Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by nightmarish mutants, Chunky Move’s latest offering, Black Marrow, presented a frightening vision of the future and a confronting reminder of humanity’s ancient roots. At least its best moments did.
Questioning our troubled relationship with the planet, and our primal origins, Black Marrow opened with a visually stunning, if terrifying, depiction of the earth. Enveloped in darkness, with only Australian- Icelandic composer Ben Frost’s disturbing minimalist score for company, the barely-clad dancers moved as though they were half-human, half-monster – twisting, flexing and wrestling with each other as though some unnatural presence was attempting to burst from their skins. The imagery in this section was brilliant, a pulsing heart formed by the dancers’ bodies simply typical of the many powerful moments provided by choreographers Erna Ómarsdóttir and Damien Jalet in the opening.
From this point onwards, however, Black Marrow ran out of steam. In an attempt to inject some humour into the heavy subject matter, the commanding introduction was replaced by a comic monologue which seemed to dilute rather than liven up the theme. Abruptly awoken from our dystopian fantasy, we were instead invited to sniff petrol and relax, for after all, the end was nigh.
This pattern of juxtaposing the serious with the droll continued throughout, which was unfortunate as there were otherwise many exceptionally imaginative sections that could have carried the show on their own. These highlights presented us with an unstoppable human machine in which the dancers comprised the levers and hinges, heavy-metal inspired scenes in which striking hybrid designs from Alexander Mein visually illuminated our dependence on petrol, and poetic moments in which the dancers roll around and slip on a black liquid resembling oil, on the one hand desiring the substance and on the other, dragged down by it.
In essence, Black Marrow is a work of amazing talent and creativity, let down by a lack of lucid direction. Two parts drama and one part comedy, the latest from Chunky Move though at times brilliant, might have worked better as two different shows rather than one.
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Season: 21-24 October 2009, 8pm, the CUB Malthouse, Merlyn Theatre
Tickets: m-tix.com.au or 9685 5111
Images courtesy of Proud Mother Pictures
I cant believe that you even gave this piece of junk the time of day to review it.
I went to see some innovation Euro choreographer and all I got was back crap.
I have seen better hight school shows.
Give me a break
Tm
I saw this a couple of nights ago and agree it was disappointing that Chunky Move couldn’t make this more coherent. Some parts were stunning, but some parts jarred, not fitting with the overall character of the piece and lessened the impact of other segments. Certainly not like some high school piece, but unfortunate that an accomplished company couldn’t make this work better.
Actually I thought it was rather amazing; sure there were a few moments that made me slightly concerned.
However as a whole I found this piece marvellous, the sheer brilliance of the dancers. The opening was striking and chilling, the machine was nothing short of brilliant.
I found myself transported into a David Lynch film
Great to see a range of opinions expressed here!
Tim, I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy Black Marrow. I can also see why you found it disappointing. However, I would still encourage you to see other shows by Chunky Move in the future. Most of their work is quite different from this piece and the dancers themselves, I’m sure even you’ll agree, were marvellous.
James, well what can I say? I agree completely. I think the overall public response to this piece has been very mixed (like these comments).
CK, so glad you had a great time watching Black Marrow! I know of many other people who absolutely loved the show. I think one of the major problems was the amount of hype in the media. Expectations were very high, which led to a great amount of disappointment and dare I say, bewilderment among viewers. I hope you and your friends will continue to support Chunky Move – at the end of the day it must be said, they are a great company.
Cheers,
Grace