September/October 2012
Dance Central A Dance Centre Publication
Dangerously Important A conversation with Su-Feh Lee by Andreas Kahre
Content Dangerously Important: A conversation about Dance and Language with Su-Feh Lee Page 1
Executive Director Mirna Zagar introduces the coming season The Dance Centre
AK: Over the past year, I have been talking to a wide variety of dance artists about their practice, and the language they use to speak of it. When we talk of developing a critical language for dance artists, and efforts like the Dialogue on Dance Writing Facebook group, your name continues to come up. Many regard you as someone who has made a concerted, if sometimes controversial effort to bring a critical language to dance. What moves you? SFL: I think as you start to care about dance, you realize it is a serious artform, but the absence of a critical dialogue about it relegates it to being something more decorative. People often refer to dance as a young artform, but actually it is ancient, and still we haven't developed a language that honours dance as a distinct practice. Sometimes we borrow language or ways of looking from other forms, like visual art, and in the process we reduce it to an object, or frame it in an inappropriate paradigm. In talking about dance I am concerned with making it accepted as a form with the capacity to interrogate and critique the world, not merely to entertain. Dance artists need to get comfortable speaking not just about their own work but also about the world. All artists need to do that, but dance artists have chosen a medium that traditionally tends to be silent. And so their opinions and views remain unvoiced. I think this has repercussions on the dancing body and on dance itself.
Page 5
Thinking Bodies: Claire French talks about the collaborative process for Restless Productions upcoming The Moment of Forgetting Page 6
Dance Calendar September/October 2012. Page 12
I was recently talking to Justine Chambers, in the context of our project on discourse The Talking, Thinking Dancing Body. I noted that though some people might consider my work interdisciplinary, or multidisciplinary, I identify as a dance artist. For political reasons I insist that I am a dance artist because I want to remind people that dance is more than what they might perceive— that dance can encompass a great deal, including talking and thinking. AK: Thinking back to places like Simon Fraser University during the 1980s, the disagreement in the community as to what dance is and what its relationship to language should be has a long history. I remember how avidly some dance artists embraced interdisciplinary work and the critical language that was forming, especially in relation to performance art, while others rejected it with equal vehemence and insisted continued on page 2
Welcome to the September/ October 2012 issue of Dance Central. Welcome to the September/October issue of Dance Central, and the first issue to go online to the community at large a month after it is published to members of the Dance Centre. We are very pleased to expand the role of Dance Central in this way and invite you to participate oin making it a more inclusive and comprehensive publi-
continued from cover
that 'dancing is dancing and talking is talking'. In Europe, or even in Toronto, the division seemed to run more along the line of formalism v. experimental work, while the Westcoast vernacular struggled to integrate multiculturalism, various spiritual practices, and post-structuralist theory. But while performance artists established a critical language for themselves, dance artists seem to remain at odds with it. SFL: There are people who say "What you just did didn't feel like dance to me; it was more like performance art." To which I say, " Whatever you want to call it is your problem." To me it is dance, and ultimately the question I would ask these people is: "Regardless of what you thought it was, did you stay engaged, did you feel something in your body?" Ultimately these questions bring me back to asking 'what is dance?', and 'why dance?' It becomes an existential question that is important for all artists at all points of their career: Why this form? Why is it important? It is the same with any artform. Why music? Why sing?
cation by offering your feedback and making suggestions for writing on dance you would like to see included. This issue opens with a dialogue about developing a somatic language for dance with Su-Feh Lee, who has for many years been advocating a critical dialogue about dance and argues for a greater role of dance artists in the social and political world.
AK: I am struck by the fact that dance artists seem more likely to return to fundamental questions such as 'what is dance?' than artists in other disciplines. Of course methodologies and boundaries are being questioned everywhere, but the question 'what is visual art?' isn't heard as often as it once was. SFL: I wonder if that is really true. Perhaps in some artforms the questions are implicit in the work, but I am also thinking of John Cage's questions about 'what is music?', for example.
The Thinking Bodies series presents a portrait of Claire French and her new collaborative work with composer James Maxwell and Restless Productions, which is about to open at Scotiabank Dance Centre in early October.
AK: True, but Cage asked those questions fifty years ago, and composers now rarely concern themselves with the distinction between musical sound and noise in the same terms as they did back then.
