Dance review: 2 One Another, Aotea Centre

The Sydney Dance Company.

Sydney Dance Company's seminal and celebrated work begins with a simple representation of its title. A couple sit to one side (2), a solitary figure stands to the other (One) and the rest of the company (the Others) take centre stage. And so the theme - the diverse dynamics of human relationship - is set.

The first of four sections is played in near darkness, bodies in brief black leotards just visible, shafts of light picking out pale limbs in a richly expressive kaleidoscope of staccato gestures. The mood is discordant even as the ensemble moves in disciplined unison. The music is Oort by Spanish electro acoustic composer Murcof. Programme notes define this section as "welcome to our world."

The extraordinary power, flexibility and sophisticated skill of the company's dancers is quickly established and director Rafael Bonachela's reputation as a "movement junkie" is proven very true.

Legs lift effortlessly to startling angles, spines etch the deepest of curves, there are gravity defying leaps and tumbles, balances of every description, and always a beautiful, deep connection between the dancers as they move in and out of the choreographic complexities.

The initial urgency of Nick Wales score continues even through its diverse range of composers and styles - new classical, Baroque, Renaissance and original passages, sometimes spiked with the whispered words of contributing poet Samuel Webster.

The dark costumes are cut with subtle differences to enhance not just the bodies within but their individuality. The back screen, an evolution of light, never dominates nor distracts, but its lines underline the choreography and give emotions colour and form.

The whole forms an abstract and powerful exposition, but above all it remains a spectacle of intense physicality and an extreme artistry.

Bonachela describes the work as intimately inspired by and a tribute to his dancers. He also suggests this portrait of their lives together provides a microcosm of the wider world.

That might not be quite accurate.

In spite of the more lyrical sections, in spite of the change of costume in the final section, to a softer draped style of garment in deep red, matched by a rosy explosion in the lighting behind, the mood remains aggressively upbeat.

These dancers, unlike the rest of us, never seem to admit defeat, surrender, sulk or cry.

What: 2 One Another
Where: Aotea Centre
When: Running until November 15