Review
2005 ALBERTA DANCE EXPLOSIONS
Dancers’ Studio West
Alberta Dance Explosions came to a close on February 26, marking the end of the 23rd annual edition of this festival of choreography at Dancers’ Studio West. Of course, you don’t want to hear that, and neither do I. Fear not, more work will be forthcoming from many of the choreographers and dancers featured at this event, including at DSW. In the meantime, I’m going to try and recap the last evening as I saw it, in the most creative and profound way.
Fiona Malena’s Rhythm Fire explored the relationship and collaboration between dancer and musician, and the dancer as musician. A fusion of jazz and flamenco between Malena and percussionist Robin Tuffs, during this piece it was often difficult to tell who was controlling the music as the stamping of feet melded with drum beats. Flamenco met jazz in a hybrid of the traditional Spanish dance with modern movement, and took centre stage in an enthusiastic and palpable work.
By contrast, the majority of Gargoyle used the studio wall. The sounds were organic, with shades of electronica. Trina Rasmuson’s movement was simple and structured. Dancer Edward Mitchell appeared as a creature, at times reminiscent of Tolkien’s Gollum, cradling his face and body with his arms. The movement was always close to the ground or wall, with Mitchell barefoot. There was a striking three-dimensionality to the work, as Mitchell’s hands replaced his feet, which replaced his back, turning him nearly upside down, his body curling into the floor.
Annalisa Bentzen pulled out all the stops for her presentation of B^%@$’# OUT in a new space (DSW is smaller and more confined than the University Theatre, where this piece premièred for Dance Montage). Bentzen explored feminine power as an interplay between the repetition of patterns and individual defined movements, with a group including herself and four other dancers.
Ballet met rave met faux fashion-show grit in Maya Lewandowsky’s risky creation, which is part of La Caravan Dance Theatre’s The Corridor, a bigger piece to be presented at DSW in April. In an askew sense of bliss and aggravation, Lewandowsky and four other dancers took the floor in aggressive movement set to the pulsing sound of Younger Brother.
A day in the life of four characters was put under a magnifying glass in putabella. Sarisa Figueroa’s piece incorporates everyday activities such as getting up, getting dressed, eating chips, walking and smoking with ferocity. All of her characters have attitude, but are quite likable as they dance through sequences set to Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.
And of course, there were the boys. Jason Carnew and Edward Mitchell came up with a daring creation, Alone/Together, mixing theatre, movement and performance art. This venture explored the sound, movement and various meanings of the one thing we all can have in abundance: pennies. These copper pieces of useless currency became integral to the performance, from setup to finish, and to the relationship of the performers onstage. Delving into the nature of male friendship with movement, Carnew and Mitchell were at times smug, at other times vulnerable or aggressive.
While Alone/Together deserves honourable mention for its originality and creativity, I have to say the Upstagement Awardä (just invented) of the evening should go to guest artist Laurie Montemurro, who pulled an amusing character out of a hat. Starting with an empty chair onstage, and savvily danced – in a costume that included a tutu and fedora – to the strains of Tom Waits, Montemurro’s Still Weighting was where beauty met the ridiculous, bearing some resemblance to the Waits musical The Black Rider and every good film by Tim Burton. There was a creepy innocence to this shrewd but nameless character, whose adeptness captivated the audience. |
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