Reviews
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
Bird Bee Bat Attack
By Samantha Mehra Bird Bee Bat AttackThe collaboration of Malgorzata Nowacka and Anjelica Scannura delivered, in one short hour, a variety of movement styles, nuanced performances and a bridge between traditional and contemporary performance traditions.
Posted November 16, 2015
The Chaotic Clutter of Consumerism
By Zoe Quinn Unwrapping CultureSurprise and a certain thrill are expected with the act of unwrapping, and both were certainly delivered in Pichet Klunchun and Alvin Erasga Tolentino’s collaboration, Unwrapping Culture.
Posted October 28, 2015
Rhythms of Familiar Lovers
By Emma Doran lifeDUETsFeaturing choreography by Benjamin Kamino and Tedd Robinson, lifeDUETs for Karen and Allen Kaeja is a meditation on how the emotional polarities of a long-term partnership are, in fact, not oppositional but cut from the same cloth.
Posted October 28, 2015
Wherefore Gender
By Jordan Arseneault SituationsSitting in the Agora on opening night between a trained dancer seeing Stamos’s work for the first time and an established sound artist familiar with his oeuvre, I couldn’t help but see Situations as a sequel to Husk, with much of its symphonic elements, but also something new: a twinge of indeterminacy.
Posted October 20, 2015
A Natural Legend
Sleeping Beauty Reimagined for Families By Lori Straus The Sleeping BeautyThe Sleeping Beauty, perhaps one of the most beloved ballets of all, usually takes three to four hours to perform. Younger audiences can easily become bored, even at the most gorgeous and enthralling performance. Enter Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, with a shorter, reimagined version of this classic.
Posted October 20, 2015
Exploring the Manic, the Dark and the Wild
Prairie Dance Circuit By Amanda Bereska Prairie Dance CircuitPrairie Dance Circuit has become a highly anticipated annual event on the Prairies, featuring dance and other media artists from Western Canada on a tour across the plains to Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg.
Posted October 9, 2015
Pluton
La 2e Porte à Gauche, Danse-Cité and Agora de la danse By Philip Szporer PlutonAt the heart of Pluton (French for Pluto) is something quite unique. If the former planet Pluto is now an allegorical term for being ruled out, these here are dance artists who are not okay with being forgotten about – they are speaking up.
Posted October 2, 2015
The Need to Feel Special
The Principle of Pleasure By Jordan Arseneault Festival Grand CruIn the kind of serendipity that feels like a blessing from the zeitgeist, Gerard Reyes took to the La Chapelle Theatre the same week as the twenty-fifth anniversary of canonical voguing documentary Paris is Burning.
Posted September 25, 2015
A Mix of Light and Shadows
Dusk Dances 2015 By Mark Mann Dusk DancesDance rarely draws big crowds, and when it does, people don’t usually sprint and scramble for front-row seats. But such was the case at the opening of the twenty-first annual Dusk Dances, where 600 people – and many fine dogs – rushed back and forth across Withrow Park in Toronto’s east end to catch the best possible view of all five performances in this year’s program.
Posted August 13, 2015
Dancing on the Edge 2015: Part 2
MOVE: the company and Wen Wei Community Dancers By Pia LoDancing on the Edge (DOTE) has been a mainstay of the Vancouver dance scene for the past twenty-seven years, presenting outstanding work of professional artists from Vancouver and elsewhere while giving an equal platform to emerging artists. For many, their premiere at DOTE is often in collaboration with established professionals that may lead to return appearances in subsequent years. The opportunity to witness an individual artist’s progression over multiple performances, year over year, is another rewarding quality of this festival.
Posted July 28, 2015
