DANCE

ARTS Tolentino’s Rhythms improves with more passage of time

by Carlito Pablo

Dancer-choreographer Alvin Tolentino (left) and voice artist Gabriel Dharmoo plan to celebrate Asian Heritage Month with a remount of Passages of Rhythms. Photo by Yasuhiro Okada.

Alvin Tolentino believes that good things take time.

Dance is an example.

The Vancouver dancer and choreographer holds that a work needs to mature with its performer.

“I really believe that it takes time for the dance to really live in the performing body,” Tolentino told the Straight in a phone interview.

This is one of the reasons why the artistic director of the Co.ERASGA dance company likes to bring back previous productions, like Passages of Rhythms.

The work is a trio of duets showing at the PAL Studio Theatre (Performing Arts Lodge, 300-581 Cardero Street) on May 19 and May 20.

The return of Passages of Rhythms reunites Tolentino with Kasandra “La China”, a Chinese-Canadian flamenco dancer; Sujit Vaidya, a professional performer of classical Indian dance called bharatanatyam; and Gabriel Dharmoo, a voice artist.

“Remounts give us the opportunity as artists to go back and see, how did I make this?” Tolentino said.

He explained that it is often challenging to have this chance.

“In the performing arts, you’re given a certain amount of funds and resources so that you can produce it in a short time, and you perform it two or three nights and then it’s finished,” Tolentino said.

It usually never reaches “maturity over time”, he said, which is achieved when dancers get more chances to perform and go on tour. “That’s really when the work matures in the body of the artist and all of the artists working together.”

Tolentino had this in mind when he initially planned to restage Passages of Rhythms, which premiered in 2019. Tolentino and his collaborators were supposed to return the following spring and go on tour. Of course, that didn’t happen, as the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

“I have always been a creator of choreography who really loves to invest in the research and the creation and to perform it many times and to tour it,” Tolentino said.

This time around, Passages of Rhythms will go on the road.

After its Vancouver run, the work shows on Salt Spring Island at Mahon Hall on May 27 and 28. Then it goes to Powell River, appearing at the Evergreen Theatre on

It was like I knew everything. I could play with the material.

– Co.ERASGA founder Alvin Tolentino ARTS UMBRELLA DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS SEASON FINALE: MOVE

Featuring works by:

Crystal Pite Medhi Walerski Marco Goecke Fernando Hernando Magadan Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

May 19-21 Vancouver Playhouse For tickets, visit

artsumbrella.com/seasonfinale

Credit: Michael Slobodian