We are also very pleased to announce that as of October 2012, Dance Central will be made available to the public online, and, we hope, will continue to grow and connect the dance community with its audiences. Again, while this issue is devoted to conversations, we encourage you to submit writing, and ideas for new projects any time, to continue to make Dance Central a more vital link to the community. The deadline for submissions is the first day of the month prior to publication. Please send material by email to members@thedance-
SFL: But don't you think the question 'what is music?' continues in the way we grapple with, say, authorship or how people sample or loop, or how crowdsourcing influences composers? I think those questions are always there. AK: I agree. Perhaps the way dance artists ask them relates to the fact that dance is neither based exclusively in a material practice, nor in a representational language. Critical language in other artforms formed in relation to a critical investigation of these aspects, while dance, until relatively recently, seemed to remain more bound by its traditions.
centre.ca. or call us at 604.606.6416. We look forward to the conversation! Andreas Kahre, Editor 2
Dance Central September/October 2012
SFL: Well, actually I think that of all the disciplines at the Canada Council, dance is on the one hand the most conservative, and on the other the most experimental. The range it encompasses is arguably larger than that of any other discipline. I think if you look
at the practice of dance, and the huge scope it covers, from traditional to contemporary but also from one culture to another, the meeting of all those different notions of dance forces a dance practitioner always to ask: 'What is dance?' and try to figure out how we all belong to the same club. AK: That large scope represents a challenge in finding common points of reference and a shared terminology, doesn't it? SFL: I guess that is the challenge, and one of the things I am curious about. So often, critical discourse is based on having a shared field of knowledge, a common set of assumptions. So when we discuss the Western canon of music or visual arts there are certain references we are all supposed to know. Yet traditionally in dance education, even knowledge of the Western canon is kind of patchy. Many people aren't aware of the American lineages, or the European lineages, or our relationship to empire and colonialism and how that affects what we see and do. Dance is just something you do with your body NOW, as if your body was unaffected by history and geography, and there may be no understanding of, or importance placed upon where things come from and what their historical and social context is. This challenge becomes particularly acute when you encounter dance from and contexts other than an American or Eurocentric one. This is of particular concern for me, because I come from a different lineage of dance than most people here, and by necessity have had to navigate all these different influences in my life. You can't assume that there is one common language, or set of assumptions for all dance, and yet I feel there must be a way we can have or develop a multifocal conversation which acknowledges what we don't know, and still allows us to talk about dance. AK: Have you found anything that approaches a language that encompasses that? SFL: I don't know if I have found it in any one place, but I intuit that it's possible if we develop kind of a somaticbased language, so that we honour our physical responses, but have it in dialogue which things we know and don't know about the world and about politics. It’s a vast world, and a vast body, and the wonder of it all is that there are more questions than there are answers. Embrace the questions and the voids, I think. AK: Do the various social media represent a greater opportunity to develop such a model in your view?
Dangerously Important A conversation with Su-Feh Lee continued
SFL: I thought that the Dialogue on Dance Writing Facebook group that David Raymond set up was awesome. Almost immediately I started inviting people from across the world into the group, so that it wouldn't remain America– or Vancouver–centric. So that there would be an awareness of different contexts at work. So, yes, I think that social media is a good thing for dialogue. I also think that Youtube has presented a younger generation of dancers access to much more information than was available twenty years ago. There really is no excuse for ignorance anymore. AK: With the end of dance coverage by the Vancouver Sun, there is even less opportunity for dialogue about dance, let alone critical writing about the artform. SFL: Yes, it is practically the last nail in the coffin, but even before, with the conflation of art and entertainment, much of the dance coverage was geared towards the reader as potential consumer. There has been a lot of dance writing as shopping guide, really. There really hasn't been any dance writing in the city that has contextualized dance outside this very narrow reference of one person’s aesthetic response – “I liked it, I didn’t, I was moved, I was confused” – and a usually banal description. I would like to see writing that acknowledges the person’s response (as valid as anything) but also connects what they see to dance practice elsewhere, to history and to other practices. AK: Some disciplines have made efforts to create their own vehicles for critical dialogue. Plank magazine, an online publication comes to mind, which seemed to give the theatre community a focus for writing about performances. Do you see something like that developing for dance? SFL: I think there are beginnings. There is currently an initiative by CADA/BC in partnership with DanceHouse, The Cultch and The Dance Centre called Dance Response, which encourages discourse and involves a writing component. continued on page 11
