Interrarium LIVE!


Co-Presented by Springboard Performance, the Banff Centre for the Arts and Theatre of the New Heart

 

INTERRARIUM IN PERFORMANCE

Interrarium is a meeting place for creative minds, a showcase of the best in ground breaking contemporary and physical performance and an incubator of brilliant new work.

 

Andrea Božić (NLD) and Peter Reder (UK)

Featuring outstanding contemporary performances by International artists.

 

February 10 8pm

Margaret Greenham Theatre

Banff Centre for the Arts

Tickets Advance $20 

Banff Centre box office info | www.banffcentre.ca | 403.762.8368

 

BEGINNING

Andrea Božić & Julia Willms (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)


An exciting work that problematizes both the performer and spectator’s presence and perceptual attention. – Katha Šimuni

Beginning is a live discourse between dancer and visual artist—and it all begins with a white page and a simple question. “Where do we begin?” Julia Willms sketches in real-time alongside the movement of Andrea Božić in a collaboratively spontaneous exchange between two artists and two disciplines.

Andrea Božićis a Croatian dancer and choreographer based in Amsterdam. Known for her bold interdisciplinary collaborations with video artist Julia Willms and composer Robert Pravda, her performances and installations propose unorthodox strategies of viewing and deal with the nature of reality and perception. She frequently produces work at Frascati Theatre in Amsterdam and tours internationally. In 2009 she became the inaugural artist in residence at Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten’s ICK Amsterdam.

 

GUIDED TOUR

Peter Reder (London, England)


A tourist outing for deconstructionists. - The Scotsman

There’s so much history around, so many books, TV programs, museums, heritage sites, 
there’s no space left for the present. Or was it the other way round, it’s all present, without any past? (Guided Tour, final chapter)

A beguiling mixture of video and performance, Peter Reder’s Guided Tour takes place in the theatres and darkened passages of the Banff Centre for the Arts—a treasure trove of memories, desires and surprises housed in the buildings that make up the Banff Centre. From the London-based artist that brought City of Dreams to North America in 2011, Guided Tour similarly explores notions of memory and place through a combination of artifacts, video, text and performance. A guided tour for the post-modern age, this site-specific presentation evokes memories of the past, drawing the audience into a shared contemplation of the nature of architectural spaces and the memories they embody.

 

Peter Reder creates intimate, witty, and thoughtful work, often based on historical sources. His site-based work has been seen in some of the world’s great museums, galleries, and public buildings. He has produced work in the UK for LIFT, National Theatre, South London Gallery, and Somerset House, as well as internationally. Guided Tour premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in association with the Traverse Theatre as part of the British Council Showcase in 2005 and has since been shown at: the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; the Coliseum (Bragadiru Palace), Bucharest; the National Museum of Singapore; Gammage Auditorium, Arizona; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and La Laboral in Gijon, Spain.

 

Interrarium expands the horizons for artists and audiences with genre-bending, multi-disciplined, startling and original performance. An innovative re-purposing of the residency model focusing on a process-oriented, creative environment for dialogue, critical thinking and experimentation. Interrarium showcases acclaimed international, Canadian and local artists and brings them together with an alchemy that inspires audiences, rejuvenates artists, stimulates discussion and forges productive relationships.

exists to connect artists, mediums, audiences, the body and the mind through physical contemporary creation. Its artistic mission is to champion exploration of contemporary practices in the physical arts and support the aesthetic risk-taking that challenges both artists and audiences with new ways of seeing, representing and responding to contemporary life.

Under the artistic direction of Nicole Mion, Springboard Performance has designed and maintains three distinct arms of company activity: The Fluid Movement Arts Festival (Fluid Festival), programmed in Calgary, which presents outstanding contemporary dance and physical performance from local, national and international artists, Interrarium a professional level interdisciplinary creative residency and exchange held at the Banff Centre, and the Creation, Production and Dissemination of work by Artistic Director Nicole Mion.

 

Theatre of the New Heart is an Edmonton based “theatre” company run under the artistic directorship of Dana Rayment and Bobbi Westman for the past ten years. New Heart has produced seasons with reading series, site-specific production series and Festival participations. 2011, New Heart worked with Maggie Tree to co produce award winning “Shattered”, and Skyward Motion Pictures, “Static Motion”. New Heart is committed to the philosophy that there is room to play between mediums, between genres, personal challenges and fears. Creative process is a luxury to be encouraged. To that end, New Heart divides resources between self-production, co productions, workshops and artistic processes. New Heart has partnered with Interrarium since 2005.

