New Birds

 

Little do you know how much glitz glamour and how many gowns await you in this show!

Liz Lea and her dancers take us through the trials, traumas and drama of being a dancer and being part of the glamorous lifestyle which epitomises the twenties and thirties.

The scene from the start delights the eye when the dancers emerge in glittering full-length dresses, tall elegant and beautiful. The backdrop - old film footage showing mixed clips of growing up in the twenties, dancing in crowded smoky dance halls, exotic swimming but drab swimwear and clips of Anna Pavlova and entourage.

Liz Lea, raconteur, sweeps back and forward across the floor with her storytelling of her dance troupe and its travels from Australia to Europe. Short sketches intersperse with snippets of dance, telling the story and underlining the tales told on film.

Liz’s quirky rye humour and self mocking asides to the audience help move the story along, with witty commentary and some lovely pieces of dance: a dancer in shimmering sequinned dress depicts an underwater swimmer moving gracefully through the water; a couple tango, a love story unfolding before our eyes.

And where do the birds fit in? Anna Pavlova had a love of birds and travelled with 120 of them. Major headache at customs no doubt!

This show excels at depicting the decadence of the era and Liz Lea gets the production just right – enough dance for the die hards but lots more besides with at least six gown changes, including fantastic headgear, sexy tango dancers and humour.

Go see!