And All Things Return To Nature

BalletLab's current double bill And All Things Return To Nature (AATRTN) and Tomorrow combines two works which, aside from Garth Paine's intriguing musical composition and performance, perhaps would have been better kept separate. Brooke Stamp's AATRTN choreography explores patterns and space in conjunction with vibrational sounds to command the attention of the audience. One can't help but be distracted however, by the fluorescent-coloured runners and conventional fashion outfits that are aligned with what you'd expect to see at L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, which is where the premiere was held. Unless you'd read up on Phillip Adams' [BalletLab founder/artistic director] recent trip to Integration before the second piece, Tomorrow, little context is given for many elements included, making them quite humorous. Maybe it's assumed that you would have? Nudity may still help push boundaries today, sure. Yet, for this alone to be so heavily pushed hardly seems avant-garde. Audience members are selected to join the dancers on stage with little work done to transform them into participants. Bringing back the fashionable tone to the performance (minus the costumes), rocks, grey blankets, white pebbles, reflective panels and fluorescent pink wool are used to create a circular set that mimics an on-trend graphic design poster.

Lawler Studio to Saturday 23 March