Last Friday I had the opportunity to watch a performance of Do Animals Cry?  which is a work by Meg Stuart, performed by her dance company, Damaged Goods.  I was very unsure of what to expect, “controversial” being the word I heard most often associated with Stuart.  I chose to do no research on Stuart or her work before attending the show, so that I would go in with a completely open mind.

Now, a few days later, I’m still trying to process everything I saw performed.  There were many things about the show that were not easy for an audience, and challenged both the audience’s patience and its comfort level.  But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.  The show was two hours, with no intermission and no re-entry into the theatre.  This alone was hard for many audience members to absorb, and I think led some people choosing to exit the performance within the first hour.  They missed out, however.  Throughout the two hours of Do Animals Cry? we were given view into the inner workings and inner musings of  the five dancers on stage and the characters they were inhabiting. 

In doing some reading after the fact about Meg Stuart, I learned that she likes to challenge ideas of privacy, memories and exposure onstage.  Lying beneath much of her work is an examination of the failure to communicate, and that can definitely be said of this show.  We’re lead to believe that the dancers we see in front of us are members of a family, but as the show continues it becomes increasingly clear that we don’t really know how they all relate to each other.  Family they may be, but there’s also dances between “family” members who move as though they don’t know each other, or, in some cases, don’t trust each other.

Perhaps most challenging about this show is the way the show pushes the boundaries of what many people consider to be dance.  Stuart does self-describe as someone searching for new forms of cooperation and intersection between the art forms of dance, theatre, visual art and architecture.  She likes the tension that exists between dance and theatre, and that was highlighted in the show.  There were several moments that made the audience cringe, be they suddenly angry confrontations between dancers or seemingly heartless behaviour towards one another.   Often these moments involved little or no dance movement – some featured extended periods of facial expression, others the dancers all standing still for long enough that the audience questioned if they would move again.  Neither of these are experiences typical to watching a dance performance, and so challenged the audience’s expectations.

The two-hour long show was not an easy one for its audience, but I think well worth it for those who waited and allowed themselves to follow the flow of the performance on stage. 

Coming up on Sunday, March 7, is an event called The World Tap Show, presented by What’s On? Tap! Dance Company.  The company is an all-female tap dancing group, and they’ll present a show inspired by music and dance styles from various cultures, all connected through dance.  For those of you who, like me, don’t know much about tap dance and its rich history, this show sounds like the perfect opportunity to learn about and see some beautiful tap performances.

As an added draw, Everett Smith, the tap sensation from the most recent season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, will be a guest performer!

The show will take place at the Living Arts Centre, in Mississauga, and tickets are on-sale now.

I found out about this show through The Dance Current's great website, Destination Dance ~ Danse, a great resource for performance listings across Canada.

In writing about various dance events, it’s not often I come across one happening in Sept-Îles, Quebec.  Today, however, I found a listing for a performance by Sylvain Émard Danse there on February 26!

I’ve never seen Sylvain perform myself, but he danced with such legendary choreographers as Jean-Pierre Pearreault, before himself turning to choreography.  Since 1987, when he opened his own company, he has created a distinctive choreographic style.

In Sept-Îles he will present Wave, which is the last part in the Climatology of bodies trilogy.  In these works, Émard uses climate as a metaphor for how our lives are influenced by external happenings.

The work sounds very exciting, and is performed by an all-female cast.  I’d love to be able to check it out! 

For those of you in Sept-Îles, Émard will be at the Salle de spectacle de Sept-Îles, Salle Jean-Marc-Dion on Friday, February 26.

I found out about this dance happening through the Dance Current’s Destination Dance ~ Danse, a great resource for dance performances across Canada.

When I watched The National Ballet of Canada perform Crystal Pite’s Emergence last year, I was mesmerized by the choreography.  So, when I saw that she’s performing out west over the next little while, I thought I should definitely let everyone know.  She’ll be performing her newest work, Dark Matters, in Calgary and Edmonton over the next two weekends. 

Having only seen one of her works up until now, I don’t feel equipped to talk much about her choreographic style.  I can say that watching her work for the ballet company was exciting, and I really love the way she thinks about movement, and what moving the body can constitute.  I look forward to watching more of her stuff in the future.

For now, those of you out west check her out! She’s in Edmonton tomorrow, at the Citadel Theatre, then Vancouver at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre on February 26 – 27.

Check out Kidd Pivot’s website for more info on them, and on Crystal Pite.

I found out about this performance through The Dance Current’s Destination Dance ~ Danse website, a great resource for dance performances in Canada.

Those of you living in the Calgary area are lucky!  Starting on February 10 and continuing through the 27, Dancers’ Studio West is presenting the 28th annual Dance Explosions in Calgary.  This festival highlights Alberta dance artists, giving them five months to work together, and then they present their works at the festival.

Choreographers being featured this year include Deanne Walsh, Kimberley Cooper, Maya Lewandowsky, Wojciech Mochniej (WM2) and more.  You can buy a festival pass that gives you access to each weekend’s performances, and they all sound like they’ll be super interesting.

Check out Dancers’ Studio West’s website for more information.

I found out about this dance performance through The Dance Current's Destination Dance ~ Danse website, a great resource for dance performances across Canada.