FFWD Weekly
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Let the light come to you
Rachel Browne offers choreography for the young and old at heart
by Nikki SheppyRachel Browne: Toward Light and other works
April 24 - 26
in the Studio Theatre IIInspired in part by the mythic figures in the popular book Women Who Run With the Wolves, "Toward Light" is a new work by choreographer Rachel Browne, founder of Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers. According to Browne, what was paramount to her in the piece was exploring movement in itself.
"I try to approach most of my choreography with the movement only," she explains. "With 'Toward Light,' for instance, I actually created the piece in silence, which was very difficult. But it forced me to find the heart of the movement."
After choreographing the work, Browne listened to all kinds of music to locate a sound that was appropriate for it. She then re-worked the piece with consideration for its musical accompaniment. It's a technique that sits in sharp contrast to most traditional choreography.
"It wasn't just a case of using the sound as background music," says Browne. "Once it was brought into the process, there was a great deal of listening and (re-examination), with full respect and regard for that music."
Of the two excerpts that will be shown, the first is a rhythmic and defiant solo performed in silence by Davida Monk, a faculty member with the University of Calgary's Dance Program.
The second excerpt is actually the finale. Set to Bach's 5th Cello Suite, it features six dancers (including Browne) ranging in age from young to crone. The piece opens with the older dancers moving in a very dignified way, in keeping with the deep, rich dignity of the cello. Then, in stark contrast to the music, the young dancers erupt and take over the stage.
Again, says Browne, the goal wasn't to visualize the sound.
"Because I was combining baroque music with contemporary movement," she explains, "I tried not to stick too religiously to the beat and the phrase of the music. I tried (at some points) to really have the dancers move in contrast to it."
According to Browne, the comparison between the styles of movement of the younger and older dancers was all rooted in the idea of continuity.
"lt feels very much like there's a passing on from the older generation to the younger generation," she says. "And I think continuity is important - especially in dance. It's one of the few remaining arts where the information has to be passed on from one body - literally, one physical body - to the other."
Reverberating with archetypal significance, "Toward Light" is also Browne's response to what she absorbed from Women Who Run With the Wolves. Keep your eyes open for some of the mythic figures described by Clarissa Pinkola Estes - in particular, the headless goddess who sees with her body and the bone woman who scrapes the ground endlessly looking for her lost children.
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