P.O.V. – The Morning After: Performing arts in Australia by Chris Boyd

Tis the era of the coda, the recapitulation, of book-ending. It was kinda cool when the era began. But now, you know, it’s become all too predictable. So, when you see a show that has a trajectory, a vector, an arc — and it’s all one way — it’s exciting. No knowing what’s coming. If you haven’t seen Lee Serle’s P.O.V. before, you’re in for a surprise. Guaranteed.

Weirdly though, it ends with a bloom of dance. Not an explosion, a bloom. A blossom. And it’s so exquisite, so unexpected, so wonderfully delicate and beautiful… I couldn’t help but wish Serle had opened the show with this five minute (or less) section. Cos one viewing was nowhere near enough.

It reminded me, for a second, of Lucinda Childs, all detachment and cool style, then morphed into some dance that David Byrne could have made up. Think the wrist chopping in the video for the Talking Heads song ‘Once In A Lifetime’.

The angular forearms and hands were one part Vogue, one part Frances D’Ath. But I might’ve been thinking of D’Ath cos of the Paskas connection. Bonnie in hers, Lily in this one.

Anyway, Serle shows such easy invention in that closing section of P.O.V. it deserves to be cut, like a plant, and propagated. Turned into a striking, beautiful, fragrant piece in its own right.

P.O.V. choreographed, directed and performed by Lee Serle with James Andrews, Kristy Ayre and Lily Paskas. Lighting by Ben Cisterne. Composition and sound design by Luke Smiles. Set design by Lee Serle. Costume design by Lee Serle and Shio Otani in collaboration with the performers. At Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, March 12 to March 16. 50 minutes.

Review by Chris Boyd (March 13, 2013)