 Photo: Branco Gaica WHY is it that body-conscious dancers are attracted to cigarettes and coffee? "Because they're just ordinary people," suggests the Sydney Dance Company's Paul Mercurio. "You could expand and say they're creative people, and you find a lot of creative people in cafes. Something tends to draw them." In Cafe, which Mercurio choreographed with fellow company dancer Kim Walker, there is a prostitute, a drug dealer, junkies, a pinball freak, a lone newspaper reader, yuppies, lovers, a breakfast crowd, a lunch crowd, a late-night crowd - you name it. Paul Mercurio spent years lounging in the coffee shops of East Sydney, where new arrivals may sit alongside the famous and notorious, but his favourite was always the former Reggio's (since changed hands). "I'd always wanted to do a piece about a cafe," he says. "In fact I'd always wanted to do something about my days at Reggio's." Victorian born, with initial dance training in Perth, Mercurio was invited to join the Sydney Dance Company in 1982, a year into his training at the Australian Ballet School. Now one of the company's most popular dancers and a rising choreographic star, he shines with natural good looks, unpretentious charm and what seems like an uncomplicated enjoyment of life. Happily married these days, to ex-company dancer Andrea Toy, with a second kid on the way, and flat out both "hoofing and choreographing", he does not have much time for the old cafe lifestyle. He regrets that on his short visits to Melbourne he has not had time to properly check out the local haunts - apart from a few enjoyable cups at Pellegrini's. |
Cafe was choreographed by Paul Mercurio and Kim Walker, based on his days spent in a Darlinghurst cafe. This popular piece was produced for the ABC by the Sydney Dance Company in 1990. Still, Mercurio believes characters and goings-on in Cafe can be found all over the world. Under artistic director Graeme Murphy, the Sydney Dance Company is well known for its dance portraits of modern life. Is Cafe intended to be anything more? 
"There's no deep message, just a day in the life of .
. .," says Mercurio, "though I'm sure people see something in there that they take away and think about.
"I'm actually interested in slices of life in an abstract manner. At the moment I'm exploring my life, how it fits in and works. Back in the old days theatre was, in a sense, the only means of communicating moral, social, political values. We've lost that to some extent. "I suppose I'd like to do things that mean something. And that's an opportunity for others to see another perspective, to agree or disagree." "Graeme has been a big influence - but in both positive and negative ways. There are aspects of his work that I admire, and others that I don't." He says Murphy, and the company in general, have supported his development both as a dancer and a choreographer. After he had succeeded with some smaller works, acting artistic director Janet Vernon suggested last year that he and Walker might be ready for a larger work. Mercurio says the partnership worked like a dream, and the public has lapped it up: a return season was scheduled, and now Melbourne. His attitude now? "Oh, it's positive. I get caught up too; you should have seen me a few weeks ago - I was rather depressed. But no, life's terrific, I love life. " 12 August 1990 Tapes of Cafe (with Boxes) are available from The ABC by writing progsales@your.abc.net.au. For the U.S. and Canada, you will need to specify NTSC format. Request a quote as prices vary. |
