By Kate Lockyer
The colossal momentum of Stephanie Lake’s Colossus has turned what was originally an abstract work into something that took on its own meaning.
Lake said the show is about the power of the collective, and also about the push and pull of humanity and the positives and negatives of crowd behaviour.
“There’s a lot of humour in the work but there’s also some ugliness… but I also really want the audience to come to their own conclusions of what it’s about,” she said.
Colossus will be performed by 50 local dancers from Queensland Ballet’s Pre-Professional & Jette Parker Young Artist Programs and Queensland University of Technology (Dance) students.
Lake said having such young performers lends an optimism, energy and hope that is crucial to the show.
Dancer Soleil Harvey, who has returned to the cast after performing in Colossus in 2020, said it was amazing working with so many dancers onstage.
“The work touches on that hive mind energy, and once you’ve been in the work for two weeks, you really embody that, it’s really interesting the way it blends together so seamlessly and you end up knowing the work before you even realise that you’ve finished it,” Harvey said.
“It’s a really nice balance between choreography and improvisation… and when you’re with 50 people, it’s great because you have 50 other people’s movements that you can feed off.”
Colossus will be performed at the Brisbane Powerhouse from April 17 – 20, buy tickets on the Powerhouse website.