Dance Central September/October 2012
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Dance Central The Dance Centre Scotiabank Dance Centre Level6, 677 Davie Street Vancouver BC V6B 2G6 T 604.606.6400 F 604.606.6401 info@thedancecentre.ca www.thedancecentre.ca Dance Central is published every two months by The Dance Centre for its members and for the dance community. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent Dance Central or The Dance Centre. The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or length, or to meet house requirements. Editor Andreas Kahre Copy Editor Hilary Maxwell Contributors to this issue: Su-Feh Lee Claire French Mirna Zagar
Next:
Dance Central November/ December 2012
Dance Centre Board Members Chair Andrea Wink Vice Chair Janice Wells Treasurer Roman Goldmann Directors Serge Bennathan Barbara Bourget Alison Denham Margaret Grenier Stephanie Hungerford Anndraya T. Luui Simone Orlando Gavin Ryan Jordan Thomson Ingrid M. Tsui Dance Foundation Board Members Chair Michael Welters Vice Chair Matthew Woodruff Secretary Anndraya T. Luui Treasurer Jennifer Chung Directors Santa Aloi, Linda Blankstein, Grant Strate Dance Centre Staff: Executive Director Mirna Zagar Programming Coordinator Raquel Alvaro Marketing Manager Heather Bray Services Administrator Anne Daroussin Development Director Sheri Urquhart Technical Director Cass Turner Accountant Lil Forcade Member Services Coordinator Hilary Maxwell
The Dance Centre is BC's primary resource centre for the dance profession and the public. The activities of The Dance Centre are made possible by numerous individuals. Many thanks to our members, volunteers, community peers, board of directors and the public for your ongoing commitment to dance in BC. Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome. The operations of The Dance Centre are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver through the Office of Cultural Affairs.
4 Dance Central September/October
Media and Dance Thinking Bodies: Anne Cooper Designing Dance
and more...
From the Executive Director Dear Members, We engage in a new season, as always, with anticipation and great expectations. And what a year it is going to be: You may already have noticed our updated website and new way of organizing content, which we hope will respond to the needs we have heard you state in the past year. We continue to listen and welcome your feedback. The coming season features what we believe is a stimulating and diverse series of dance experiences that will surprise, entertain and inspire! Our Global Dance Connections contemporary dance series sets the mood for discovery with local, national and international artists bringing some thrilling works to the stage. The ever-popular Discover Dance! noon series is a great way to embrace dance expressions rooted in BC’s many cultural traditions, and bridges two community-spirited celebrations: our 11th Annual Open House on September 15th (don’t forget the party!) and National Dance Week culminating in International Dance Day. Designed for all members of the dance community, these fun, educational and participatory events offer an ideal opportunity for the novice dance enthusiast to become more engaged in the activities of The Dance Centre and of our vibrant dance community – so invite your neighbours and your friends, let them know that they are welcome, or better still join them and make a dance outing of the day! Behind the scenes, where our members engage with us in many different ways, we remain committed to fostering the development of dance artists across all of our programs, to supporting the creativity of our community and to nurturing the development of new work. For the coming year, we are excited to continue our collaboration with the Canadian Music Centre in fostering dialogue between dancemakers and composers. TRYPTICH, the international choreographic project will be completed this season, but the connection between the Vancouver dance community and those in Montreal and Italy is just beginning to grow. Together with our partners we are exploring ways to build on the success of the project, to deepen the experience
and broaden its reach, and to ensure sustainable funding for it to continue and grow. We are making ongoing efforts to strengthen the collaboration with Montreal’s Festival Transatlantique and their network of partners. We are also diligently exploring ways to engage with our EU colleagues as the EU invites Canada into its cultural programming in 2014. These are all important opportunities and they will expand as—and if—BC funding for dance and the arts expands. Hence we were very pleased to note the BC Government’s recent announcement regarding its support to the Arts and Culture sector and in particular BCAC funding as an indication of the government's ongoing commitment to supporting the sector. At the same time, however, the Sports and Arts Legacy Fund that has supported many arts and culture projects across BC is now depleted, and since the $3,25 million it represents is not part of BCAC funding, little is known about its future fate. Despite the absence of a transparent application process and the lack of transparency after repeated requests by BC arts organizations to understand their allocation, we regret that this source of funding will not be continued. We hope that as the economic recovery continues, government will acknowledge the value of investing in the arts and culture sector, and make a commitment to raise BC from its position at the bottom of the list of provincial per capita funding, and that it will choose to support the sector at increasing levels, while strengthening and confirming the leading role of the BC Arts Council. I urge all of us in the BC dance community to show ourselves in a more active political role, and in addition to creating great works, to build stronger relationships with our audiences and our communities, as well as to persist in strengthening our networks with colleagues nationally and globally. A good way to start, despite the challenges of getting there is the Canadian Dance Assembly’s conference this October. I look forward to seeing many of you there! Mirna Zagar, Executive Director
