Ballet BC turned 30 this year, one year younger than I am. Attending the first performance of their thirtieth year on the last day of mine felt perversely symmetrical. I can only wish that I had grown as sophisticated, thought provoking and heartfelt with age.
The pre-show talk was concluded with the wish that each audience member honour their own experience of the work, whatever it may be, without worrying whether their response is appropriate. We can distrust our own experience of art, looking to experts to tell us what we should be feeling or thinking. But Program 1 is...
An audience of six huddles around the open door of Pandora Park’s Fieldhouse, fluorescent light burning a rectangle in the darkness, a moth flutters into our faces (not part of the show) as two girls inside a closet fight with balloons. Well, maybe fight isn’t the right word. And they aren’t really balloons. Two girls inside a closet roll their bodies against the thin squeaky skin of two clear plastic garbage bags puffed up with air and tied tightly like empty pillows. They wear matching pajamas - a black and white pattern that...
When I tell people “I’m off to the ballet tonight” I’m pretty sure this is not what they imagine: brutal, tense and alien, Ballet BC’s RITE is not for the faint of heart.
Stretching contemporary ballet to its limits, both pieces in the production are inspired by The Rite of Spring and the impact it had at the world premiere on May 29th, 1913.
I have come to love the creature-like choreography of Emily Molnar. And never have I seen it quite as pronounced as in RITE, the first piece of the evening. Enhanced by a throbbing score by Jeremy...
Christoph von Riedemann from Emily Molnar's piece, photography by Chris Randle
Things near + far premiered last night at the Firehall Arts Centre. Created by a trio of mid-career dance artists (Anne Cooper, Ziyian Kwan and Ron Stewart), the show features two pieces. Each is called Dwelling and both are approximately 30 minutes in length. The first comes from a young choreographer (Josh Martin of 605 Collective) and the second from senior choreographer (Tedd Robinson of 10 Gates Dancing). It means we experience an evening of dance that crosses generations and geography.
The first piece of the evening is from Josh Martin. It's on an open stage with a bright whitedance floor. The stage...
Ziyian Kwan, Anne Cooper & Ron Stewart (photo by Chris Randle)
Ballet BC’s performances are always a pleasure, but No. 29 playing Nov 6-8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre literally left me speechless. Each of the three pieces within the production was completely different, but there was a theme, a through-line of tension that built throughout the evening and culminated in resounding applause.
1. Slack jawed in wonder
The opening piece, A.U.R.A (Anarchist Unit Related to Art), created Jacopo Godani, was first performed by Ballet BC in 2012. Clad in cleverly designed body suits that (from where I was sitting) convincingly disguised their gender, the dancers writhed and mutated on stage with a...
A.U.R.A., Choreography: Jacopo Godani, Dancers: Darren Devaney & Andrew Bartee, Photo credit: Michael Slobodian
Off to Dancing on the Edge tonight - went to a new Mascall Dance piece called The Three Cornered Hat. Featuring five dancers with choreography by Jennifer Mascall, it's happening at Chapel Arts which is just down the road from the Firehall Arts Centre. The music is by Stefan Smulovitz - he's also in the show playing live violin.
TWITTER COMMENTARY FOR YOU:
@AllysonMcGrane At Mascall Dance show The Three-Cornered Hat - happening tonight at Chapel Arts!
@AllysonMcGrane Now everyone is talking! To the audience directly... Some seem interested, others bewildered.
@AllysonMcGrane Now a few start to...
Lara Barclay & Billy Marchenski (Photo by Chris Randle)
The Art of Stealing, playing at the Firehall Arts Centre until May 31, is a new dance creation from Response Dance and the creative mind of Artistic Director Amber Funk Barton. It is a mesmerizing work that integrates innovative dance with multimedia seamlessly. In Barton’s own words; “My fascination with themes of survival and transformation allowed my imagination to create my version of a post-apocalyptic world that became a vessel to explore the literal and conceptual theme of stealing.”
I think in fact she, along with fellow dancers Heather Laura Gray, Maiko Miyauchi, Manuel Sorge, Kevin Tookey and Lexi Vajda...
Ballet BC is, in my opinion, the best performing arts company in Vancouver. Innovative, thought-provoking, collaborative, expressive, disciplined, inspired, dedicated and consistent in delivering a high standard of production.
After listening to Emily Molnar and Medhi Walerski at the pre-talk so eloquently describe the intentions and qualities of the work in Grace Symmetry and then experiencing (not just watching, but hearing and feeling) such a powerful, graceful, poignant and physically eloquent collection of pieces, I feel that my words are awkward and fumbling in comparison. There is no way to describe the depth, subtlety and...
Photography by Michael Slobodian. Dancers - Rachel Meyer & Darren Devaney
Precision and armwork. The articulations of flamenco dancers, totally fluid. Synced group work, a marching arrow of dancers, pierces towards the stage.
The music was at times odd, at times beautiful. Repetition of bass and distortion entered and exited the piece. Where were the dancers in relation to those sounds? It gnawed at me. In the minimalist aesthetic, nothing should be wasted or careless. It should matter.
The first half flew by.
The robotic dog opens the second half. Why is there a robotic dog on stage. Why does Wen Wei carry it along the backstage later?
In watching Wen Wei's latest creation, 7th Sense on Saturday night at the Playhouse, I experienced a myriad of sensations, thoughts and curiosities about the world that he and the dancers created for us that evening. At times I felt connected and invited into the world that the dancers were in and at other moments I felt completely cutoff from them and felt frustrated at the notion of wanting to be let in and not being allowed in. Most of all at the end of the piece I was left wondering, where the dancers were in time and...
