7 minute read
DANCE
PRIDE Friedenberg gets personal in genderfluid Pants
by Charlie Smith
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Vancouver dancer and choreographer Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg has always had a bifurcated view of gender.
In a phone interview with the Straight, she reveals that her mother once asked what she wanted to be for Halloween. Friedenberg replied “a man”.
Her mom then asked what type of male character. Friedenberg reiterated that she just wanted to be a man.
“She got me a big moustache,” Friedenberg says. “I definitely have been exploring drag since I was a kid.”
But she emphasizes that even though she wanted to be a boy sometimes, it wasn’t all the time.
“I also wanted to be, like, a little pink ballerina,” Friedenberg adds.
Naturally, this raises a question about preferred pronouns.
“I go by ‘her’ most, but it depends, at the end,” she quips. “But thanks for asking.”
These stories from childhood help explain the motivation behind Friedenberg’s newest interdisciplinary creation, Pants, which will be presented as a work-in-progress at this year’s 34th annual Dancing on the Edge festival.
It’s a comedic combination of dance and talking, which reflects her research into her own and her child’s exploration of gender. It’s been created with the help of dramaturge Joanna Garfinkel, director and cocreator
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Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
Conceived by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick and
Music and Lyrics by Queen
Story and Script by Ben Elton
JULY 2 to AUGUST 27 2022
at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park (PERFORMANCES ALTERNATE EVENINGS) TICKETS & INFO: call 1.800.514.3849 or visit tuts.ca
Choreographer Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg aims to reveal the ridiculousness of gender in Pants, which will be presented as a work-in-progress at the Dancing on the Edge fest. Photo by Wendy D.
Kate Franklin, and Zee Zee Theatre’s Cameron Mackenzie, with whom she worked on Sunny Drake’s Men Express Their Feelings.
“It’s very kind of autobiographical,” Friedenberg says. “What I’m trying to do is weave storytelling with the embodiment of my experience as somebody who mostly identifies as female but not exclusively— and just what it is to feel masculinity and femininity in the body.”
Humour has long been a cornerstone of Friedenberg’s practice in shows like Body
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italianculturalcentre.ca Tel: 604.430.3337 Parts, How to Be, and Porno Death Cult. Whereas many of her previous shows featured extreme and zany characters, this one is far more personal. She also hopes that Pants will shine a light on the “ridiculousness of gender in our culture”.
“Comedy has always been a way for me to cope with things, to deal with difficult situations, to connect with people,” she says.
This was the case as a child in school, where she sometimes ran afoul of teachers with her antics.
“Even in ballet class, I would always get in trouble for trying to make the other little girls laugh,” Friedenberg recalls.
She wanted to be a prima ballerina but her mother “very wisely” informed her that she would likely end up in the quarter ballet. That led Friedenberg into other forms of dance.
Later, she studied theatre at the University of Calgary and dance at Simon Fraser University. Because she lived between these two worlds of dance and theatre, she was able to create her own unique blend of dance and text. Along the way, she was encouraged by mentors such as Denise Clarke of One Yellow Rabbit in Calgary and the outrageous and innovative British cofounder of DV8, Nigel Charnock, who died in 2012.
From the world of comedy, she has been inspired by Australian Hannah Gadsby and American Tig Notaro.
Friedenberg also offers a major shout-out to Dancing on the Edge festival producer Donna Spencer. Friedenberg guesses that the first of her many appearances was way back in 1994, after she graduated from university.
“I feel really lucky,” Friedenberg says. “Give credit to Donna at the Firehall [Arts Centre] for giving me a chance really early in my career and letting me experiment and see that audience respond. “I’m just so happy to be still doing it.” g
Dancing on the Edge will present Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg/Tara Cheyenne Performance’s Pants with Calder White’s BABY at the Firehall Arts Centre at 9 p.m. on July 15 and 16.
PRIDE Queer experiences underlie Calder White’s BABY
by Charlie Smith
Choreographer Calder White describes his upcoming show at the 34th annual Dancing on the Edge festival as a “full-circle moment”. BABY, in which he will perform a solo with puppets, will mark the first time that a festival presenter will bring one of his original works to the stage. The show also includes a duet with Toronto-based dancers Rakeem Hardy and Jessica Mak.
“Dancing on the Edge holds a very near and dear spot to my heart because it was the first festival that I ever saw when I moved to Vancouver four years ago,” White tells the Straight by phone. “And I’ve performed in it every year since moving to Vancouver.”
Last year, he appeared in three Dancing on the Edge shows: Rachel Meyer’s Mama, do we die when we sleep?; Wen Wei Dance’s Two; and Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art’s MOI–Momentum of Isolation. The latter two were themed around isolation, as is BABY.
Its origins go back to White pondering whether it would be moral to ask two dancers to be touching or engaging with each other—and how to create a group work that was also ethical in the pandemic.
“My answer to both of those things was to increase the number of ‘nonreal’ bodies on-stage,” he explains. “That’s kind of where the puppets come into it. I wanted to fill the space with bodies and try to do that in the safest way possible.”
But these are not your everyday lovable, cheerful puppets that you might see on Sesame Street. Quite the opposite.
“I’m working at the intersection of anonymity, intimacy, and horror,” White declares.
He adds that horror—along the lines of what’s seen in films like Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th—is not normally a part of dance work. So in BABY, he wanted to play with aspects of this genre by introducing some of these elements. They include a hooded figure seen from a distance staring at the observer and a lonely creature who surrounds himself with nonliving bodies to keep himself company.
“There are a lot of horror tropes,” White says. “I’m a huge horror fan myself when it comes to film and literature.”
He acknowledges that anonymity, intimacy, and horror have been integral to his experience as a gay man. But he emphasizes that these are not elements of all queer lives.
“So that’s kind of underlying the whole work: how to engage with these other bodies,” White says.
He credits Kuebler as having a “big impact on his creative focus” because Kuebler works in such a theatrical way with many characters.
“It was through Shay that I found the carpenter [Chris White] who made the puppets for me that are seen in the promotional images and will be seen in the show,” White says. “One of the main motives for this piece is to kind of alter the audience’s perception of the number of performers on-stage. That goes beyond just the puppets.”
White also praises Stéphanie Cyr for providing dramaturgy in Vancouver, as well as old friends Clarke Blair and Tia Kushniruk for helping him when he was in Toronto. White is hooded in his solo, so it would have been impossible to pull it off without their eyes assisting him.
“I don’t know where this piece would be without them,” he says.
Maria Kofman oversaw costume design and wardrobe and Stefan Nazarevich was responsible for the music.
“It’s my biggest piece to date,” White says with pride. “With the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, I’m able to make some interesting costume choices that, hopefully, will have some cool effects for the audience.” g
Choreographer Calder White uses puppets to fill a space with bodies. Photo by Tom Hsu.
Dancing on the Edge will present Calder White’s BABY with Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg/ Tara Cheyenne Performance’s Pants at the Firehall Arts Centre at 9 p.m. on July 15 and 16. For more information and tickets, visit www. dancingontheedge.org.
