Review: Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On NEIGHBOURS
NEIGHBOURS
By: Jade Kops Jan. 14, 2023
Thursday 12th January 2023, 6pm Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House.
NEIGHBOURS is a contemporary dance work that exhibits the extraordinary movements of Rauf "RubberLegz" Yasit and Brigel Gjoka.
The two dancers met when working on William Forsythe's award winning A Quiet Evening of Dance in 2018.
The two come from separate backgrounds of dance and life. This works explores their dance interpretation as individuals and when two souls relate.
The work opens in silence as Gjoka does intricate hand movements. The silence continues as Yasit enters the stage and they dance in their own styles next to each other. It was a question to watch both or to decide which one to concentrate on.
As neighbours they move next to and beside each other with an awareness of the other that is in an ebb and flow.
The silence allows us to engage in the movements and the astounding physical contortions.
The moves are playful yet earnest, Yasit with a grounded emphasis and Gjoka with a more light weight accent.
Their choreography differs from each other and both dancers are a joy to watch as they effortlessly put their bodies through glorious, intricate and astounding moves.
The evening is in chapters, the next with the superb music by composer Rusan Filiztek.
We watch a combination of solo scenes, duets and the two individually on stage together.
Gjoka explores a sequence covered in a ghost like cloth that is also reminiscent of a veil. His jacket explodes with plumes of dust.
The two perform with red scarfs. Again two individuals on stage, then in unison and then as a pair that interact with each other.
Each chapters displays their extraordinary dance techniques. Yasit's break dance background is evident in the floor work he explores.
The lighting was dim (unlike the attached images). It was elegant and dramatic yet it would be beneficial to see more of the dancer's work. At one point they were in silhouette which creates wonderful imagery but at the expense of seeing their choreography.
The work is a beautiful display of their talents as choreographer and dancers. Each section was a little laboured and a dramaturg could bring the work to a more profound experience.
Having said that many of the audience members had a simpatico with the work's sensibilities.
See this work for the astounding physical work of Yasit and Gjoka.
Images Brian Ca
Thursday 12th January to Sunday 15th January
"Neighbours is a raw, powerful collaboration by two extraordinary artists each from a distinct movement and cultural heritage."
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