 

Dance Victoria’s $14,000 Chrystal Dance Prize

Dance Victoria offers a choreographic prize for artists with an international focus from Western Canada! It’s for emerging dancers and choreorgraphers who want to pursue studies at an institution outside Canada, or mid-career dance artists want to create an international work or course of study with a dance company outside Canada, with priority given to applicants from Victoria.

Applications forms will be posted on Jan 2, 2012 and the application deadline is March 30, 2012.

For more info, visit the Dance Victoria website or check out the Chrystal Prize Info Sheet.

Beyonce and Anne Teresea de Keersmaeker

Beyoncé vs. Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker “Beyoncé is not the worst copycat,” Keersmaeker wrote days after the release of B’s music video celebrating her single “Countdown,” which featured a soigné pastiche of, among other things, some of the legendary choreographer’s signature moves. “She sings and dances very well, and she has good taste!” Even when Beyoncé steals she does it with style. This polite imbroglio made for some of the year’s best dance conversations.

Beyonce / Anne Teresa de Keersmaker video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDT0m514TMw
Anne Teresa de Keersmaker’s dance company, Rosas: http://www.rosas.be

Via Nicole Mion

Jenna Swift on Shantala Shivalingappa

Upon settling into the orange velvet seats of Theatre Junction, curator Nicole Mion signalled
for the attention of the audience, alerting us to the presence of “an artist not to be missed in
our midst.” A palpable anticipation pre-figured the appearance of the performer herself – the
sublime Shantala Shivalingappa. And so she materialized, a figure all in white. Languorous,
in repose, the dancer/choreographer began her spellbinding performance of the program titled
Namasya (Sanskrit, meaning homage or remembrance.) The humble form of the performer laid
horizontal was a gentle introduction into the meditative series of movements which followed.
The unfolding narrative presented body as landscape, dancer as supplicant, navigating the narrow
dimensions of that precise space inhabited by each singular human between earth and sky. Using
only the gestures issued from her compact frame, Shivalingappa was able to tell a story more
expansive than the limits of the body. Pendulous arms and an inherent symmetry anchored the
performance, alternating between tension and release. Rounded forms contrasted with near
right angles – elbows, wrists, knees hinging; fingers and toes – each digit – pulsing. The subtle
variation from a palm turned upward to one turned down, dictating the powerful difference
between a receptive spirit and a closed one. So flowed each gesture, a study in duality – offering/
withholding, extending/withdrawing. Arms tracked what appeared to be the diurnal passage
of the sun. Index finger and thumb made contact as if pressing a single seed between them.
Hands carved the furrows of a field, next they were quick as birds. Body, once laid fallow, was
substituted for the undulating vertical ascension of stems. A multitude of metaphors showering
down: hands as chimes, birds, precipitation… Shivalingappa’s movements appear to be guided by
an innate internal impulse, as natural and cyclical as changes in the weather but no less thrilling.
Through her restrained motions the artist illuminated once more that power does not have to be
forceful, it can be controlled, expressed as a conscious stillness, a contained dynamism. Shantala
Shivalingappa’s performance illustrates the magical conversion when inner knowledge is able
to transcend the boundaries of the body to find outward expression understood by another – the
particular alchemy attainable between artist and audience.

Jennifer Akkermans writes on Prairie Dance Circuit

Tonight I attended the Fluid Festival’s Prairie Dance Circuit!  It was definitely an interesting show, much different than the events I am used to attending.  As a visual artist, most of my “culture” comes from attending art openings, museums and galleries, and, once in a while, the theatre.  I must admit that this was my first actual dance show, although I get the feeling that the genre might be more experimental than I thought. Or possibly this show is more experimental than the genre.

Or, maybe I just had an outdated idea of what dance is.  I’m not sure what I was expecting exactly, but the Prairie Dance Circuit wasn’t really it.  It wasn’t at all stuffy, or boring, or girls in tutus.  Actually, clothing was an interesting common thread running through the line-up: from the amazingly furry high heels of Robin Poitras’ soft foot, to the enigmatic hoodie of Nicole Mion’s dancer in Quiver, to Brian Webb’s onstage “wardrobe changes,” to Davida Monk’s Under Cover of Darkness, where the focus of the dance is the dancer’s relationship with her clothing.

