DANCE: LEIGH WARREN’S SEVEN
According to Adelaide-based choreographer Leigh Warren, there’s a, “Prince in everyone, but you have to overcome your inner frog.” And by that, he’s not referring to a weird wart affliction, but rather the fairytale metamorphosis into a fully-fledged human using the transformative power of love. That’s the basis of his latest production, Seven – a, “Woody Allen version,” of Snow White where the dame is dopey, the forest shack a sharehouse and the dwarves in the director’s seat. Leigh says, “There was so much war and destruction and awful things happening – so I decided to get into the world of love. People say, ‘I love chocolate,’ ‘I love going to the football,’ but the passion and commitment from when you mean it is something else … it’s very visceral and immediate.” Plus, there were seven dancers in his troupe, so the numbers worked too. It’s a mixture of narrative (one we are well acquainted with, albeit with spikes), and movement that has a risky side – a positive message in a world, “drenched in the negative.” And perhaps the most positive message of all is Leigh’s overriding love for dance, from improvising on an outback sheep station as a kid to his training as a ballet dancer. “Some people bake bread, some people make shoes, I make dances … It’s not just about putting in some impressive wham bam steps. Actions can speak louder than words. Dance for the pleasure of it. Don’t let anybody come between you and your pleasure of dancing.” A royal sign-off indeed.
Aug 28-29, Parade Theatres, 215 Anzac Pde, Kensington, $29-34, 1300 795 012 or ticketek.com.au
