Men on Springboards
He celebrates the male form
PREVIEW
HE
Springboard Dance
October 4 to 6
Martha Cohen Theatre (CPA)
No one can say that Springboard Dance does things by half. For close to 15 years, the company has persevered against a lot of odds, including financial growing pains and Calgary’s infamous lack of affordable venues and decent office space. Despite all the hurdles, the risk-taking company has squeezed out some edgy work, setting up shop at the Centre for Performing Arts and balancing their books while educating Calgarians about contemporary dance.
He, the company’s latest production, pays tribute to the male approach, featuring both local choreographers and some of Canada’s finest male mentors, including Serge Bennethan, Brent Lott, Peter Bingham and Tedd Robinson. As with Springboard’s previous projects, He is no small production, and co-founder and co-artistic director Shelley Tognazzini is excited about the wake-up call to the male form.
"I think the bottom line is the concept of all-male dance," says Tognazzini. "There is a trend nationally to delve into the male perspective".
Tognazzini, a Graham-trained dancer herself, was first approached about the project by local choreographer Laurie Montemurro, who also co-founded Springboard and now works independently. The company’s three current artistic directors, all women, gave their full backing to the project, drumming up strong support in no time.
"I want to see projects where local artists are infused with a national energy, and where we get the opportunity to learn from each other," says Tognazzini. "The idea that these men are senior established professionals in their field offers a good range, so we want to get behind it and really branch out in the community."
The production will feature seven different works choreographed by men, with the exception of Montemurro and her seven-minute piece Demento, which features Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ Jason Stroh as a mystical creature with clipped wings that seeks to regain his flight to freedom. Stroh will also perform in Study of Two, a male duet that he choreographed himself. Wojtek Mochniej, who recently moved to Calgary from Poland, completes the list of local choreographers with his coming-of-age multimedia piece Three… Thirty Four.
Springboard’s out-of-town guests, all celebrated Canadian icons, will be choreographing and offering workshops and panel discussions throughout the run. Bingham, a pioneer in contact dance from B.C’s Experimental Dance and Music Company, will perform an improv solo accompanied by a cellist. Robinson, the award-winning director of Ottawa’s 10 Gates Dancing, will co-choreograph and perform Recruiting Recalcitrance, a hip-hop influenced b-boy duet. Bennethan, director of Toronto’s Danceworks, will choreograph Quatrième Nocturne, another duet accompanied on piano. As the only female choreographer, Montemurro admits that it’s a bit awkward to have a group of women behind the scenes.
"I’m really hoping that men will pick up on this and continue to do it," Montemurro remarks. "Part of the idea is that in modern dance, men are too often treated more like props onstage for women, and sometimes when you get men dancing you also get a female movement. Here, it’s masculinity and sensuality, in the best sense of the word."
The company will also be exhibiting male dance photography in the lobby, featuring visual artists Nicole Tritter, Kenneth Doren, Skip O’Lady and James Jenson.
"We wanted the classes, the panel discussion – and out of that came the photography exhibit – to really reach the community, and all these incredible artists have really teamed up to present the work." |
