Cumulus – cool images

The Vancouver Art Gallery wants to become known for its collection of photography. This makes sense. Photography is an art-form at which Vancouver has become closely identified, as witnessed by the success of Jeff Wall and Roy Arden.

It’s also fair to say that a strong visual aesthetic is one of the strengths of the performing arts in Vancouver. And it is perhaps a fair criticism that often there seems to be more concern about creating images that will make cool stills over the substance of the work itself.

There were a lot of photographers in the audience the evening I saw Cumulus, a new work by Vancouver-based Aeriosa. Man, are they are going to have some cool shots. Julia Taffe (also the choreographer and Aeriosa’s Managing Director) and Alisoun Payne, both with colourful plumage draped from their bodies, hanging off the side of the central library downtown will look both striking and evocative. Yet for some reason, the real life experience of Cumulus left me restless and inattentive. From where I stood, the cool images created didn’t evoke much.

As a company, Aeriosa explore the possibilities that rope rigging gear can have in the creation of dance in the “vertical realm”. In its blending of a physical, outdoor activity with art it is very Vancouver. Cumulus was described a sky poem but I couldn’t get much of a sense of the poetry. Perhaps it was the perspective I had as an audience member. I don’t have zoom lenses on my glasses, so the movements viewed from a great distance seemed smaller than they really were. I don’t have a shred of doubt that what the performers were doing was technically demanding, impressive and dangerous but it’s difficult to read all that from several stories below.

This idea of technical difficulty ties into another point – it all felt a bit too Cirque du Soleil for me. Despite the plumage and the graceful movements, what we’re really left with are “can you believe what they’re doing?” moments rather than gestures conveying themes, emotions or ideas. I’m not sure how Taffe would feel about this comparison to Cirque. I know from past experience that there is far more to her work than mere spectacle. I was fortunate to see Stone:drift last season, a full-length work which brought the performers and their mountain climbing gear indoors. Ironically, I found that piece far more exhilarating than watching people hang off the side of a building. By being up close I was able to appreciate the nuance of the movement work (despite the restrictions of the harnesses) and somehow the sense of defying gravity was more pronounced in the Dance Centre than on the side of the library. Despite its shortcomings, Stone:drift simply felt like a truer attempt at poetry than Cumulus. I sincerely hope that Taffe and her team continue exploring interior spaces.

In the end with Cumulus, I’m left with are the visual images made on my memory and, of course, a chance to look forward to those very cool, very evocative stills that will soon be uploaded onto the web. A number of the stills will no doubt be of the two performers at the start of the piece: tiny and fragile, standing at the top of the building. I’ve always found the central library warm and comforting. But seeing how small the performers looked against the columns made me realize just how monolithic the building really is.

Cool image or not that at least was an artistic moment.