US Choreographer Michael Schwandt who has been touring Australia teaching workshops, recently attended Sydney Dance Company’s Interplay as a special guest of Ramon Doringo. We caught up with Michael to see what he thought of the show!
US Choreographer Michael Schwandt What can you tell us about the storyline?
It was three different pieces of work by three different choreographers, and each from what I gathered is that each choreographer was exploring the interplay of human connectivity with one another. It shows how people interact, not just one on one, but each explore group interaction as well… it portrays various social interactions. Each piece was completely different from the other. The second section of INTERPLAY was my absolute favourite! It was absolutely amazing! It was aggressive and so visually interesting and the way that the performers moved, it was just so fluid. I can only describe it as alien like, just so dynamic… they would do something and it would just be like OH MY GOD DID THEY JUST DO THAT! It just felt the most different to anything I have ever seen before and the music had this really nice electronic, industrial sound to it. For me because I am a visual person and I am a technical person, it really appealed to me even more because of the incredible lighting and staging! The pas de deux was also incredible, I absolutely loved it, it played on the strengths of the two dancers almost like a power struggle and was so beautiful!
What would you say about the standard of the dancers, are they high up on a world scale?
Oh absolutely! The dancers are phenomenal!
If they were to tour INTERPLAY, do you think it would be received well from an American Audience?
I do, because I have seen much more abstract work in the US. Depending on what it is that you appreciate about dance and art… the good thing is that there is three extremely different pieces in there, you are not just watching one show by one choreographer. There is something for everyone in there. INTERPLAY CONCLUDES IT’S RUN IN SYDNEY ON 5TH APRIL BEFORE HEADING TO CANBERRA AND MELBOURNE. See our article for more details HERE Sydney Dance Company's Interplay
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