Stephanie Lake’s VISTA confirms yet again that Lake is one of the most preeminent choreographers working in this country today.

It’s not often that an Australian choreographer is able to break out of the siloed walls of dance to achieve broader appeal. But sitting in a nearly sold-out matinee performance for VISTA in Malthouse Theatre’s Merlyn Theatre on Saturday, I felt the magnetism of Lake’s vision drawing people in like moths to a flame, and I shared in it.

Lake’s explosive choreography is elevated by her eye for creative approaches to staging that favour playful, large-scale transdisciplinary collaborations (last year’s Chronicle, for instance, an on-stage choir accompanied her dancers).

VISTA is notably smaller in scale than many of Lake’s previous productions. Featuring a close-knit ensemble of six performers, it is more intimate and less interested in large-scale spectacle.

Stephanie Lake Company: VISTA. Photo © Pippa Samaya

Do not read this as a critique: the show is never less than utterly transfixing and electrifying; propulsive and poetic. But instead of drawing from the spectacle of opera or live music, VISTA seems to implicitly pull from the styles and tropes of dramatic theatre.

Lake stages the flux of relationships – whether platonic, romantic or self-directed – in sequences that replicate the quiet relational drama conventional to the kitchen-sink drama and the wit and metatheatricality of Brechtian theatre.

Lake’s six-member ensemble starts the show in a huddle at the centre of an alabaster white square. Darting their eyes around the room, their arms are tight against their bodies, their wrists and fingers writhing and flicking as if they’ve been struck by lightning. It’s a Lake signature: frenetic and explosive movements that capture an emotion you can’t yet name in all its raw, embodied reality.

Meanwhile, Lake’s long-time collaborator Robin Fox’s jolting, experimental soundscapes fill the Merlyn with a finely tuned cacophony of metallic distortions, industrial beats and snatches of choral samples. There’s an elegance to Fox’s compositions, even in their brashness, just as there is a poise and finesse to Lake’s choreography, even as it appears more explosive and unbridled.

Stephanie Lake Company: VISTA. Photo © Pippa Samaya

The first act of the 80-minute show uses the interplay between these two conflicting styles to evoke the similar contradictions of maintaining our relationships with others and with ourselves: a jolting hug turns into a quiet brush of a cheek; a violent skirmish ends with a warm moment of quiet connection; one person folds over themselves in pain before extending their arms in a vision of self-affirming euphoria.

Lake also has an eye for the smallest gestures: one performer traces their thumb gently across the back of another’s hand; another shares a loving smile. She allows her performers to bring their unique personalities to each movement. Showcasing every dancer’s idiosyncrasies does not compromise the tightly wound unison of the group choreography but rather allows their individual personalities to shine through.

For Act One, Lighting Designer Bosco Shaw (assisted here by Lighting Design Associate and Technical Manager Rachel Lee) makes sheer white overhead lights contract and expand to match the moments of tension and release playing out in the relationships on stage, confining a dancer to a tight spotlight in one moment before expanding out in the next. However, Act Two changes tactics.

I was admittedly suspicious about the inclusion of an intermission for this show. Lake’s choreography boasts such a cumulative effect that I wondered if the interruption would compromise its momentum. But Act Two is in dynamic conversation with Act One, functioning like a funhouse mirror of its themes and choreography.

We return to find the side-stage curtains gone; the metallic greys of the dancers’ costumes (by Alpha60) have been replaced by form-fitting red ochre. The empty backdrop is suddenly populated by a burnt-orange, brick-like projection: pockmarked and earthy.

Stephanie Lake Company: VISTA. Photo © Pippa Samaya

VISTA is a “show in two halves”, the program notes tell us. Act Two repeats sequences and movements from the first, refracting and reconstituting their meanings by adding playful vocalisations that contribute to a sense of metatheatricality. The performers vocalise each movement, or they sit and witness the show from side stage. It’s joyous and comedic in effect. That is, until these vocalisations grow louder and more intense, or depart completely, leaving us to hear one solo performer sobbing alone.

The show builds to a breathtaking cliffhanger as it swings wildly between moments of connection and isolation, distance and intimacy, voice and silence. If there was ever any question about Lake’s sterling reputation, let this show – and the breathlessness you’ll inevitably feel when it ends – put it to rest.

Stephanie Lake Company’s VISTA is performed at the Malthouse, Melbourne until 1 August. 

VISTA then plays at Carriageworks, Sydney, 5-8 August.