Bharata Natyam dancers in “The Point”. Photo Andrew Sikorsk
Dance / âThe Pointâ, directed and choreographed by Liz Lea. At Belconnen Arts Centre until May 1. Reviewed by
BILL STEPHENS
SINCE settling in Canberra in 2000, Liz Lea has established herself as an outstanding contributor to dance in Canberra.Â
Much admired as a dancer, choreographer and mover and shaker, her innovative dance works have won awards and attracted international attention for their originality and innovation.Â
âThe Pointâ, which premiered at the Belconnen Arts Centre last night (April 29) is another in a long line of memorable creations by Lea.
Unfazed when her original concept for âThe Pointâ as a collaboration with Singaporeâs Maya Dance Theatre was stymied by COVID-19 travel restrictions, Lea simply turned her gaze inwards to the local Indian dance community to bring her concept to fruition.
Nicholas Jachno and Reshika Sivakumaran in “The Point”.
WHEN it comes to bringing contrasting cultures into close proximity, no one does it better than Canberra Dance Artist and 2017 “CityNews” Artist Of The Year, Liz Lea.
On April 29, International Dance Day, Lea will premiere “The Point”, a new one-hour dance work with a unique Canberra connection, which has been in the pipeline for seven years.
With an unusual training in both classical Indian dance and contemporary western dance, she approaches the new work with absolutely no tokenism.
On the contrary, she deliberately sought out local experts in the classical dance forms Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak – Nandana Chellappah, Vanaja Dasika and Ira Patkar – and assembled a crack team of contemporary dancers to create a perfect cultural interface.