Bad Nature makes its highly anticipated world premiere in an exclusive Brisbane Festival season which sees Australasian Dance Collective team up with The Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni.
Bad Nature is described as an unflinching exploration of our relationship with the environment and one another. It delves into humanity’s contradiction of yearning for nature but being constantly at war with it.
Choreography is a team effort, with ADC’s Artistic Director Amy Hollingsworth and Associate AD Jack Lister working alongside CGR’s co-Artistic Directors Roni Haver and Guy Weizman to bring Bad Nature to life.
The ensemble of twelve dancers, each equally represented by the two companies, are joined on stage by three live musicians. Long time ADC collaborator Louis Frère-Harvey performs alongside Max Frimout and Niels Meliefste from HIIIT, a Dutch innovative sound duo.
World-renowned Dutch designer Boris Acket has created the set, lighting and sound design. The hour long piece starts off slowly, with a large warm amber light rising and setting like the sun over the blacked out space.
A thick layer of dry ice ripples across the stage floor; it’s a beautiful effect that does well to replicate a snapshot of our natural world. (Those sensitive to dry ice though may want to avoid the front rows.)
The performers take their time to enter the space. We first meet the trio of musicians, who glide onto the stage behind large gongs, which they use to haunting effect. This trio, dressed as shrouded black figures, morph from ‘installations’ to musicians, largely performing side stage throughout the work.
The twelve dancers wear a uniform of asymmetric couture halter gowns by Maison the Faux, dominated by a black colour palette with natural, earthy accents and ruffles. Each gown has a full side split; underneath the dancers wear black shorts, knee pads and socks.
A morphing silk canopy drapes itself dramatically over rows and rows of pendant lights, which ebb and flow above and around the performers throughout the work. It’s a mesmerising visual highlight.
The twelve dancers blend well together as a group, with several appearing in featured roles. ADC’s Lilly King strikes a commanding figure in her featured segments with Taiga Kita-Leong.
CGR’s Angela Herenda stands out as a featured soloist, while Jésula Toussaint Visser closes out the performance sporting giant wings evocative of a large prehistoric bird.
Having watched Australasian Dance Collective for the last year, I have constantly been in awe of their impressive skills as dancers and creators of innovative art.
Bad Nature sits more comfortably in a dance theatre space, leaning more heavily on the theatrical elements of storytelling with movement. This is a shift away from what ADC fans may be used to seeing.
Bad Nature is a bold new work that both blurs and pushes boundaries. It unapologetically unsettles its audience, who will likely leave with more questions than answers.
Bad Nature is presented by Australasian Dance Collective and Club Guy & Roni as part of 2025 Brisbane Festival. It runs to 7 September at Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street New Farm Qld 4005.
Tickets: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=BNATURE25
Website: https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/events/bad-nature
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/australasiandancecollective/
Photo credits: David Kelly
