performers return to the stage for the final bow, having collectively shared their passion, skill, agility, strength, humour and strong physicality as well as providing a spectrum of masculinity for us to ponder. I did notice that the hairy creatures did not reveal their gender in the bow.
