Review: ADELAIDE FRINGE 2016: THE ISABETTA PROJECT Is Unique A Blend Of Ancient And Modern

Reviewed by Matthew John Plummer, Monday 7th of March 2016

The Isabetta Project, performed in the tunnels under Flinders Street at Adina Treasury Apartments in Adelaide, is a Mediæval/modern production performed in a promenade style, presented by director and choreographer, Jessie McKinley, with dancers, Madeline Edwards and Samuel Harnett-Welk.

As we enter the tunnels from the gardens in the centre of the hotel, it feels very much as though we travel back in time a little way, as the memories and history of the cosy, intimate space inside those tunnels permeated our senses and thoughts. Arranged closely together in a small room at the start of the tunnels, the audience at first has only the walls and low ceilings to take our attention as we wait for the dancers to emerge from the long hall in front of us.

And suddenly there the dancers are, with long limbs and elegant gestures displaying obvious classical training in effortless high extensions of the legs, flying close to low ceilings, and skilful floor work, as skin makes contact with old, damp concrete floors. The movement is inviting and personal and yet expressing distant emotions, feelings and thoughts connecting the two performers that are not yet spelled out to us, but will be made clearer soon. And then the dancers pause and we are invited to move to a small room further into the tunnels for the next chapter in this unfolding story of human relationships.

The work is Mediæval in as much as it draws from 14th Century work of Giovanni Boccaccio, and modern in that the performance is played out in a contemporary approach through symbolism and imagery relating to the connections between humans and the stories that are played between people, what we reveal and what we hide from each other. Intimacy, closeness, distance, separation, connection, indifference, concern, distress and various other human emotions and behaviours all are displayed at some point and, as the two performers move around each other in the small spaces under low ceilings, and right in front of the audience, close enough to reach out and touch.

What a perfect location for the performance to be staged, with the ancient feel of the old tunnels at the Adina, the new and fancy hotel above a world away from the story played out in front of us, that could be hundreds of years old. This production won Best Dance at the Fringe Weekly awards on the 3rd of March and is a beautiful and touching work. The Isabetta project is planned to be staged again in the future, so watch for the chance to see this work, performed by a small but dedicated team of talented local artists.

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