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Canberra Today 15°/16° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Stamina meets passion

[box]DANCE
“Untrained”
Conceived and directed by Lucy Guerin, The Playhouse, season Closed.
Reviewed by Samara Purnell[/box]

PUT a public servant, with a flair for the dramatic, and a bread merchandiser who’s only ever danced in nightclubs, on stage with two local, professionally trained dancers and there you have “Untrained”, conceptualised and choreographed by Lucy Guerin.

With a moderate chance of embarrassment and or injury, two Canberra men, Richard Merzian and Allan Raeyers, untrained in any dance discipline performed with dancers Dean Cross and James Shannon.

They hurled themselves across the stage, improvising and imitating each other, and undertook several short choreographed routines in an attempt to compare how dancers and non-dancers approach choreography and set “tasks” and indeed a performance.

The “untrained” (dancers) displayed impressive levels of stamina and flexibility and their technique was surprisingly good. Merzian possessed great comedic timing and confidence, and Raeyers, a little shy about performing, but happy to “have a crack” also did a good job of remembering the choreography.

The differences between the trained and untrained showed how years of passion for and training in dance affects everything from movement, performing and physical appearance.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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One Response to Stamina meets passion

Mark Cunitson says: 7 August 2011 at 6:22 pm

I couldn’t agree more – the show kept me entertained right through. Good on the untrained boys for having a go, they really stepped up.

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