Dance Central September/October 2012
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The Moment of Forgetting
Photo: Yvonne Chew 6 Dance Central September/October
THINKING BODIES | Portraits A conversation with Claire French
Choreographer Claire French and composer James Maxwell have
CF: I feel that I don't have to compromise on any content work-
been working as an artistic team for almost 15 years and recently
ing with James, and I think he feels the same. In terms of dance,
formed Restless Productions, a company whose first presentation
it is a place for me to make sense of all my training—in disco,
is an interdisciplinary project in collaboration with, among other,
ballroom, tap, jazz, ballet,—from the age of three until now, and
visual artists Hadley+Maxwell, titled 'The Moment of Forgetting',
the contemporary languages that I am most interested in, and
a work that, as they describe it "explores in movement, sound
to mix that while leaving room for the dancers' interpretations.
and performance the human experience of being abandoned
We have a similar background: James was part of drum and
by our knowledge, and the shock of finding an absence where
bass groups in the Nineties and the new wave scene back in the
we expected a presence." Claire French took time between their
Eighties, and so just as I have a populist dance background, he
rehearsals for a chat on a downtown roof garden.
has a populist music background, while at the same time we are both academics. It is a hybrid place, but what we really want
AK: What set in motion your desire to create a company that is
Restless to be is that both disciplines implicate the other. That
explicitly interdisciplinary?
means working with dancers and musicians, to give room for the dancers and musicians to get in the way or affect how the
CF: James and I have been collaborating for almost 15 years and
musician plays the score so that there is some freedom in, and
we wanted to take our collaboration further, to deepen how we
relationship between, the music score and the dance score, and
coexist - in some ways, and take on how the other person works
that the performers’ interpretations and our interests as 'com-
in others, and make that the focus of the company.
posers' interact.
AK: How did the funding bodies react to the idea of a company
AK: Is there a particular way in which you create structure? Do
based on both dance and music?
you work from thematic cells, do you improvise together, do you conceive of a superstructure and work inward?
CF: What defines us has also created some hurdles. Neither the BC Arts Council or the Canada Council directly funded this
CF: All of the above, in this piece. We worked with improvisa-
project, which I feel has to do with how we are talking about our
tion to develop cells, but we created it from a superstructure
work, and the fact that we are having to describe it before we
that was linked to the concept— the moment of forgetting. We
have the results. As a dance and music company we have been
wanted to create recognizable patterns and a modular structure
much more successful in getting support from both organisations
that would allow us to bring back movement sequences and
for our chamber opera, on which we are also collaborating with
certain elements in the dance and music, and have them inter-
Hadley+Maxwell, but for that we had previous work to show,
rupted by something else. An important aspect was to include
and could demonstrate lots of interest from established people
elements that range from the pedestrian to the sublime; from
in town. What made this project possible is the support from our
the everyday to a real artificiality, which is very much tied to the
co-presenters, The Dance Centre through both a technical resi-
concept and to how James and I like to work.
dency and presentation, and Redshift Music. AK: How does the forgetting as an act, or a concept enter into AK: How do dance and music inform each other in the way you
the work of creating or selecting movement and sound?
work as a company?
Dance Central September/October 2012
7
CF: I was looking for a compelling idea to go into the studio
inspired by Derren Brown, a British psychological illusionist.
again. I wanted to work alone, to improvise, and to not repeat
We were fascinated by the way he compels people, and
what I have been doing for so long. I needed something to
how changing a single element can transform a scene or a
wake me up. I have been playing a lot with stillness and im-
mood. So we might change a dancer for dancer, or flip the
pulse, and I fell in love with the idea of forgetting as something
angle so that a scene appears from a different perspective.
that I could research in the studio and that I could edit: That is
We are also interested in the idea of memory as invention,
not forgetting, nor that, nor this... .
and in something “bigger”, which links to the concept of a social forgetting: How do our experiences in life come up
For a long time I have been interested in matching a concept
against those of others?
with an appropriate movement vocabulary in a systematic way, rather than going with a feeling and dancing from the inside out.
