Dance of the earth.

Earthdancer.

The 2003 evening was out of the best dance events, to have such an amazing gathering of companies to celebrate the memory of one person, it was amazing to be a part of it all. So we were all looking forward to Earthdancer 2005. That week we were rehearsing and/or performing three different works but everything went really well.

Besides Bangarra the program also included Kate Champion's Force Majeure (Already Elsewhere), Sydney Dance Company performing excerpts of a work by Narelle Benjamin, Legs On The Wall put in a bit, as did The Australian Ballet, and Christine Anu sang a few songs. But probably the stand-out work (besides Bangarra, of course) was presented by the 2003 Russell Page Fellow Antony Hamilton. Nice to see the money well spent ;-). Joined by a couple of his mates, he combined contemporary dance with breakdancing and grafitti. Clever, especially the scene where grafitti *magically* appeared on two large suspended panels (watching it from side-stage, it was quite obvious how it was done...), and energetic; though the dancers were at risk of asphyxiating from the fumes. The fellowship was won by Daniel Daw, a dancer with multiple sclerosis, who dances with Restless Dance Company. By the time the winner was announced my mind was well in performance mode but his story and speech was deservedly applauded.

As in 2003, Bangarra were the last company to perform, closing with my version of the last solo that Russell had performed. I was surprisingly not too stressed by it leading up to the performance, with all the warming-up and painting up there simply wasn't enough time to stress, but it was on my mind all day so by the end I was pretty happy just to get through it (sore back, though...). In one respect, a dance exists beyond individuals, that it's a sequence of movement and a collection of ideas and emotions that have to be executed and, having done it so many times over the last couple of years, this performance was no different than any other. But, I guess on this one night, the history of it weighs heavier than usual.

Sometimes it only dance but every now and again it can mean so much more.

Tags: Dance, Earthdancer, Bangarra, Russell Page.