By Suzanne Tate
Triptych by Lewis Major was visually stunning, an amalgamation of the strength, elegance and control of the human body with a mesmerising lighting design that functioned as a fifth dancer on the stage. Triptych, choreographed by Lewis Major, who was also the artistic director, was made up of ‘Prologue’, ‘Unfolding’ and ‘Epilogue: Act 1 & 2’. The performance featured four dancers, Elsi Faulks, Felicity Chadwick, Tahlia Russell and Alexander Abbot, in various configurations.
While set and costumes were distinctly minimalist, a blank stage and costumes consisting primarily of black tank tops, trousers, bodysuits and briefs, with the epilogue featuring a change to brief, flesh-coloured, almost invisible garments, the overall effect was anything but visually minimal. The lighting and visual design by Fausto Brusamolino added incredible detail, depth and motion and, combined with the music composed by James Brown in ‘Prologue’ and ‘Unfolding’, and Dane Yates, after Debussy’s Clair de Lune, in the ‘Epilogue’, provided the perfect setting for the immaculate performance by the dancers. The setting in the Fairfax Studio at the Arts Centre was perfectly suited to this show. Ten rows of seats surrounded the round stage in a tight semicircle, reminiscent of an amphitheatre, immersing the audience in an intimate performance.
Whether the dancers were all on stage together, performing in pairs, or dancing alone, the mood was one of control and strength. Movements were elegant and organic, often barely in motion, at other times full of energy, but always with a feeling of control and restraint. Aside from changes in tempo and the number of dancers on stage, the choreographic style was quite consistent across the three sections. The distinct feel of each stage of the performance came primarily from the lighting and music. Like any strong piece of contemporary abstract art, Triptych is open to interpretation by the viewer. Described on Major’s website as a performance that “explores various poetic possibilities, universal rhythms, and cycles”, Triptych was mesmerising. Without telling a specific story, it encouraged the audience to experience poetry in motion and find their own meaning.
It is hard to explain how and why the lighting design had such a strong impact on a dance performance. The black stage was a canvas on which light was used to create both positive and negative space, define shapes on the stage, and create an illusion of the stage moving under their feet. Shapes made of light and shadow appeared as boxes to contain the figures, bridges to be walked along, or nets to entangle. They moved from extremes such as implying an underwater world, with beams of sunlight filtering through dark depths, to digital scans creating strobe effects, capturing flashes of frozen moments. The result felt innovative and inspiring, and contrasted perfectly with the beautiful choreography. The choreography also presented practices that felt unique and intriguing, like the mesmerising use of chalk in the epilogue. Covered from head to toe in white chalk, the dancer began with limited movement, streams of chalk flowing from her hands, shoulders, back and hair. As it pooled on the floor, her movements spread it across the stage, creating stark patterns on the black stage, and as she danced, clouds of chalk hung around her like mist, thrown from her hair and body. This was such a powerful moment to end the performance, mysterious, meditative and stunningly beautiful.