I also feel like my interest in forgetting is a very British thing.
It took me a while to realise that I was essentially and firstly a
Going back this summer, I found that forgetting was every-
choreographer, and to trust my interest in observing dance, and
where, and that many artists there are creating work that
in seeing how someone else moves. In 2010 I decided to take
is deliberately invisible. People are coming round to that
three dancers to Maxine Heppner’s choreographic marathon in
approach in Canada, but there seemed to be resistance
Toronto to look at research material. At that time I was inter-
for a long time, perhaps because this society is still in the
ested in the power of forgetting, and in exploring its properties.
process of forming an identity and a history, to which for-
I t was this real space either before or after a movement has
getting represents a challenge. But for me, the experience
happened, or where a movement might go when it is stopped.
is this- what you need the most is suddenly absent. For me
It was difficult in Toronto, because I was called on the fact that
that is a genuine physical brain and body experience, and
the resulting movement was less than spectacular. It was a very
tied so closely to memory that, as Paul Riceur states, it can
intense process of looking- looking to find the right questions.
be considered a condition for it. In forgetting, something comes into the space, and that can lead us to experience
AK: Given the many cognitive and physical dimensions of for-
something already seen/ experienced or something new.
getting, where did you begin?
There is the seed of possibility in forgetting which to me in dance terms speaks to improvisation and the remembered
CF: We started with the scientific aspects, with the systematic
choreographed movement. There is both improvisation
manner in which forgetting occurs in the brain. We looked at
and formality in my work and this is where improvisation
interference theory, at long–term and short–term memory. I
meets my desire to create a specific timing. It is the how
then became interested in the suddenness of the movement,
that matters.
and in the fact that you are aware of what has been forgotten, that the thing you thought you knew is no longer there. We also
AK: Do you work from the performer's improvisation or
looked at mythology, and especially the Greek story of the river
your own?
of forgetting, known as Lethe, which led me on to certain poets and imagistic things and contemporary authors. My interest lies
CF: Both. I found that improvising on my own body stops
in ordinary forgetting rather than conditions like Alzheimer's.
me from talking to the performers for hours, so it is much
The play between the pedestrian and more stylized, or ro-
more efficient for me to make that work first and take it
mantic or lyrical modes is where James and I work in both our
to the dancers. I work a lot with video and Final Cut, and I
disciplines.
might create five copies of me and superimpose them so I can show them where I would position them, and I might
We created six different states, or narratives for the piece, and
superimpose different sections of improvisations, to give
we have thirty scenes, so the narratives interrupt one another.
us a place to start. After that the dialogue with the dancers
There is a pattern bond so you can identify the six ideas but
takes over.
you are not necessarily given them in chronological order, and the full story might not be presented to you but the way it is pieced together speaks to the idea of forgetting. We were also Dance Central September/October 2012
8
AK: Do the dancers improvise with your material?
"Memory is what I use to forget things with" CF: Yes, although they stay inside the frame that I have created.
violin, viola, and contrabass. The musicians are all classically
How they interpret the language helps me to edit and filter the
trained —three of them play for the VSO. There is a desire
movement more, and they often get into the essence of an idea
for the score in the classical setup, and we are both inter-
and come up with better movement and a better connection,
ested in how that links to the anxiety around forgetting. The
which is something that I love.
musicians and the dancers have reminders everywehere, because they have to be stage managers of their own piece.
AK: You were saying the piece consists of thirty scenes. Is it a circular structure or a linear narrative?
AK: Having a contrabass on stage is a big imposition. How do you deal with that?
