Reviews
Wanted Rides the Line Between Campy and Cool
CAMP’s swaggering cowboy comedy considers good and evil at Vancouver International Dance Festival By Tessa Perkins DeneaultThe world of the cowboy is the setting for CAMP’s exploration of good and evil, but the idea that hero and villain can be a matter of perspective applies to us all.
Posted June 7, 2021
Stories of Struggle and Triumph Underscore GRIT: Short Dances
Five emerging artists showcase the diversity of Asian cultures and identities By Joshua ChongGRIT: Short Dances is an online showcase of five dancefilms streaming on YouTube from May 14 to 21. Together, they form a kaleidoscopic tapestry that offers a glimpse into the breadth of Asian perspectives that are woven into the fabric of our country.
Posted May 21, 2021
The Coming Silence Is a Wild Ride
kloetzel&co.’s self-guided tour presents a wilderness that is threatened by extinction By Jenna ShummoogumA performance centred on extinction, The Coming Silence interprets humanity’s place in the wilderness of today.
Posted May 10, 2021
Propeller Dance Brings Vibrant Joy to Our Living Rooms for Earth Day 2021
Celebrating and connecting with the Earth in the virtual age of a pandemic By Patricia AllisonStepping into Propeller Dance’s two-hour live and interactive virtual Earth Day celebration was like being welcomed into a warm and vibrant community.
Posted May 3, 2021
The Dance Centre’s Latest Show in the Discover Dance! Series Is a Flamenco Smorgasbord
Kasandra “La China” offers a cursory introduction to the flamenco art form that leaves you wanting more By Joshua ChongThere’s much to admire in this short half-hour performance. Kasandra “La China”’s love for the art form shines through clearly, and her captivating performance pulls off what every showcase should do: it leaves you wanting more.
Posted April 23, 2021
Belinda McGuire’s ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Dancefilm Invigorates a Challenged Art Form
Order in the Eye of the Beholder is available until April 30 By Deirdre KellyUser control is a constitutive feature of electronic gaming but foreign to contemporary dance, making this project by the Canadian-born, New York-based indie dance artist Belinda McGuire genuinely innovative.
Posted April 13, 2021
Orange Is a Mesmerizing Duet on Human Connection
Deanna Peters/Mutable Subject and Less San Miguel/LessIZM’s experimental creation melds two bodies into one By Joshua ChongJoshua Chong reviews Plastic Orchid Factory’s production of Orange, an aching but welcome antidote in this era of physical distancing.
Posted April 12, 2021
KNOW the RULES, WIN the GAME Is a Clever Look at the Artist in Politics
Kunji Ikeda uses history and humour to ask what would happen if artists today were trusted advisors to government By Rachel Silver MaddockKunji Ikeda presents “the artist” as vulnerable though essential to the state in his work KNOW the RULES, WIN the GAME.
Posted April 8, 2021
Aching Distances
Ali Robson’s performance response to Dancing with Tantalus in review By Jillian GroeningAli Robson’s performance response to the visual art exhibition Dancing with Tantalus considers what is cultivated through the dynamic proximities of bodies, surfaces and art objects in virtual space.
Posted March 24, 2021
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ Drive-In Show Is an Innovative Pandemic Performance
There is something in the details closes tonight By Jenna ShummoogumDecidedly Jazz Danceworks’ There is something in the details takes place through the windows of the company’s building. Music and voice-overs stream through a radio frequency that you can access in your car. Every vehicle is parked on an angle so that each cohort can have the best sightlines, and instead of applause, people honk their horns in appreciation. This is pandemic performance.
Posted March 20, 2021
‘Historians’ Is an Ode to Black Lives and Blackness Dedicated to the Spirits and Soul of Us Black Folx
Kevin Ormsby reviews the short film that won Best Social Justice Film at the Vancouver Independent Film Festival By Kevin A. Ormsby Posted February 26, 2021
Sweet As Sugarplum
A review of Goh Ballet’s film, The Nutcracker, Beyond the Stage: Fallen Prince By Brannavy JeyasundaramBrannavy Jeyasundaram reviews Goh Ballet’s film version of a holiday classic
Posted January 11, 2021
Embodied Geographies
Review of Joshua Whitehead’s Making Love With the Land By Jillian GroeningMaking Love With the Land is a welcome moment of grounding within the dizzying cacophony of virtual performance events. While digital spaces course with emergent methods through which to experience temporal arts practices, the conversational sequencing of Making Love With the Land evokes a rhythmic embrace that is further supported by the warm timbre of Joshua Whitehead’s voice.
Posted December 22, 2020
When Dancing Is a Total Nightmare
Fear of Dancing follows filmmaker Michael Allcock, whose fear of dancing keeps him on the sidelines By Philip SzporerThe Toronto-based filmmaker Michael Allcock is terrified of dancing. In his feature documentary Fear of Dancing, Allcock is front and centre, detailing his views on dancing, which he sees as an affliction.
Posted December 8, 2020
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