Reviews
Sounding Off
Broken Sound2 by Brian Webb Dance Company By Jennifer Mesch Broken Sound squaredIn Broken Sound2 by sound and visual artist Gary James Joynes and dancer/choreographer Brian Webb, the entire audience is invited onto the proscenium stage. The audience sits on benches and cushions around the performers and become enclosed within the stage space and the projection panels as the curtain closes.
Posted March 16, 2016
Footsteps Across Canada
A Journey Across Canada's African Diaspora By Colleen Snell Footsteps Across CanadaWhile the choreographic work varied drastically from one piece to the next, universal themes of loss, tradition, internal struggle, displacement and the challenges posed by communication wove the dances together.
Posted March 14, 2016
Four Portraits of a Young Woman
Kathleen Hiley Solo Projects By Holly Harris Kathleen Hiley Solo ProjectsThe eclectic program featured three commissioned world premieres by Montréal soloist Margie Gillis, Winnipeg-based choreographers Peter Quanz and Hiley’s mother, Gaile Petursson-Hiley, as well as a signature work by acclaimed dance artist Stephanie Ballard.
Posted March 10, 2016
Exchanging Gaze
Liz Santoro and Pierre Godard at PuSh By Brittany Duggan Relative ColliderRelative Collider by New York- and Paris-based Liz Santoro and Pierre Godard of Paris begins quietly and doesn’t stray far from the casual and meticulous vibe it sets up. What this seemingly simple work lacked in dynamism, it gained in space to receive and absorb imagery and connections between the dancers, Godard and the open space.
Posted February 23, 2016
Major Motion Picture
Out Innerspace Dance Theatre By Robin J. MillerIt’s hard not to expect a lot from Vancouver’s Out Innerspace Dance Theatre. Their last piece, Me So You So Me, knocked the socks off critics and audiences alike across the country. Major Motion Picture does not feel as integrated or complete, but it has enough moments of breathtaking originality to make it a must-see.
Posted February 22, 2016
Telling Histories in Present Tense
Royal Winnipeg Ballet By Emma Doran Going Home Star - truth and reconciliationI attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s latest commission, Going Home Star, with eagerness and a drop of apprehension. How do I “judge” or describe the representation of this history that is so integral to present lives, policies and dialogues? Who am I to do this?
Posted February 19, 2016
Van Grimde Corps Secrets
Symphonie 5.1 By Philip Szporer Symphonie 5.1Multimedia experimentation is the driving force behind Symphonie 5.1, a platform for applying video projections as a light source, working to reveal dancers’ bodies, or a sense of them, rather than showing other pre-recorded images alongside them.
Posted February 12, 2016
Rock Dance Returns
The Holy Body Tattoo and Godspeed You! Black Emperor at PuSh By Brittany Duggan monumentalmonumental by The Holy Body Tattoo was a major highlight at this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. It grapples with contemporary themes such as the anxiety of urban life – modern society’s persisting anxiety – and an increasing interaction and dependence with technology. And though not narrative, the social and political threads root the work, making it relevant and relatable.
Posted February 10, 2016
Urban Myth
Next Stage Theatre Festival By Christina Strynatka URBAN MYTHThe only dance highlight at this year’s Next Stage Theatre Festival was Urban Myth, brainchild of York University grad Deanne Kearney.
Posted February 8, 2016
After Thirty Years, Kokoro Dances the Book of Love
By Andrea Rabinovitch The Book of LoveThe Book of Love is a dense, multi-layered exploration of filial love, sexual love, maternal love, violent love. Often tragic, sometimes hilarious, all elements combine to create a highly entertaining experience.
Posted December 17, 2015
The Big and Small of Power Dynamics
By Christina Strynatka ArmbandArmband an exploration into some of the push-and-pull of relationships that govern us every day, including power, community and individuality.
Posted December 3, 2015
When Love Was Pink
By Mark Mann Rosé Porn Zoja SmutnyZoja Smutny’s Rosé Porn is the culmination of her two-year residency at Dancemakers. In it, Smutny reshapes the performance space as an arena of possibility and potential, rather than a platform for the delivery of entertaining product.
Posted November 27, 2015
Permission to View Freely
entrances and exits by TOES for Dance By Sarah Lochhead Entrances & Exitsentrances and exits by TOES for Dance showcased a diverse range of what one might expect to see under the catch-all term contemporary dance with eleven individual dance pieces on the bill.
Posted November 21, 2015
Regrets, I’ve had a Few
By Philip Szporer Piaf by Atlantic Ballet TheatreIn the middle of this jittery ballet there is a quiet, intimate sequence that suggests what Piaf, created by Moncton’s Atlantic Ballet Theatre, could be.
Posted November 21, 2015
