Review: 6Hr Grumble Boogie at The Rechabite

6Hr Grumble Boogie at The Rechabite
Saturday, November 30, 2024

The suggestion of a six-hour rave to those a little less ‘doof’ inclined or seasoned, is often met with a polite ‘not for me’, while some may go so far as to experience genuine fear. Such was the trepidation in approaching Betty Grumble’s 6Hr Grumble Boogie  at The Rechabite on Saturday.

Billed as a surreal aerobics class which aims to build community and foster a sense of togetherness with participants who share in group-led movement, and rituals of rage and renewal, the 6Hr Grumble Boogie was certainly a divergence from the long-format rave-esque events that are common place in Perth.

Part of The Rechabite’s Pride Palace programming for 2024 Pride, the 6Hr Grumble Boogie fitted perfectly with the diverse and wide ranging events of the season.

Betty Grumble is an Australian icon in the world of performance art and a positive and indisputably groundbreaking artist. Her works often communicate radical corporeal experiences that resist and transcend patriarchal and heteronormative notions of bodily performance and function. Highly political, Grumble’s style of facilitation for communal experiences, and community building, is largely unique in these spaces, and incredibly meaningful.

Punters arrived in drips and dregs throughout the early evening, preparing for the mini-boogie-marathon, all adorned in variously colourful, often neon, aerobic outfits. From the opening of doors, a sense of community was already palpable in the warmth between strangers, and the willingness of everyone to jump onto the dance floor before the event began.

The Boogie itself was an eclectic mix of guest facilitators, performance artists (including Grumble herself) and transcendent DJ sets. A mix of multimedia including soundscaping, film, live music, dance, theatre and non-traditional movement made for a holistic celebration of art and artistic expression. Queerness, experiences of queer joy and sorrow, and themes of non-conformity, de-colonisation and resistance contributed the key messages of pieces.

DJ HipHopHoe was a key presence and highlight in the Boogie, and instrumental in nurturing and establishing the tone and energy of the event. Theirs was a Virgil-like presence, leading punters through transcendental dance and movement intervals with exquisitely curated mixes. HipHopHoe offered sounds that that flowed effortlessly into one-another in an almost meditative way. Their sounds drew upon rich sources of Afro-beats, pop culture moments, soundscape-like natural influences and similar cultural musics, and were nothing less than masterful.

It was particularly engaging that each of HipHopHoe’s ‘sets’ were underscored by deeply political and resonant cultural messaging. These included a ‘F*ck the patriarchy’ energy set, and pieces underscored by deep climate anxiety. This created pieces that uplifted, but also politically energised, and simultaneously spoke to deep rage within individuals.

Grumble’s official Acknowledgement of Country kicked off the event, moving into a ‘Grumble Boogie’, a facilitated aerobic style group movement experience. There was an overwhelming sense of communal joy and teamwork as individuals packed into The Rechabite navigated the space and limbs as one. Introducing the mantric wish of ‘Thank You Body’, as Grumble led the almost meditative movement series, this interval set the tone for an evening centred on introspective and highly emotional corporeality.

In addition to her role of facilitator, Grumble’s own performance art, interspersing DJ HipHopHoe’s mixes, was also spectacular. Spectacular both in quality and meaningfulness, as well as in general ‘spectacle’. Grumble’s presentation of her body as a site of artistic play, pride and wilful vulnerability was so poignantly reflective of her mantric repetitions You Body’, moving fluidly in between states of rage, despair, resistance, exhibitionism and playful self expression.

Joined throughout the night by special guests including Iya Ya Ya, Pony Club Gym, Pussy Willow, Ash Baroque, Megana Holiday and Craig Slist. Each performer delivered an exceptional performance, with Megana Holiday and Iya Ya Ya accompanying Grumble as ‘back up dancers’ before delivering individual performances. Pony Club Gym’s multi-modal combination of documentary-style voice-over and film, accompanied by movement, was a peaceful and contemplative moment within the high energy evening, and a meaningful moment of stillness.

Pussy Willow’s understated, and almost meditative stillness on stage, accompanied to a soundscape of rain noises and poetic musings was likewise a calming vignette. Craig Slist’s semi-acoustic set smacked of a certain easy-going surrealism that perfectly suited it’s spot late into the event’s duration, and yielded a memorable off-beat moment of community vocalisation, when members of the crowd came forward to share fears, hopes or musings with each other.

The Huxleys were a notable guest, filling an almost headliner slot (though such hierarchisation was clearly negated in the event structure). Bringing three songs to the stage, enhanced with their exquisite and complex costuming and highly visual accompanying graphics, theirs was a more ‘production-value’ divergence from the gritty, homegrown stylization of the other acts, but a phenomenal display none-the-less.

Culminating with a deliciously soulful and contemplative ‘finale’ which echoed Grumble’s opening ‘aerobic’ routine, but tailored for the wearied 2am crowd, the show wrapped with an almost spiritual atmosphere. Strangers who had danced and moved together for six hours were encouraged to check in with each other and dance one last time. The sense of community, even among strangers, was genuinely emotional.

Betty Grumble’s 6Hr Grumble Boogie is a unique force of communal and queer joy, and an event like none-other. whether those seasoned in late night dance culture, raves and doofs, or whose totally unfamiliar, the boogie was unique, and meaningful, and an experience in which each individual will find personal significance. It is safe to argue that no other dance event in Perth’s recent oeuvre has attained the sense of community, engagement or meaninging that this event achieved, and this is a direct result of the careful curation of artists, and the incomparable skill of Grumble as a facilitator, producer and artist force.

Those with the opportunity to experience another such event, should jump at the chance.

BEC WELDON