DANCE: MERCURY
As I approach Kenneth Kvarnstrom, he is talking intently with Rafael Bonachela, artistic director for Sydney Dance Company. They are standing in the corridor, just outside a studio filled with dancers stretching and flexing on plastic, white flooring. This is one of many rehearsals for Kvarnstrom’s new dance production, Mercury, commissioned by Sydney Dance Company. A renowned European choreographer since the late 80s, Kvarnstrom’s repertoire also includes the role of artistic director for Helsinki City Theatre Dance Company and the House of Dance (Dansens Hus) in Stockholm over a six year period. Mercury is part of his return to choreographing new productions. It places him in the second year of a five-year plan which involves realising his ideas and seeing, “how we get along with it and if it’s still fun, I can continue.”
Ideas for Mercury occurred approximately one year before Kvarnstrom left his director role. With the word out he was leaving, he began receiving offers for choreography work and this included an invitation from Sydney Dance Company. Decisions about the energy and style of the production didn’t start until it was time to select a name. “So, the beginning was like yes, yes, yes, it’s going to happen sometime 2009,” says Kvarnstrom. “Then suddenly it’s one year before it’s going to happen. It’s like okay, do you have a name? That is more or less going to happen. So you have a list of names; that I think: these are the names that I can maybe use, that are not telling so much … not telling like, digging potatoes.” “It’s something that … means the same for most people. But Mercury doesn’t mean the same for most people. It’s a little bit different.”
Kvarnstrom says one meaning was derived from Greek/Roman mythology, where Mercury was the messenger of the Gods. His symbols were hats or shoes with wings and a stick with two snakes. The second meaning relates to the planet in our solar system closest to the sun an, “so it has overexposed lighting I guess. The third one is: if you look at the periodical system, then Mercury is number 80 and it is also called quicksilver, which means it is liquid in room temperature. Liquid for me is constant movement, somehow. So I’ve been making up all these things now for it. So the actual Mercury piece is now divided in three parts.”
“So the movement will tie in with that?” I ask.
“Hopefully. Hopefully,” he replies.
While Kvarnstrom doesn’t work in a narrative sense, he hopes to grab the subconscious of the audience to invoke images and memories. He stated that if he was influenced by any particular style, “it would be contemporary dancing in the sense that it moves a lot.” The set and lighting design will magnify this idea of constant movement. The floor, sides and backdrop will be white while the centerpiece is a large, circular prop with an aluminum surface hanging at the back of the stage. The ten dancers will be dressed in black and grey. “Because the last production we did together then, it was completely black and now we want to do something else,” he says. “So this big thing, big circular thing, is a big light box. It has a lot of light inside of it so it’s going to create different, images.” He stands up, plucks a piece of paper off the wall and hands it to me. The image looks like a silver planet radiating light into a black void.
“Are you trying to make it incandescent?” I ask.
“Hopefully,” he said. “We don’t know yet.”
The final preparations for the elements will be decided this week as the show moves towards its premiere performance. Not long after Kvarnstrom will head back to Stockholm as he has been away for two months and has things to do at home. Despite this he has enjoyed his time at Sydney Dance Company. “I would say like this, I think it is very rare for a company to invite a choreographer – whoever is working with Sydney Dance Company – that you are given nine weeks of rehearsals. That is very, very seldom… You have the creative freedom and you have the help of the institution. So it’s been, great. I’m very happy. Now, it’s just get the shit together.” He cackles. “Now it’s okay, now we have been giving of this time; now what’s the result?”
He then asks me if I want to see the “big thing” as it’s in the workshop. I say yes. The circular prop is huge; it almost touches the ceiling. It is attached to a cable that runs away from it for several metres. When I walk around the back, there is strong glare. Small tubes of light are fastened to its core in the pattern similar to the spokes of a wheel. “Do you think this is your most ambitious project?” I ask. He repeats my question to one of his crew and the answer is no. They have done something similar in a previous production with a square prop in Gothenburg.
“Well, I think it’s going to be amazing,” I say.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” he says modestly. “We’ll see.”
Nov 17 -28 Nov, Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, $40 -70, 9251 1999 or sydneydancecompany.com
