There is so much to see and do this week!
Just 2 weeks away, February 28 & 29, DanceHouse is excited to bring back to Vancouver for the third time, Grupo Corpo (Brazil) in two works, Dança Sinfônica & Gira. The Brazilian juggernaut Grupo Corpo channels the metaphysical with their new work Gira, where Choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras has infused his style with movement idioms inspired by Afro-Brazilian rituals. The company’s deep research into the cosmology and rites of Umbanda (the most widespread Brazilian-born religion) creates a new kind of performance aesthetic, possessed by a ripe sensuality and cathartic power. With music from São Paulo band Méta Méta, the dancers invoke a state of near-transcendental ecstasy, opening up a pathway from one plane of existence to the next. The corporeal world melds with the divine in a transformative journey of rare exaltation. Check out a video of the two works here.“Inspired by Afro-Brazilian religious rituals, Gira is carnal, raw and more than a little dangerous.” –Arts File. At the Vancouver Playhouse, 8 pm. Tix Speaking of Dance Pre-show talk will take place at 7:15pm each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby. Host Janet Smith (Georgia Straight) will moderate a discussion with Pedro Pederneiras (Grupo Corpo Co-founder)
Tonight, Friday February 14, Dance artist Anouk Froidevaux shares choreographic research developed in collaboration with Canadian filmmaker and cinematographer Daniel Froidevaux. Anouk’s work was born out of an immersive program at Tamalpa Institute in California with dance pioneer Anna Halprin and her daughter Daria Halprin where she learned The Life/Art Process®, allowing her to deepen her artistic practice through connecting with major personal life themes. Anouk is developing her choreographic language, which is grounded in her exploration between voice and movement, while adding a new dimension by working with film. At the ScotiaBank Dance Centre, 3:30 pm. FREE!
You still have time this Friday and Saturday, February 14 and 15, to get to The Cultch and New Works presentation of Tentacle Tribe in Ghost. Six of Montréal’s best street dancers immerse themselves in the mysterious mechanics of breathing, and interpret its life-giving rhythm. Combining elements of contemporary dance, hip hop, and martial arts in a physical score that echoes the subtle pulse of respiration, Tentacle Tribe approaches the body as a musical instrument with infinite possibilities. Inhalations and exhalations sculpt the group’s gestures, movement, and rhythm as interconnected bodies form striking human structures that shift, alter, and evolve in synergy with the music. Check out a video here. At the Cultch, 7:30 pm. Tix
Tuesday February 18, Dance Artists All Bodies Dance Project, Oksana Augustine, and Brenna Metzmeier, Eowynn Enquist, Isak Enquist, Sarah Formosa, and Ted Littlemore give an informal studio showing of works they have developed as part of the 12 Minutes Max program, with mentorship and feedback from guest curators Idan Cohen/Ne. Sans Opera and Dance and Raïna von Waldenburg. 12 Minutes Max aims to foster experimentation and the development of new work, along with critical feedback and community dialogue. Participating artists research and create short new pieces at Scotiabank Dance Centre with input from the guest curators, and share their work in an informal studio showing. At the scotiaBank Dance Centre, 6 – 7:30 pm. FREE!
Next Friday and Saturday February 21 and 22, Matriarchs Uprising / Talking Stick Festival present two evenings of works that bring together Indigenous women who are nurturing the art of contemporary dance so that it may be appreciated by audiences from all backgrounds – check out the website for some interviews with the artists. On Friday, in an evening titled Same But Different, DubaiKungkaMiyalk brings together a double bill of solo works by Mariaa Randall and Henrietta Baird, two contemporary choreographers who tell stories through dance. Each woman has created a work that draws on their individual dance practice. While both artists’ style of moving may be different, the women are unified by their common desire to move. Baird’s Protocols is a solo investigating cultural protocols; questioning when to follow cultural law and when to break it in order to keep culture alive. Randall’s I’Dentity dissects the boundaries of identity and questions who gets to draw the line. Same but Different places the women and their work side by side to challenge any notion that all Indigenous dance is the same.
On Saturday, KIRI is an interdisciplinary performance combining dance, sculpture and video by choreographer and video artist, Louise Potiki Bryant, and clay artist Paerau Corneal with a hypnotic sound score by composer, Paddy Free. KIRI explores the integrity of clay in a pre-ceramic state and acknowledges the creation of Hine-ahu-one, the first woman created from earth in our Māori creation traditions. KIRI means ‘skin’ and clay is activated in contact with the dancer’s skin which in turn animates the dancer. KIRI is a conversation between a dancer and a sculptor redefining our mutual knowledge of skin and clay, movement and form and concepts of geology/ whakapapa (genealogy), the sacred and the mundane.The second work of the evening, Link is a warrior dance, choreographed by Aria Evans, about the blockades we come across in life, focusing on the idea of forging ahead and asking the question; “What is my generation fighting for or against?” At the Cultch, 7:30 pm. Tix
The Friday Round Up is here for you, a place to share anything that is happening in the dance world in Vancouver – performances, workshops, conferences, festivals…all of it! If you have something you would like to announce on The Friday Round Up, please send it to debora@dancehouse.ca We look forward to hearing from you!