My favorite, though, of the 5 performances, did not share this clothing thread as strongly.  Brent Lott’s The Occasion of Our Passing was an enchanting duet between a male and a female dancer.  The performance seemed to illustrate a perhaps unspoken dialog between two people as they grow older… through the excitements of love, life and growing up/ growing old, highlighting their independent struggles and epiphanies, and their changing relationship with one another.  There were some particularly impressive moments where the positions of the performers were dependent on each other, using the tension between them and even their limbs to support each other.

The show was really more diverse than I was expecting- an interesting cross between dance, music, theatre, and even art.  It was an unusual experience for me, and I’m glad I went, and will likely go to more dance events in the future.  (Actually, tomorrow, I will be going to see the Alberta Dance Showcase! Stay tuned!)

Jennifer Akkermans

Louise Lecavalier pulsates at Theatre Junction GRAND

Tonight, Louise Lecavalier’s electricity pulsated up into the highest reaches of the steeply graded seating at Theatre Junction Grand. Performing for a packed house, she and her two male dancers, Patrick Lamothe and Keir Knight clearly astounded the captive audience with their wildly energetic, dynamic and emotionally nuanced performance. Lecavalier’s intense physicality, speed and percussive movement quality are as potent and refined as ever, yet she approaches performance with a grace, generosity and wisdom that reveals her remarkably long career as one of Canada’s most distinct and celebrated contemporary dance artists.

In Children, by Nigel Charnock, a whole set of assumptions as to content and style are stimulated in the mind by the title alone. However, prepare for a densely layered and intellectual exploration of childhood that is at times joyful and curious and at other times fraught with a sense of danger, urgency and emerging sexuality. Lecavalier begins the piece alone on stage and seems to communicate the solo journey that childhood often is, where our closest friends and allies are imagined and our perspective is subjectively our own. In a wonderfully rich movement vocabulary, she alternates between quick, clambering, investigative movement and moments of complete stillness in which she connects powerfully with the audience through a steady childlike gaze. This motif is repeated as she is joined by Patrick Lamothe for a wildly physical duet that explores all the passion, inhibition and primal aggression of childhood. Slowly, there is an evident transformation into greater self-awareness and the tentative intimacy that we crave when we pass through the portals of puberty and begin to mature.

Even if this is your first time seeing Louise Lecavalier perform live, it is highly probable that you have seen footage of her legendary work with La La La Human Steps, or at least have heard of her highly original, explosive movement aesthetic and the extraordinary influence she has had on Canadian contemporary dance for almost thirty years. In A Few Minutes of Lock, she revisits the work of Édouard Lock, the Montreal based choreographer of La La La Human Steps who she inspired and danced for over the span of eighteen years. In this piece, we are able to revel in the strength, style and energy of attack that she is known for. All I could feel was overwhelming gratitude for this spectacular Fluid Fest performance, in an important and truly exhilarating moment for Calgary dancers and audience members alike.

Lauren Côté

Tim Christison on Louise Lecavalier & Fou Glouriex

Watching contemporary dance and physical movement performances is like viewing abstract paintings.  Both genres demand and sometimes challenge the viewer.  The best of them may bring order to your emotional chaos.

Last night at Fluid Festival, I was mesmerized by the athleticism, emotionally imbued insect and creature inspired crawling, sidlings, creeping and jumping that brought a rawness to the jagged journey of the dancers.

In the program we are told Children by choreographer Nigel Charnock the enfant terrible of British Physical Theatre is one of two electrifying pieces to be presented.  Some of the soundscape is certainly jolting with a repeated high pitch sound that trembles between a song and a scream interspersed with familiar love songs of other eras and ending with an opera aria. But as I watched Louise Lecavalier and her struggle with Patrick Lamothe, to find the emotional security we all crave from childhood, like most of the audience I was inert, silent and spell bound. During the 10 minute pause before the second piece A Few Minutes of Lock – as in Eduard Lock founder of La La Human Steps where Lecavalier was his muse for many years – the buzz in the house was as loud as any after game gathering in a sports bar.

The second piece was a challenge to Lecavalier’s body memory as she danced with Calgarian Keir Knight in a piece from her past.

Consistently Lecavalier has shown us the future not only in dance but for the longevity of dancers who choose the physical movement path.

Tonight Friday October 21st is your last chance to see Fou Glorieux’s current tour.  Take it in at the Grand Theatre and stay for the artist’s chat.  That’s what Canadian festivals are all about – the insights into the artists thinking and process.

from Tim Christison

 

Creative Blind Dates Lead to Awesome Offspring Art

The audience pre-show (Blurred).

