Symphony - Sydney Festival

Addressing the audience at the beginning of the performance, Legs On The Wall artistic director Patrick Nolan had the unfortunate news that performer Rhiannon Spratling had injured herself in the opening night show the previous evening. Cue a mad dash to get a new performer, the accomplished Craig Barry ready for the season's run. Despite the setback, the four performers featured in this incredible piece – Barry was joined by Amy Macpherson, Matt Cornell and Joshua Thompson – made the dancing and acrobatic movements look effortless. Macpherson in particular thrilled with a solo sequence that was beautifully balletic and a marvel of control as she twisted and manipulated her body into hard to believe shapes. The music, Beethoven's 7th Symphony, was played by Stefan Gregory on electric guitar and at times was delicate and tender or quite brutal and frenetic, allowing the dancers to take on several different styles and moods. In the cavernous space, the dancers moved a collection of large cardboard boxes into ever more complex patterns allowing the piece's setting to drastically change between each act and as the tension built, in the way a DJ set builds to its climax, the final sequence featuring all four dancers was a triumph.