Come, been and gone by Michael Clark Company

Dancers Oxana Panchenko and Clair Thomas.
Photo by Jake Walters

Click here to find my review of Come, been and gone by Michael Clark Company on australianstage.com.au. The show seemed to provoke mixed reactions - people seemed disappointed that it was a style over substance affair. It was the big ticket dance event of MIAF, so expectations were high. But it was always going to be about the music - that's why most audiences went, wasn't it?

Perhaps to give general audiences a better sense of what Come, been, gone was actually going to offer (beyond just the idea of dancing to Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk, etc) better program notes would have been helpful. It wasn't that clear that the first work, Swamp, was actually made in 1986. It's not a new work like the rest of the program. Looking at Swamp in the context of 1986 is totally different than looking at Swamp thinking it was created last year. The rest of the show is newer, mostly made in 2009 and from what I understand different sections have been performed at different times and in different combinations.

Come, been and gone by Michael Clark Company
Melbourne International Arts Festival
State Theatre, the Arts Centre
8-10 October 2010