Bodytorque opened in Sydney last night, with five dancers premiering five very different choreographic works. This year’s theme was 2.2, an allusion to the many partnerships at the heart of dance. It manifested in different ways – choreographers collaborating with composers to hatch new scores; a moving duet between a dancer and an opera singer – but as the dancers entwined and broke apart one idea seemed to recur: that relationships are rarely as straightforward as the romantic pas de deux of classical ballet. Sydney Theatre was the perfect setting for this revelation, the intimate space rendering every small detail – a tentative caress, a stolen kiss, a loaded gesture – all the more intimate, and the big moves all the more thrilling.
