High spirits and emotions

By BERNADETTE RAE

For nearly three decades the creative juice of Graeme Murphy has inspired the Sydney Dance Company. Now firmly established in middle age, and with no sign of developing choreographic flab, he is still considered the "it boy" of Australian contemporary dance.

His latest work, Ellipse, will be a dance highlight of the Auckland Festival.

Murphy and his muse and associate director, Janet Vernon, are away on sabbatical so aActing artistic director Brett Morgan will bring the SDC and Ellipse to Auckland for its September 24 opening.

"I think he is a genius," says the otherwise mild-mannered Morgan of his chief.

Auckland last saw the Sydney Dance Company in 2000, with Salome and a memorable, astoundingly high-flying take on the Dance of the Seven Veils among other divertissements and delights. Before that, we were blessed with Free Radicals in 1998, Beauty and the Beast in 1997 and Berlin in 1996.

The company is now "fully global", says Morgan, and spends as much time offshore as it does touring nationally.

Somehow Auckland just slipped, temporarily, off the itinerary. So we missed Tivoli, a celebration of Australia's historical flirtation with vaudeville, made in association with the Australian Ballet in 2001, and Underland, choreographed by New York star Stephen Petronio last year to music by Nick Cave, while Murphy was again on sabbatical leave and creating Ellipse.

On top of his work with SDC Murphy has also made Mythologia, a Greek-inspired work for the 2000 Olympics, and a new version of Swan Lake for the Australian Ballet this year.

Like all Murphy's works, Ellipse is inspired in the first instance by the music - this time from hot new Australian composer Matthew Hindson.

Murphy has described Hindson's work as "wildly eclectic ... huge and symphonic ... beautiful, lush ... and then into club music."

Ellipse promises energy, lyricism, drama and comedy to match. It is a non-narrative work, an emotional response to the music which sold out wherever it went in Australia.

It starts nice and slow, says Morgan, with a dance performed by Simon Turner, Katherine Griffiths and Wakako Asara. All have been in the company for a decade and set the evening with their chemistry. Technologic 2, "a bit of a romp" for four high-energy dancers, follows. Chrissietina's Magic Fantasy, to a violin duet, features Tracey Carrodus, who danced the role of Salome in Auckland, and Katie Ripley, ex-soloist at the Australian Ballet and a new addition to Sydney Dance Company ranks. Lament is a full orchestral piece with cello, danced by the "boys' section": a slow movement that culminates in a beautiful and romantic duet, starring Xue Jun Wang, another of the company's longest-serving artists, and Cassandra Grove, one of its newest, says Morgan.

"That's all about a very young and naive girl with a strong person who leads her. It's beautiful."

Metallica could be retitled "keystone cowboys", he says, while Westaway features three couples in a romantic whirl.

The finale is Speed, performed by the whole company with magnificent Josef Brown as its pivot point.

"Ellipse might superficially lack what Murphy calls the 'cushion of a narrative'," wrote Deborah Jones in the Australian, reviewing Ellipse in May last year. "It is a group of seven plotless and disconnected dances. But it nevertheless overflows with emotion, drama, a smidgen of sentimentality and sometimes questionable high spirits. Above all, it expresses a deep commitment to matters human and the connectedness of things."

Costumes are by designer Akira Isogawa, set by Gerard Manion, and lighting is by Damien Cooper.

Performance

* What: Ellipse, Sydney Dance Company

* Where & when: The Civic, Sept 24-27, 7.30pm; Sept 27 matinee 3.30pm

Win tickets

We have three double tickets to give away for the fabulous opening night at the Civic Theatre of the Sydney Dance Company's production of Ellipse. As well as winning the opportunity to enjoy the ensemble's superb dancing, the winners are invited to attend the function in the Civic's Theatre Bar after the show.

To enter, write your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to: Ellipse Giveaway, The Guide, NZ Herald, PO Box 3290, Auckland.

Entries close Friday, winners notified Monday.

Herald Feature: Auckland Festival AK03

Auckland Festival website