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Photos - Gadi Dagon

In four days, Melbourne has been lucky enough to witness two major works by Batsheva Dance Company. First came Three and then immediately after, Max. Max is the more recent work and in my mind, a richer, more full-bodied experience. This is not to undermine Three which also, in true Batsheva style, plays with a varied and complex movement vocabulary evolving out of artistic director Ohad Narahin’s movement language called ‘gaga’.

Even though it works with a similar stripped back design aesthetic to Three, Max comes up as a warmer work, easier, as an audience member, to make an entry into than Three, despite it being just as abstract.

Max feels extremely tribal, in part because of its music - deep, guttural counting, various mechanical sounds and different plays on vocalization. (Interestingly, the musician, Maxim Waratt is actually Narahin. A sound designer, Moshe Shasho, helps put it all together). Even though it has no instrumentation, the music is powerful throughout, complimenting the different textures of the choreography which shift between orderly patterns, sparse movement and wild, ritualistic expression.

Max opens strongly with crisply silhouetted dancers - five male/female couples. The men stand next to the women who sit in a deep plie position. The women tip their diamond shaped legs to the left knee and do a simple rocking action. From here emerges partner dancing that mixes the sharp balletic lines with slippery embraces. Combinations of dancers and formations continually shift, as do dynamics and music. There are constant surprises, both refined and raw. Nothing, not even the many pauses and stares from the dancers, seems to be wasted. Ballet poses melt into things completely other. Similarly, gestures merge into each other, creating new shapes, not recognizable, but deeply embodied by the dancers.

A simply constructed, but highly effective section accumulates and repeats movements to the sounds of counting. As the numbers get louder and higher, the sequence takes on more and more intensity and the empty space in between the counts is electric.
 
While it has clear structures, Max is an abstract work, a sensory journey of no fixed destination. It plays with silence and standing still, body percussion, the unison sounds and movements of a group, the sensuousness of an intimate duet, even the head banging of a lone male. The dancers are varied in body shape and training but convey a common purpose in their commitment to both the movement’s patterns and eccentricities. Their involvement in the activity is total and uncompromising.
 
The experience for the audience is equally total and uncompromising. Max is a challenging but hugely rewarding work. It’s only the first week of MIAF, but I am fairly certain this is my pick of the fest!


Melbourne International Arts Festival presents
Max
Batsheva Dance Company

Venue: the Arts Centre, State Theatre
When: Sun 12 & Mon 13 Oct at 7.30pm
Duration: 1hr no interval
Prices: Premium $97.50 / A Reserve Full $75 / A Reserve Groups (8+) $67.50 / A Reserve Conc $56.25
B Reserve Full $60 / B Reserve Conc $45
C Reserve Full $42 / C Reserve Conc $31.50 / Student/MF-Y $25
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 / www.melbournefestival.com.au