"Dances for a Small Stage 23" was much more of a cohesive performance than I was expecting. The MC's did an admirable job of weaving a story around each vignette. I liked the frame story, there was a good through line, it provided a reasonable explanation for the vignettes and the bookends mirrored each other nicely.
Ihtsi-pai-tapi-yopa—Essence of Life— by Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association (CAPPA), brings story and movement from the Blackfoot-Blood-Kanai culture to the contemporary dance stage. Using lights and background video (Craig Alfredson), a soundscape ranging from bear growls to night-club beats (Sandy Scofield), and the strong, often animal-inspired movements of the three male dancers, the piece tells of bird men who become lost and full of conflict in an urban landscape, but are guided to a renewed sense of balance by a bear spirit. The story they tell of urban stress and the presence of an intervening, powerful, ultimately benevolent nature spirit—of...
Part of the 22nd annual Dancing on the Edge Festival, Status Quo is a dynamic and visceral hour-long journey through two solo pieces and one quartet. Choreographed and performed (in part) by Shay Kuebler and Amber Funk Barton, the mandate of Status Quo is to “create movement that is dynamically bold and emotionally captivating due to its velocity, speed, musicality and articulation.” Drawing from a variety of dance techniques (to this untrained eye, there were glimpses of pop and lock, breakdancing, modern, and even ballet), the pieces seemed to physically articulate the relationships and fragmentation of our own society.
The Chutzpah! Festival coninues: on March 8th Sidra Bell Dance and Gallim Dance of New York presented a double-bill performance. Though vastly different in style, neither Sidra's Bell's “Anthology” nor Gallim Dance's “I Can See Myself in Your Pupil” overtly showed their conceptual underpinnings. Both companies focused on the purely physical rather than intellectual. Sidra Bell Dance explored polarities, representing the body as sultry and mechanical, while Gallim Dance shook things up with a wild, free-for-all performance.
I was excited about seeing Program 3 since it was announced a year ago that they were to be performing a work by Ohad Naharin, director of the mighty Batsheva Dance Company. Add to that new work by acclaimed choreographer Emanuel Gat, and a fresh piece by Ballet BC’s director Emily Molnar and we were set for an intriguing evening of dance.
LOCK is a complex and deeply absorbing work by Emanuel Gat and the dancers of Ballet BC. It is a piece about the dancers, ‘their history, talent, commitment and curiosity’. Gat gives us an opportunity to observe the...
Hong Kong Exile describe themselves as an interdisciplinary arts company. They are three emerging contemporary artists: Natalie Tin Yin Gan, a contemporary dance artist specializing in improvisation and interdisciplinary collaboration, Remy Siu, an emerging composer, and Milton Lim, a director/designer and multi-disciplinary performer. They met at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts, and they formed the company in 2011.
Hong Kong Exile are a new company to me and there wasn’t much publicity information about the world premiere of their Room 2048 run at the Firehall Arts Centre, so I had no preconceived notion of what to expect....
Michelle Lui, Milton Lim, Alex Tam_9487 credit Remi Theriault
Last night I had the pleasure of attending Ballet BC’s Program 2, a unique collection of works in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday. While it is traditional for Ballet BC’s programs to include a world premiere work, this evening featured not one, but three world premieres! All four pieces were created in collaboration with BC companies, designers and artists, in line with Artistic Director Emily Molnar’s vision of supporting the work of Canadian choreographers.
Before the performance began, Molnar spoke to the importance of unity and togetherness in the artistic community, now more than ever. Using artistic expression to bring...
Alexis Fletcher and Kirsten Wicklund in Swan by Wen Wei Wang – photography Cindi Wicklund
I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge fan of Ballet BC. I was delighted to discover Vancouver’s resident contemporary dance company when I moved here from England three years ago. Even within that short time they have grown in stature, exuding a quiet confidence in all they do. They have become highly respected by audiences, critics, and choreographers alike. The success of the company is, in large part, down to director, Emily Molnar, who skilfully broadened the appeal of Ballet BC without compromising an ounce of its artistic integrity. She has continued to push the...
DANCING ON THE EDGE is a contemporary dance festival held in Vancouver. It provides vital cross-pollination between local performers and internationally renowned dance artists. Through platforms such as this, artistic boundaries are expanded for all of us, ever widening the creative field. The festival opened last night with Edge 1; three diverse works which wooed, challenged and captivated its audience.
‘Here on the Ground’, choreographed by Sarah Chase and performed by Meghan Goodman and Julia Carr was a physical theatre piece about the unusual real life friendship of the two dancers. With simple stage props, recorded music, spoken word and...
Hofesh Shechter Company returned to Dance House, Vancouver, last night with Barbarians, a thrilling, gripping piece in three parts. I first saw the company perform in my native UK several years ago and I was equally enthralled by the experience this time. This is a dynamic, expressive performance, brimming with energy.
Having danced with Batsheva under the direction of Ohad Naharin, Shechter, in his work, displays the trademark intensity and subtlety of movement formed from a grounding in this unique lineage. Naharin’s own creation of a language of movement he calls Gaga is central to it. What unfolds is a...
