Douglas Wright’s “poem of love, cruelty and death”

During his dance career Douglas Wright was said to resemble Nijinsky in his face, his flair and his soaring leap. He now has the taut, high cheekbones, full lips and furrowed brow of the middle-aged Mick Jagger. His new work Black Milk was performed by his company for a season at the Sydney Opera House: “Douglas Wright is a poet of dance. The twists and turns of his choreography for Black Milk reflect themes from distressing to delightful, gripping the viewer in a blend of tragedy and dark humour, full of surprises. The dance is often lyrical to look at, but always nightmarish to think about…they explore the effect of memory, the power of sex, and the horror of torture in sickeningly familiar Abu Ghraib imagery…Grim as it may sound, it is exhilarating to look at.” (Jill Sykes). And from Deborah Jones in The Australian: “a serious, difficult and provocative dance-theatre work…potent contemporary dance that sweeps the brilliant performers across the stage as if there were no time to waste…Black Milk is held together by the strength of Wright’s convictions and the bravura of his searing image-making.”