Cathy Levy, Executive Producer Dance NAC, and Mirna Zagar, Executive Director of The Dance Centre Vancouver
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29 August
15:30 – 17:30 - Balletthaus der Deutschen Oper am Rhein
| Studio 2
- Wheelchair Access Impaired mobility
- Duration: 120min
Curated Showcase Canada
Curated by: Cathy Levy, Executive Producer Dance NAC, and Mirna Zagar, Executive Director of The Dance Centre Vancouver
The Canadian dance scene is dynamic and diverse, and covers a vast geography. While one can focus on the many trends and numerous influences over time, it is impossible to characterise Canadian dance through one or two descriptors. New ideas pop up every day, shaped by contemporary expressions, traditions, urban and regional realities. With the growing impact of independent voices whose dance making is rooted in Asian, African and Latin cultures, along with the many voices of Indigenous artists who bring their stories and political contexts to the milieu, the dance scene reflects the rich multiplicity of today’s Canadian society.
In looking at the artists who applied for Tanzmesse, we wanted this showcase to shine a light on that eclectic nature and bring some new names to the forefront. The choice was not easy: there is great talent in our country and much to discover. But each of these artists has an idiosyncratic voice, a particular distinguishing approach to their creativity. While in this selection there are choreographers from Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, there are many more regional and urban centres whose communities are thriving with talent.
Cathy Levy & Mirna Zagar
Naishi Wang
Taking Breath
Choreography: Naishi Wang
Discussions about air is often focused on consequences such as global warming and seldom do we face the question directly: Will we run out of breathable air? Breathing - an innate action of taking in the air and expelling it from the lungs. Taking Breath brings the subconscious to the conscious, the passive to the active; questioning how we have taken breathing and the air we breathe, for granted.
Funders, Supporters, Co-Producers: Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts
Cloudsway Dance Theatre
Know the Rules, Win the Game
Choreography: Mark Kunji Ikeda
Who are our politicians, and who are our clowns? Know the Rules, Win the Game playfully examines the historic arc of the Taikomochi - the Japanese clown - from a political mastermind to a downtrodden male geisha. Experience the complex relationship between art and politics using a laugh-out-loud combination of contemporary dance, clown and theatre. Risk and intrigue are through the roof as we consider the darker implications of political manipulation.
Funders, Supporters, Co-Producers: CanAsian Dance Kickstart Festival, Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The DJD Dance Centre Creative Residency Program
EbnflŌh
In-Ward
Choreography: Alexandra 'Spicey' Landé
With raw and sharp physicality, Alexandra Landé subtly combines dramatic tension and dark humour in dealing with obvious situational absurdities that grapple with the forces of hope. Are we able to perceive and understand the other’s experience without the biases of our own subjective experience? Forced to live together in a limited space, forming perhaps unlikely alliances, these individuals and their bodies must reconcile temptations to be alone with a threat of real conflict.
Funders, Supporters, Co-Producers: CCOV-Centre de création O Vertigo
Kaeja d'Dance
uncover
Choreography: Karen Kaeja
In this solo Karen Kaeja excavates the desire to tell something to someone you love and the inability to communicate it. This notion permeates the work commenting on the fragile and fierce hold we have on life in the midst of a continually destabilizing environment. Amplifying the feminine voice that is too often unheard and persevering the challenges of being drowned out, we wonder how it is that one’s world deflates, collapses and closes down.
Funders, Supporters, Co-Producers: Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts, Ontario Arts Council
Jeanette Kotowich
Eloise
Choreography: Jeanette Kotowich
Eloise created by Jeanette Kotowich is a cheeky, glamorous and reverent examination of mixed indigenous cultural identity. This work honours the inner terrain of the body, the ties to land and experiences we carry with us from where we have come, and the physical land on which we currently stand. We are all our relations.
Funders, Supporters, Co-Producers: Canada Council for the Arts