CF: Neither. We want each 'box' in the grid to influence the next so much that there is no genuine 'going back', and there is an end
CF: We will make it obvious in some scenes and try to hide
where we are brought into the present moment. I don't want it to
it in others. I actually tried to put it front and center only to
be a nostalgic piece, or about the future, but about the moment
watch it and realize that I couldn't see anything. The way we
we are in right now, as it brings together all our experiences, and
are using the mobility of the instruments like the flute, has
the way their language is marked on each of our bodies. Having
been important, and they have started to play on the move-
said that, there is a pattern where we are establishing each of the
ment vocabulary.
six states, in an order that is not contingent upon the others states. We only have five dancers and four musicians, so some states will
AK: The physical setting of the piece is part of Hadley + Max-
look a little similar, but we will reconfigure them all the time and
well's work?
so for each narrative we will present each of the ideas differently. CF: Yes, even though they are feeling a little awkward about AK: Do you use the musical material as you improvise, or does it
being called set designers. The piece would not look the
come into the process at a later time?
way it does without them. Of course our relationship is informed by the fact that Max is James' brother and we all
CF: James and I trust each others' work, so I begin mostly in
know each other really well, but in this project they are the
silence, while he works from the initial idea. Then we being to
concept gurus. James and I are pretty romantic as artists; we
go back and forth, and as James gets interested in certain musi-
can have an edge but it takes people like Max and Hadley to
cal ideas, he will play them for me as a MIDI track, which I take to
bring that out. Their ideas are fresh, and they are great col-
work with. He will talk to me about choreographic ideas, and I will
laborators. So as James and I have set the company up, they
talk to him about his work, and we influence each other every day.
have essentially been role models for how to challenge each other. Above all, I feel they get where we are coming from,
AK: What is the instrumentation?
and they have set the work—not in the detail or the dance or music— but conceptually. They have seen a lot of material,
CF: James works a lot in a classical idiom, so he is using flute,
mostly via video footage because they are in Berlin, and they
Dance Central September/October 2012
9
continued from page 9
are very honest about when they are interested and in how
The Momement of Forgetting runs Thursday-Saturday Octo-
they challenge us. The latest dialogue related to distinguishing
ber 4-6, 8pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets $30/$22
between static versus moving ideas or images, and an active
at Tickets Tonight: 604.684.2787 or book online. Presented by
space versus a start and end space. We had defined our starts
Restless Productions and Redshift Music, through The Dance
and ends before we knew what the content was.
Centre's Artist-in-Residence program
AK: How did you do that?
Choreographer: Claire French Composer: James Maxwell
CF: We tried to make sure that the states were distinct enough
Set: Hadley+Maxwell
from each other. For example, I decided on the number and
Lighting: James Proudfoot
placement of bodies and where they might move before I knew what might move them. The investigation provides
Dancers: Daelik, Leon Feizo-Gas, Heather Laura Gray, Brenna
the answer.
McLaud, Darcy McMurray
AK: Did you deal with time in the same way?
Musicians; Mark Ferris, Mark Haney, Mark McGregor, Marcus Takizawa
CF: Yes, and that was interesting, because time is something I forget about when I improvise. Musicality is a feature and phrasing is a feature, but time as such is not. I can improvise for eight hours, and might edit that down to thirty seconds. For James it is very different, and that has made me think. So when we decided that the performance would be an hour we had to consider how much time to allocate to each of the thirty segments. AK: That seems like an extraordinary amount of formal impositions before you deal with the 'content'.
BARBARA BOURGET'S SOLO CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
CF: Perhaps, but I am essentially an improvisor and this has
During her Dance Centre residency 2011-12, Barbara
given me restrictions to work with, along with the theme and
Bourget developed a new solo performance for herself
the length, and this many people, it has given me a situation
with music by her son Joseph Hirabayashi, which pre-
to respond to, and an entirely new way to work. Impositions
miered in June 2012. She also worked with a group of
are interesting to me. We hold on to some things and let go of
Vancouver dance artists (Tracy Dietrich, Gail Lotenberg,
others. I lost my motivations for holding on to many of these
Josh Martin and Deanna Peters) in her Solo Choreography
things, and I like the freedom that comes with that. Forgetting
Workshop, where the participants came together once
is a form of release, and release is central to my thinking. We
a month to examine the art of the solo and develop their
hold certain tensions in certain parts of the body, and when we
own new pieces. These new solos will be performed as
let go of them we have repositioned or filtered or dissipated
part of the 11th annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open
some aspect of that, or it becomes a mannerism that floats
House on Saturday September 15 at 4pm.
around as a phantom of itself. There is connection between physical movement and neural movement, so if we re-pattern the brain we also re-pattern the body.