This year’s Spark opened on Tuesday! The collaborative project-process (to use Nicole Mion’s phrase from the artist talk that followed the performance) pairs artists from different disciplines – dancers with visual artists, visual artists with theatre artists, noise artists with artists whose work breaks pretty much all disciplinary borders. Called a “creative blind date” by co-curator Kristopher Kelly, artists meet, are paired up by Kelly and co-curator Jessica McCarrell, and have two weeks to create a 10-minute performance.

I was involved as a co-curator and performer last year (full disclosure), and it was extremely exciting to see the great work that was create this year. Chris Mandseth and Jamie ‘Tea’ Tognazzini started off with a hilarious exploration of ‘space’ inspired by their pep talk – and pay attention to what you’re hearing as well as on-screen instructions so you can participate fully. I didn’t read them and regretted it.

Next, Jennifer Akkermans and Veronica Benz presented a dance with some of Akkermans’ distinctive fibre work, and the blending of Benz’ dance with the limitations imposed by Akkermas’ work were really not limitations – for me, like the limitations in the structure of the “blind dates,” those limits were very creatively forceful.

Third, Lisa Benshop and Christopher Duthie explored paradolia – finding significant images in things like clouds – in a fascinating performance that left me finding significant images in the interactions between the two performers, kind of extrapolating on what they were doing with slides and a whiteboard.

Fourth, Joshua Fraser and Léda Davis did a hilarious performance that blended dance and noise in a totally inspirational way – the dance made the noise. And the situation that was set up to require the dance (and make the noise) was tremendously funny and had everyone rolling in the aisles. I also loved the evidence of previous encounters on the stage.

Fifth, Shara Rosko and Naomi Brand did a visually striking performance – it reminded me a lot of Last Year at Marienbad in how understated it was and its style, and its strong use of light and dark.

Finally, Khan Barrera and Serenella Arguetta created a video and dance, where the video was inspired by the dancers and the dance was inspired by the video and, as Argueta explained during the artist talk, the strangeness of seeing their skin and bodies in the video.

All of the works were extremely strong and interesting and there was a huge variety in the ideas the artists worked with and the tones of the different pieces, so make sure you check out the second performance, tonight at 8pm at the Big Secret Theatre! Get tickets: http://www.springboardperformance.com/fluid-festival-2011/tickets

Posted by Kathryn Blair

Physical Therapy Cabaret at the Auburn Saloon

After an enjoyable beginning to my evening courtesy of the Grand Poney / Steven Thompson double bill I made my way over to the Auburn Saloon for the Physical Therapy Cabaret.  By the time I arrived, the place was hopping with Festival-goers and I only just managed to grab a draft before…

The Cabaret was hosted by the dynamic Jamie Tea.  Who kept things moving quickly and smoothly with enough quirk and charm to knock your socks off.  See her pictured above, moustache optional.

The first piece was choreographed by Alison Bryan and performed by Deanne Walsh, Catherine Hayward & Laura Kleiner.  I should say, I wasn’t quite seated when this piece started and the dancers came wooshing by me as their piece began not on stage, but at the back of the room.  As the dancers, clad in dresses and gum boots, took to the stage, a big sweeping piece of music joined them.  At this point one of the bar staff mentioned to me that the dancers would be wooshing by me a number of times.  A warning worth mentioning as the dancers didn’t stay on stage long.  For me, their was an element of nostalgia, youthfulness and adventure to the piece.  In any interpretation, a charged way to begin the evening!

The next piece was choreographed by Pamela Tzeng, who was joined on stage by Loretta D’anuto in a clever and comic exploration on communication.  Punctuated by recordings of poignant observations on language, communication and understanding, the two dancers exchange simple, somewhat universal movements in attempts to communicate to more or less success.  What really got me caught up in the action was the almost slapstick like relationship the two characters had with one another, which does in many ways parallel the ridiculous ways we try to communicate with each other.  As the voice mentions at one point, “communicating is easy when it’s working out.”

Judith Mendelsohn was up next.  Judith is a talented clown performer, and when I say clown I don’t mean you should bring your kids.  Judith is an clown for adults.  In her newest escapades, she’s going for the big top – Circus Oy Vey’s Obo.  And she’s pulling out all the ridiculous and far-fetched nonsense she can in order to get there… or where ever it is she can get.  My only hope is that Judith is back from France, where she’s been for the last 3 years, to stay.

