SDS1 reviewed by Stephenie Cahalan

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Creator and performer: Ahilan Ratnamohan

Presented by Mobile States and Salamanca Arts Centre

at Moonah Arts Centre, September 17-19, 2015 

Watching soccer will never be the same. Until now I have viewed the game as a fast and spontaneous series of reactions to a ball, with opponents to dodge and goals to score.

But after seeing Ahilan Ratnamohan in SDS1, I will always wonder how much is attack and defence, and how much is choreographed play.  

Ratnamohan is a dancer with a background in professional soccer that he has crafted into his dance performance. The 55-minute piece was part-movement, part display of prowess that left the audience agape at the extreme physicality of the performance; showing just how small the gap between sport and dance is.

The exertion, skill and precision required by the player/performer to execute the perfect move, and most of all the stamina, is almost identical. And, done well, both players and performers enjoy the same roar of approval from the crowd.

The SDS1 soundtrack matched the pace and energy of the movement, articulating the mounting heartbeat and Ratnamohan’s gasping breathing which also became part of the soundscape of the piece. ‘Quarter time’, where Ratnamohan sucked back air and water, invited the audience to the sidelines of the game and to the intimate space of the player as he regrouped, taped up pains and strains and swiped away the litres of sweat pouring off his body. It was all there and it was really great insight into the very private physical world of a person who employs their body at an elite level and expects it to perform to the extreme.

A defining part of the success of this show was the engagement of Ratnamohan with the crowd. Unlike so much contemporary dance that is necessarily removed from the audience, bordering on introspection, this player/performer connected with every audience member – at times psyching us out like a challenging opponent, sometimes greeting the crowd like the victorious goal kicker soaking up adulation. 

The new Moonah Arts Centre is a great venue for this kind of performance piece; intimate but generous, with plenty of space for ‘the game’ to play out. The crowd was an assembly of curious adults and young soccer players, all incredibly impressed by the endurance and ball skills Ratnamohan showed off. My son and his mates counted the number of headers and juggles, breathing ‘64’ or ‘58’ in awe each time.

This show is original, utterly engaging and a really neat introduction to contemporary dance for a young audience who might otherwise find it a bit obscure and remote. I hope it comes back to Hobart and the word goes out on every junior soccer mailing list in the state so that  all those players and onlookers could get a look at look at soccer from a different angle.

Opal Vapour

Peacock Theatre

22 May 2013

By Lucy Wilson

Before it began with a hand held 'chandelier' of brass bells, all I knew about Opal Vapour was its evocative title and that it was some kind of Javanese dance piece. It was also the opening night of a Mobile States and Salamanca Arts Centre presentation, which I had no hesitation attending. I relished the thought of it, as they consistently tour diverse and explorative top and contemporary Australian work.

The core creators of this piece are Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, the dancer, Ria Soemardjo, the musician – who both have Australian/Javanese ancestry – and Paula Van Beek who did the lighting. It was minimal in set. It was short (50minutes). It was sublime. And it was at times quite ordinary.

But the sublime was sublime: in a physical, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual and artistic way. When the three elements of sound, dance and light came together and moved as one we witnessed something mesmeric. It had a quality to transport the audience to a sacred space, a primal and sensual cocoon, to a deeply pure and female embrace.

We saw a compelling interplay between the dancer moving on a large light box covered with sand and the projected image of her above on soft wavering blue. We heard a layering of delicate soft and deep pink sounds. Something was mirrored in us from the lightness and beauty of our once embryonic existence.

While the music sustained its entrancing allure throughout the piece, there were sections when the dance and lighting were more traditional in form, which seemed quite two-dimensional in contrast to the other heightened sensuality. That’s not to say there weren’t moments when familiar stylisation of Javanese dance was breath taking, like the theatrical detail of an exquisitely spot lit hand moving in curling and unfurling fingers.

While noting the contrast from the sublime to the not so sublime parts of the show, I whole-heartedly urge you to see this show as the experience is a gift. Last show is tonight (Friday 24 May) at 8pm.

Pin Drop - Created & Performed by Tamara Saulwick

Threat is compelling. Your heartbeat sharpens and your ears stand up like a dog’s, while something in your guts churn. Completely unexpected situations in life can do it. Film does it. Yet in theatre I’ve never experienced it quite so convincingly as in Pin Drop created and performed by Tamara Saulwick.

The sensation of threat is rarely put under the spotlight, as an isolated and specific focus. As the stories rolled out and wove between each other, I wondered what inspired and drove Tamara, consciously and unconsciously, to record interviews with people since 2008 about their experiences of threat and terror, and follow it through with the skill and commitment to make such a polished show.

I sat deep in my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen next, both in the unfolding of the stories being told, and in the way they were being told.

This is a solo show and the interviews become the performance: sometimes literally, sometimes being retold in character, sometimes both overlapping. It’s a beautiful mix.

Every element of the show was measured and mixed for the audience to be pricked by a threatening pin drop. The collaboration between Tamara and Composition Sound Designer Peter Knight wove a stunning aural landscape, and Harriet Oxley’s Costume Design was simple, stylish and suitable.

Tamara’s performance was anchored. She didn’t overdo it or under do it; she came from a point of strength.

I hope I don’t freak out when I’m next alone at home...

This is a Mobile States and Salamanca Arts Centre presentation. There are four shows offer, so go get a Season Pass if you still can.