Flying 34 hours door to door, you hope to have a fantastic time when you arrive! Fortunately, the 2008 Melbourne International Arts Festival was well worth the trip. Kristy Edmunds, an American from Oregon, curated her 4th and final festival. It was diverse in scope but high in artistic quality whether it was a local visual artist or Patti Smith. And, let me just say this up front and get it out of the way – PATTI SMITH rocks!!!!! Ok, now on to the rest of the offerings that I was able to see over 10 days (the entire festival runs for about 17 days).
Israel’s Bat-sheva Dance Company sold out five performances of two different programmes (Max and Three) at the Arts Centre’s State Theatre (more than 2,000 seats in the hall). The work, as always, was powerful and the ensemble of dancers almost unbelievable in their technical and performance abilities.
Australian Lucy Guerin, whose Structure & Sadness will be presented during DDF 2009, presented Corridor, her latest work. With the audience seated in two long single rows, the performers talked on their mobile phones and followed each other’s leads in an intriguing investigation of issues of communication and isolation. Wendy Houstoun, from London, presented two works – Desert Island Dances and Happy Hour; both represent her tour de force melding of text and movement. Happy Hour, which appeared during the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2000, will be returning to the bar at Project during DDF 2009! Deborah Hay’s latest work, If I Sing to You, was so smart and funny and performed by an incredible cast that included Michelle Boule, Jeanine Durning, Catherine Legrand, Juliette Mapp, Chrysa Parkinson and Amelia Reeber. It was great to see that a couple of works presented during the 2008 Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF) had made their way to Melbourne. Tim Crouch’s England and Tim Etchells’ That Night Follows Day were well received on both sides of the planet. Given the opportunity to see work in various genres, I felt privileged to attend a performance by the Philip Glass Ensemble (Book of Longing, inspired by the poetry and images of Leonard Cohen) and Gloria Deluxe, Cynthia Nixon’s eclectic band. Other Australian work I was fortunate to see included the premieres of Back to Back Theatre’s Food Court (this company’s Small Metal Objects was a highlight of DTF 2007 and received a New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award for its performances in New York as part of the Under the Radar Festival), Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard and Jenny Kemp’s Kitten.Several Melbourne choreographers presented work informally. Shelley Lasica and Phillip Adams showed works in progress at Lucy Guerin’s studio while Luke George, Jo Lloyd, Olivia Millard and Phoebe Robinson performed finished and/or in-progress pieces at Melbourne’s Dancehouse. (David Tyndall, a former dancer who directs the Dancehouse, has relatives in Baldoyle. He visited Dublin’s DanceHouse in September.) Again, I found myself jealous of the many venues for dance and theatre that other cities seem to possess. The Arts Centre has five theatres. Just up the road, the C.U.B. Malthouse has three theatres, and a renovated Meat Market features several options for flexible spaces on the north side of the Yarra River. Of course, the population of Melbourne is nearly 4 million but it is clearly a populace that is very enthusiastic about the arts in general and the Melbourne Festival in particular.
Weather-wise, there were two very warm days but it was primarily a lovely spring season in Melbourne. If you go, don’t miss the amazing Donovan’s Restaurant on the beach in St. Kilda, a short tram ride from the centre of Melbourne! Well worth the flight time!