To see the second interview with Barabara, please visit:
AK: Many thanks!
choreography_project
http://www.thedancecentre.ca/barbara_bourget_solo_
Dance Central September/October 2012
10
continued from page 3.
In 2008, I initiated a 3-day conversation amongst a small group of dance practitioners from across Canada and abroad, and archived it all, along with related essays, on a website called folkandpalace.com. My current project The Talking, Thinking, Dancing Body began last year as a pilot project involving a group of young dancers from Modus Operandi – we met regularly to discuss work we had seen, I facilitated some studio visits. We talked about aesthetics, about process and about ethics and politics. It was a practice of critical observation and languaging. This year The Talking, Thinking, Dancing Body will be open to the public – there are 9 sessions in total - and will be co-directed by me and Justine Chambers, because we are both opinionated and, between the two of us, we have quite a range of experience and practice in dance as well as interactions with other forms to draw from. We will also facilitate and guide the writing of an artistic statement for dance professionals attending. This will be done over the course of the year. For me, it is also a question of being selfish: As you get older, you don't love everything you see. In fact, you hate dance, but you love it also; and so you are in a crisis all the time, which for an artist is a good place to be, because you are grappling with the form and you are not taking it for granted, but it's also very lonely if you don't have anyone one to talk to where you can actually express the rage and the passion that is inside you. In other words, this is also a way for me to develop a space where I can actually start to talk and feel that it is safe. One of the difficulties of speaking your mind in a city like Vancouver is that we have a small dance community where it is difficult to be honest about something and not feel like you are betraying friendships. AK: Can a critical language for dance include general audiences? In the visual arts community for example, there was a similar complaint for many years. Eventually, several publications were created to meet the need, including Fillip, which now has an international presence but they are largely geared toward professional artists and curators.
Dangerously Important: A Conversation with Su-Feh Lee SFL: Of course there is the question: Whom is the dialogue serving? As artists, we have a responsibility, if we are committed to a form, to be rigorous about how we talk about it, how we see it and how we practice it. But I think this dialogue can reverberate into the general public through the work. If dance practitioners can articulate the relationship between dance and the complexities of the world, if we can consider critically our privilege and responsibility as dancers and artists, then the wall between the dancer and the general public would start to come down because the wall between dance and the world will begin to come down. I think if we become more comfortable talking amongst each other, we will also be much more comfortable talking to non-dancers. The lobby is an important place to reclaim. It is the liminal space between the performance and real life and right now, as I experience it, it is filled with anxiety and nervous tension. We go to a dance performance, we experience all these sensations and feelings and thoughts, and then we go out into the lobby and encounter this fear, or muteness about the work. Then we go home with no way to process it all and maybe the dance dies a little inside us. If we had a way of making that transitional space available to discourse, I feel that would be huge development. The underlying belief for me is that dance is important— dangerously important. That is why it has been relegated to the entertainment section, why the forces of society try to diminish it, to objectify it, and to make it into something to distract and entertain. The more we give in to that, the further we get from the power of dance, which is to disrupt the mind-numbing banality of merely existing and to remind us of what it is to be really alive - to feel this primal savage wilderness inside us, to remind us that we can be free. That is why, historically, dance has been banned by governments and organized religions seeking to control the populace. That is why, when talking about dance, I feel the need to always to bring in other references, other practices, historical events and politics. It is important. AK: Thank you.
