Review: See Hear Feel OVERTURE

Form Dance Projects bring Tegan Jeffrey-Rushton’s award-winning OVERTURE into the Eternity Theatre. This remarkable immersive dance-theatre work places the Australian dance scene squarely on the global stage.

OVERTURE takes the audience on a journey through the mechanics of pre-performance ritual — the preparation, the backstage relationships, the emotional turbulence, and the charged silence of those moments before the curtain rises.

This work makes ingenious use of the entire theatre space. We begin with the quiet rituals of the barman and backstage crew, then follow a performer through the wings and into the dressing rooms for makeup and contemplative silences. From there, we are led onto the main stage to witness cast romances, director’s angst, and finally the arrival of “the audience” — complete with expectations, entitlements, eagerness, and eccentricities. The piece culminates in the tense anticipation of that final pre-curtain breath.

Jeffrey-Rushton’s vision and choreography shine in exploring the performer’s journey toward “treading the boards” before a demanding audience. With inventive, expressive movement, she crafts an evening of dance-theatre that is as engaging as it is emotionally charged.

Her dancers — Holly Finch, Yukino McHugh, Robert McLean, and Neale Whittaker — are superb, combining agility with the ability to weave traditional and cutting-edge movements into deeply expressive performance.

Following them through the theatre’s many spaces gives us the rare joy of intimacy: engaging with their beautiful feats of movement and emotive performances becomes one of the night’s greatest highlights.

The music by Love Supreme forms an exquisite soundscape, at times reminiscent of Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, and HAL. This heart-grasping sonic world is expertly woven into the performance, enveloping us in an enthralling event.

OVERTURE exemplifies how dance, unlike a scripted production, is not always literal, yet its intent is vividly conveyed through the dancers' movements, leaving a profound impact. A remarkable feat

All the elements of this production cohere beautifully — the choreography, the acting, the imagery. Being on stage creates striking vantage points for lighting and perspective, amplifying the immersive quality. And watching “the audience” enact their routine on stage is an uncanny thrill: a mirror, a provocation, an experience not to be missed.

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