Reviewed by: Zodie Bolic

Feast, Flare Dance Ensemble’s 20th annual production, is a highly polished and entertaining performance that honours the more than two decades of Flare performances that have come before. As Artistic Director’s Jonathan Yeo’s last curtain, Feast is truly a treat for all senses. The performance offers dance from all genres, with smart, short, filmed interludes between each performance that both tie each work to each other and the theme.

The first of these short video interludes introduces us to the world of Feast, before diving more thematically into the content of Daniel Lewis’ Pretender. Lewis’ work is superb, tightly rehearsed with complex choreography that the ensemble tackles with ease, while asking questions about who we really are, and who we pretend to be. The costumes are particularly memorable as well, with a high-quality look that takes the entire performance to the next level. A particular shoutout must be given to the soloist in the fox mask, who
fully embodies the character of the fox.

Basic Instinct, choreographed by Thanh Nguyen, is next. Nguyen’s choreography gets the crowd fired up, impressing with its stylistic blend of heels, floorwork and confidence. Some particularly great lighting choices add greatly to the performance, but awkward moments where the ensemble struggles to find the light, or a cue is slightly delayed are quite noticeable in a performance that is so polished otherwise.

Young and Beautiful (choreography by Claire Anderson) is a delectable contemporary. While the glass of red wine prop does feel underutilised at points, the dancers show an impressive commitment to the work. The technique of the soloists as well is particularly remarkable, and Anderson’s choreography highlights all dancers nicely. Arriving next is Carlos Zhan’s Craving for You. The video interlude into Craving for You is not as seamless as others, and overall, the thematic journey of the work felt a bit all over the place. While the ensemble still performed well, it is somewhat of a dip in quality compared to the rest of the programming.

Time by Angeline Chin is another contemporary work, featuring fluid partnering and floorwork that truly impresses. A few formations could have been slightly more rehearsed by the work is moving, and Chin’s choreography enjoyable. Jonathan Yeo’s Gumiho is next. It’s a slow build until the work clicks, but the 2nd half in which it does is much more thrilling, full of great storytelling. However, the use of the scarves could have been cleaned up quite a bit more, with a few mistakes distracting from the effect they are attempting to generate.

Crown Duel (choreographed by Ritika Bhandari and Kai Losey) welcomes us back from intermission, and the ensemble is confident and self-assured. One note for the whole program concerns the numerous pauses in between songs in individual pieces, and it’s here in Crown Duel where these pauses begin to really grate. None of these pauses are an appropriate length; too short to feel like a proper stop between sections of each peace and much longer than just a beat break. These pauses continued to draw me out of the world of Feast, and the great dancing in front of me. I would recommend further workshopping of music cues, certainly needing additional rehearsal with an audience to give feedback.

Following Crown Duel is Joaquina Wilson’s I’d Die To Keep Your Eyes on Me. The interlude video introducing the piece feels slightly disconnected from the rest of the work, and I questioned the thematic connection of the piece to the overall Feast billing. There are some interesting choreographic choices in this work, and while not everything worked, I appreciated the dancers’ commitment to the performance.

A particularly memorable and humorous video transition featuring fields upon fields of sheep leads us into Herd Mentality, the absolute highlight of the entire program. Bonnie Su’s choreography is performed with precision and conviction from the whole ensemble, and the take on the theme of the program is funny and inventive. All involved are fully committed to the performance, and their characters. The movement motifs Su explores are creative, and it’s a real delight to see such a fresh piece of choreography programmed as a
part of Flare’s showcase. This was honestly one of the best pieces of dance I’ve seen all year, and I cannot wait to see what else Su creates.

It’s hard to follow Herd Mentality, but Annabel Shaw’s Cocktail Cabaret (featuring tap choreography by Tristan Bunnage) does it with flair. Bunnage’s tap choreography is an exciting opening to the work, and throughout Shaw’s choreography there’s some excellent partnering moments, notably many impressive lifts. Peach Perfect comes next (choreography by Mitchell Aduyan). The illustrations by Tam Tran feel a little childish at times, however the Aduyan’s choreography is joyous, featuring a seamless blend of hip hop
and commercial. I really felt the jubilance of the dancers, and I couldn’t help but smile. The final work is Nicholas Woo’s Jail. Despite feeling somewhat arbitrarily tied to the overall theme of Feast, there’s a great energy to the work that is reinforced by the dancers’ attack of Woo’s choreography. It’s a perfect way to round out the program, and cap off an excellent night of dance.

With Feast being Jonathan Yeo’s last curation as Artistic Director, Yeo should be proud of the quality of his final chapter in Flare’s long and impressive history. Feast is supremely refined, while at the same time being sincerely fun. Most of all, judging by the number of audience members that poured in, Flare is here to stay. Unquestionably, Feast was an absolute delight of a meal that ate and left no crumbs.

Feast played at the Union Theatre from October 19th-21st, 2023.

Zodie Bolic (she/her) is a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) student interested in dance, theatre, film, and the role of the arts in driving social change, living in Melbourne/Naarm.