By Jennifer Beasley.
Bold and brilliant, Vista is an outstanding production whose seamlessly execution allows one story to duplicate and raises the bar on contemporary dance.
Amazing.
Australia’s foremost chorographer, Stephanie Lake, has me floored. Her company, the Stephanie Lake Company, has produced a perfect performance- Vista. This is the show that takes six dancers, Rachel Coulson, Tyrel Dulvarie, Marni Green, Hugo Poulet, Robert Tinning and Georgia Van Gils, and, via a conceit of monochromatic tones in the stunning costumes provided by Georgie Cleary of Alpha60, repeats the motifs with a killer second half that turns the original dance on its head. Utilising a colour rich palate for part two, the thumping music of long-time collaborators Robin Fox and controlled lightening by Bosco Shaw, brings a payoff for the audience that lifts the emotions and transports them into the astounding story that Lake weaves.
It is, to put it simply, a divine experience. Act I is a chaotic imagining of cyclic themes. To me the dancers portrayed elements of coercive control, the struggle to find humanity in a robotic society, and the alienation of autism and other forms of disconnection that lands deep into the audience. A single flash of red light at the end foreshadows the second act.
I found the scene where Van Gils stands alone at the rear, a single spotlight highlighting her vulnerability, as the other five dancers, their backs to the audience, run up and scare/attack her to be confronting. Expertly choreographed, this piece is designed to be unsettling. A heavy reminder of bullying, otherness and the desperate need to belong.
At eighty minutes long with a twenty-minute interval, I most definitely needed that break to recalibrate, such is the power of Act I. It is a breathless rollercoaster of depth and chaos that drags the audience into its realm.
With Act II, the backdrop changes. Now five panels of either scrunched paper or a rock wall, the magical touch of Shaw moves into strong colour lighting, with blues and reds searing through the muted day lights, and the pauses into back light to silhouette the dancers draws out other emotional elements that compliments the performance.
With a change up with dance style, but only a tweak, the dancers flow, their arabesques held longer, and the twitchy movements settle as they repeat some of the style of the first act. With an upbeat tempo from the fabulous Robin Fox, Lake boldly allows the dancers to transform a previously threatening scene into a fun and playful enactment. At times laughing and good-natured baiting their companions, the audience laughs at the pure joy exhibited in this pièce de résistance.
A clever visual reversal of the aforementioned threat scene is wonderful to behold. Van Gils, the undoubted star of the show, is now standing with her back to the audience, as the other five play run at her, a game of ‘touch/scare’.
At its core this performance asks the audience to partake in their own reality. How perception and emotional investment can be altered in an instant. It only takes a change of state.
The six incredible dancers put their all into this production, and it shows. Graceful, powerful and compelling, each and every one of them deserves the standing ovation. I couldn’t get out of my seat quick enough, and that’s rare for me.
This production is a must see. Excellent and moving, this is one performance that will stay with me for a long time.
Vista is playing at Malthouse Theatre until 1st August 2026.
