By Peter Maddern
The concept of dance has come a long way from the days when classical ballet was all anyone would talk about. The women’s empowerment movement has also succeeded in rightly presenting forms of entertainment that were once considered sleazy as legitimate forms of artistic expression – burlesque being another case in point.
At the end of 2012, Cathy Adamek’s Polecats is perhaps as far as those two changes in society and the arts have come and who knows, perhaps as far as it can go.
Five poles, seven domestic mirrors of various sizes and some evocative lighting greet the audience before 12 year old Pole Kitten (Zara Thomas) arrives to break us in. Thereafter, six dancers (including one male) take to the stage to delight us, not for their sexual attractiveness but their dynamic acrobatics and vertical gymnastics. And, yes, like polecats, they scale the uprights producing at times staggering displays of strength that seem to belie the femininity of their bodies.
Many of the individual scenes stand out including Carlie Hunter’s Wild Cat and her and Carlie Angel’s Roller Polers that added a gliding smoothness in the horizontal to match that happening vertically. The only male dancer, Pole Monkey, Luke Quadrio also provides the only outbreak of strip with a parody of the routine. The finale is a delightful display of the female cast in golden light transcending into another world with a cat like stretch through gold glitter that is as beautiful as it is memorable.
The production all round is excellent. Nic Mollison’s lighting is, as mentioned, spot on. Mariot Kerr’s costume design is sensual without being provocative and DJ HMC’s electric dance music keeps the feel of an old time night club without the smoke and the dribbling while also ensuring this is a very modern form of art.
It is perhaps appropriate that at the end of the year, Polecats acts somewhat like a ‘best of dance’ that has come to Adelaide this year, with memories aroused and whispers remembered of such shows as Circa, LWD, Rasta Thomas’ Rock The Ballet and even ADT’s Proximity.
Polecats is a brave initiative, finely executed that speaks fully to its five years in the making and the show’s and the art form’s emergence from the ranks of fringe entertainment.
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