Matrix

If a matrix is something ‘from which another originates’ then this absolutely defines the creative collaboration between Queensland-based Expressions Dance Company (EDC) and Beijing’s LDTX dance companies. This box-fresh creation is part of a unique five-year dance exchange programme between Australia and China, and the second joint creation of EDC and LDTX. Over an immersive period of five weeks in August and September this year, choreographers Ma Bo and Stephanie Lake created two distinct pieces, linked by themes of our movement through the lure of life, performed by 20 dancers from different Australasian backgrounds, bringing their different traditions and styles together. The collision is Matrix.

This is clear in Auto Cannibal – the first piece, by Stephanie Lake – where contrasting sharp and flowing movements use each dancer as a grain of sand in a sweeping, pulsating evolution, a piece in the machinery of modern life, or a vibrant pixel, moving to jarring electro beats supplied by Robin Fox. The culminating image is a rave party, bodies connecting, enlivened in unison. The piece is described by the choreographer as ‘an ode to re-using, re-purposing, re-invigorating’ and she consciously includes previously used dance movements in this mix.

Then MA Bo’s Encircling Voyage, takes us on a cinematic journey of life. Beginning at the end – in a kind of care home dreamscape, we travel backwards to birth, accompanied by evocative music by David Darling. What links the pieces is the melding of cultural traditions, an empathy and palpable creative respect. There are interesting overlapping themes too. InAuto Cannibal, the characters are reinventing themselves in a Western, ultra modern way. The Encircling Voyage of the second piece touches on Eastern beliefs in reincarnation – not just individuals but family members and soul-mates being reborn and reconnecting – a reinvention of an altogether different sort.

The costumes and lighting by Xing Yameng and Joy Chen help to leave a strong visual impression. With 20 dancers on stage, the movement possibilities are endless. And, as a collaborative piece, it is impossible to single out any one of the six Australian or 14 Chinese dancers. They blend seamlessly as an athletic and energetic group.  

While certainly highlighting the versatile range of movements the dancers are capable of, sometimes the mood from the stage was a little distant and cold, despite the circle of life theme. But it’s funny how stage magic can work from the simplest of techniques and the stage dust and lighting, bringing the 20 dancers together for the close was a moving expression of ‘dust to dust’ or a re-meeting of souls – a strong collective consciousness that is captivating, no matter what culture you come from. The opportunity to see such diversity in cultural and modern styles does not come along often. This is a chance to simply enjoy the music and movement as it washes over you, or to focus on piecing the pixels together – the choice is yours. EDC defines their remit as taking risks to exhilarate the soul. And LDTX is an acronym for Lei Dong Tian Xian – ‘thunder rumbles under the universe’. These are two company philosophies that are made to mix. Let’s hope the collaboration continues. Dance and movement are a great universal language. And like most cultural collaborations, the learning and the benefits will be felt long into the future for both participants and audiences alike.

Beth Keehn

Images: A dramatic scene from MA Bo's work Encircling Voyage & a scene from Stephanie Lake's work Auto Cannibal in Matrix. Photographer: YIN Peng.