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Dance Review: Shadowland

Shadowland

Dance, shadow puppetry & acrobatics combined with original music, fine acting & a well thought out storyline to take us much further than any one of these genre alone.


Shadowland
Presented by Pilobolus and Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed 9 July 2014

Shadowland is truly like nothing I have ever seen. It has so many elements seamlessly bound together making it excellent theatre.

We have all seen and enjoyed shadow puppets, but this is so much more. Acrobatics and rhythmic dance are not new either, but all of these combined with original music, fine acting and a well thought out storyline, take us much further than any one of these genre alone.

The story starts as our young heroine is preparing to go to bed; she falls to sleep but wakes to find her shadow trapped beyond the bedroom wall. In trying to release it she herself becomes trapped in this ‘shadowland’ and begins an Alice in Wonderland type of adventure.

The action moves through all of these strange scenes with fluidity and grace, from our heroine growing rapidly, shrinking back, encountering animals and a walking cooking pot. The whole is delivered with great humour to an excellent original sound track by David Poe and the dancers are lithe and completely committed to creating the backdrop for this journey.

Dancing the part of the girl is Lauren Yalango with all the innocence and naivety it requires. She is gracefully thrown around by the male members of the troupe but, in truth, she seems to fly through some of it. Before our very eyes they create a circus complete with elephant, acrobats and a Ringmaster.

Krystal Butler makes a fine Ringmaster, ably supported by the other dancers, all of whom are highly trained in dance, calisthenics, gymnastics and cheerleading with backgrounds in choreography and many of whom collaborated in the development of this unique show.

The whole show was delightful, but the encore topped everything! Depicting their journey from New York to Adelaide complete with the plane and the iconic wild life. An evening not to be missed.

Reviewed by Fran Edwards
Twitter: @Franeds

Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Grote Street Adelaide
Season: 9 – 13 July 2014
Duration: 90 mins
Tickets: $60.00 – $95.80
Bookings: Book through BASS online or phone 131 246

Photo by John Kane

 

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