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Calendar of Events
August 31, September 1, 2 Vancouver International Tap Festival. Performances, master classes and workshops at Scotiabank Dance Centre, Norman Rothstein Theatre and other venues around Vancouver. Full schedule and details: www.vantapdance.com September 6-9 Kinesis Dance somatheatro presents ODDessay114. Sept. 6-9,8pm; Sept. 9, 2pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca / 604.684.2787/ at the door (cash only), info. www.kinesisdance.org
September 21 The Dance Centre presents the Global Dance Connections Series - fabien prioville dance company (dusseldorf), Experiment on Chatting Bodies. 8pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca, info: www.thedancecentre.ca September 21, 22 An evening of two new dance works What I Imagined by Anne Cooper with Mirae Rosner, and no comment by Chick Snipper. 8pm at Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver. Tickets and info:www.firehallartscentre.ca
September 12 Restless Productions presents Project CPR 3.2 – Choreographic Practice and Research. 7pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre, Faris Family Studio. Admission: Free. www.restlessproductions.com September 13 Dance Allsorts 15th Anniversary Party featuring performances from the response. and other great guests, with a community party to follow. 6:30pm at Heritage Hall, Vancouver. Info:www.newworks.ca September 15 The Dance Centre presents the 11th annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House. A day of free classes, workshops, studio showings and performances featuring a diverse range of dance styles. Scotiabank Dance Centre. Info: www.thedancecentre.ca September 17-23 Flamenco Rosario presents the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. Various venues. Tickets and info: www.vancouverflamencofestival.org
September 22 The Dance Centre Global Dance Connections Series - Morgan Nardi Choreography (Dusseldorf), A ONE M(ORG)AN SHOW. 8pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets:www.ticketstonight.ca, info: www.thedancecentre.ca September 27 The Dance Centre presents Discover Dance! noon series – Aeriosa. 12noon at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca, info: www.thedancecentre.ca September 28 The Vancouver Ballet Society presents a Scholarship Showcase Fundraiser event featuring performances by 2012 scholarship winners. 6:30pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets and info: 604.681.1525 September 28, 29 DanceHouse presents Cedar Lake (New York). 8pm at Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets and info:www.dancehouse.ca
September 21 PI in C-improvisation performance and contact jam. 7:30pm at the Labyrinth Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, Vancouver. Tickets and info: 778.855.7337.
September 29 Moving with Stones performed by Tannis Hugill, Dramaturgy and Direction by Lee Su-Feh. 7pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre, Birmingham Studio. Admission: Free. www.awakeningbodywisdom.com Dance Central September 2004
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For a regularly updated calendar of dance performances and events, please visit our website www.thedancecentre.ca.
September/October 2012
October 4-6 The Dance Centre’s Global Dance Connection series and Artist-in-Residence program presents Restless Productions and Redshift Music, The Moment of Forgetting (premiere) Tickets:www.ticketstonight.ca, info: www.thedancecentre.ca October 4-7 Co.ERASGA presents Colonial (world premiere). Oct. 4-6, 8pm; Oct. 7, 2pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre, Vancouver. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca / 604.684.2787, info:www.companyerasgadance.ca October 5-7, 11, 16,18, 20 Ballet Victoria presents Ballet off Broadway. Oct 5&6, 7:30pm; Oct 7, 2pm at MacPherson Playhouse, Victoria. Tickets: www.rmts.bc.ca, info: www.balletvictoria.ca; Oct. 11, 7:30pm at Cowichan Theatre, Vancouver Island. Tickets and info: www.cowichantheatre.bc.ca; Oct. 16, 7:30pm at The Max Cameron Theatre, Powell River. Tickets and info: www.maxcamerontheatre.ca; Oct. 18, 7:30pm at Raven’s Cry Theatre, Sechelt. Tickets and info: www.ravenscrytheatre.com; Oct. 20, 7:30pm at the Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver. Tickets and info:www.centennialtheatre.com
October 19 PI in C-improvisation performance and contact jam. 7:30pm at the Labyrinth Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, Vancouver. Tickets and info: 778.855.7337. October 21 New Works presents Dance Allsorts - Susana Domingues/Tango. 2pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com, info: www.newworks.ca October 24-28 Chutzpah! PLUS presents Aszure Barton, AWáa: Project Xll. Oct. 24-28, 8pm; matinees - Oct, 27 & 28, 2pm at Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca /www.chutzpahfestival.com / 604.257.5111 October 25 The Dance Centre presents Discover Dance! noon series – Ballet BC. 12noon at Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets: www.ticketstonight.ca, info: www.thedancecentre.ca October 26-29 Mandala Arts and Culture presents Gait to the Spirit Festival of Indian Classical Dance. Scotiabank Dance Centre. Tickets and info: www.mandalarts.ca
October 12-13, 27 Thomas Alan Budd Foundation & Ballet Kelowna presents Double Variations with choreography by Joe Laughlin and Simone Orlando. Oct. 12, 7:30pm; Oct. 13, 2pm at Kelowna Community Theatre. Tickets: 250.862.2867; Oct. 27, 7:30pm at Centre Stage Theatre, Summerland. Tickets: 250.494.2685. Info: www.BalletKelowna.ca
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Dance Central September/October 2012