South African choreographer Dada Masilo presents this alternate version of Swan Lake in Montréal January 14-16.
The differences of this contemporary version are clear by sight – everyone in tutus, barefeet – but Masilo’s choreography dives much deeper. The work deals with homophobia, forced marriages, the legacy of apartheid and the ravages of AIDS – all with sensitivity and humour. In Masilo’s version, Prince Siegfried falls in love with neither Odette nor Odile but instead with a male black swan.
Born in 1985, Masilo studied classical and contemporary dance in South Africa growing up, followed by two years in Brussels at PARTS, the dance school founded by the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Masilo founded her company in 2008.
Learn more >> dansedanse.ca
As a part of our series, Dance Criticism: Perceptions, challenges and the future, Grace Wells-Smith speaks to four Canadian dance critics about how dance criticism fits into the current fold.
“This significant evening-length political work explores notions of homeland, and a journey from an immigrant ship to the factory floor,” says Philip Szporer of Désir’s new work, a performance highlight in the March/April 2015 issue.
ON
March 26-21 mai 2021
Catch on demand performances from Fall for Dance North’s 2019 event at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), celebrating the legacy of Merce Cunningham (Available until May 21)
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