Following Judith was more hilarity provided by choreographer Mark Ikeda, who was joined on stage by Richard Lee.  After a terrible accident involving gamma rays and a bunch of stuff you’ll find in a nerd’s wet dream, we find ourselves enjoying an 8-bit Super Mario dance and an 8-bit Legend of Zelda dance to follow.  I was sold right there.  And Mark obviously played these games, a lot, because he had all the details down.  Good on ya Mark.   Plus the best quote of the night, “video games are great, anybody can be a super hero, even an obese plumber who’s addicted to drugs.”

Next came Danielle Wensley in what I found was a brilliantly timed piece.  After two pieces of comedy, it was a splash of starkness that followed.  But don’t get me wrong, there was nothing cold or distant in Danielle’s performance.  My attention was caught immediately by the dark silhouette created by strong white light and Danielle’s still figure dressed in black as this calm settled over a bar that was bustling only a moment ago.  A testament to the power of a performer.  For me, the piece spoke about a relationship between a dancer and the audience, and how that translates to an understanding of one individual’s understanding of identity.  Of course, perhaps I was completely caught in the moment.  But there was one image where she framed her ear with her hands that stood out to me as particularly meaningful.

Steven Thompson put forward what he deemed an etude.  As I’ve heard them defined in the past, an etude is an exploration or examination of something specific within a larger whole.  He then continued to say his etude this evening would be of his left and right arm.  His piece only got better from there.  Starting with rolling up his sleeves to the lick of some cheesy 80′s lounge music sent the audience into cat calls – who knew such skinny arms held such power?  And it was in his cleverness that Steven captured the audience, conducting strings with perfectly timed flourishes of his arms and speaking raps with mouths created by his hands.  Plus the whole thing ended in a shower of sparkles!

To finish off the evening was a very special performance choreographed by Kyrsten Blair and performed by over a dozen of Calgary’s dance community who are raising kids and don’t get to dance so often anymore.  Good golly, if only ever person could dance with the conviction that these people danced with.  I wish I could dance with the conviction I saw on these women’s faces!  It was freeing just to witness.  Not too mention the piece itself was a blast, brilliantly put together and well- executed by all!

Physical Therapy Cabaret runs again next Saturday, October 21 at the Auburn Saloon starting at 9:30 PM.  The line-up is a little different (Judith Mendelsohn & Danielle Wensley will NOT be performing on the 21st, but Denise Clark and MOMO will be) but I HIGHLY recommend this event to anyone, especially those of you new to dance!

Lee Cookson  

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Poney & Steven Thompson

We enter the Big Secret Theatre through the back way. We are met in the lobby by people dressed in white jumpsuits holding clipboards with surgical masks covering their faces, one pulls down the mask stating “vegetarians step forward please.” Those that meet this criteria are escorted to the entrance. Another white garbed clone, asking that we leave any gender-specific items with her; any non-state-approved liquids are poured out.  Each of us is silently, psychically cleansed as another clone passes his hands over and through our auras. Before being granted access to the theatre proper I am handed a paper bag with various holes and told to “homogenize” myself. The clones are wearing them over their heads so I follow suit. Onstage another clone is writing on a projector.  He writes words in red and doodles in blue between the words. He spits on his hand and runs it over the page rubbing out the lines, leaving the words. He removes the mask and jumpsuit. He is wearing a blue button up dress. He covers his face in red cloth and puts his white shoes back on. Discordant music is playing. The lights go down. He moves about the stage. The clones join him, doing their own movements.  He is wearing silk boxers and a harness of beads.  His movement is beautiful and graceful and disconcerting.  The clones have left the stage; some hand out candy to the audience.  This is now a place of dis-ease. We are voyeurs in a space made for watching.  The group returns to the stage, but they are not wearing jumpsuits and masks. Somehow though they are moving the same as before it feels different when they are individuals. Coloured lights flash on them as they move.  The lights fade.  We hold our breath.  The lights rise.  Applause.

If Thompson’s piece was meant to unease as much as entertain Denis-Paulin’s was something completely different. He had us in the palm of his hand, singing Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’ within the first five minutes.  Yes, singing it.  Why? Because “the CD isn’t working.”  He needed the music to perform his chair-balancing piece.  It also wasn’t his chair, because that had been “lost in transit.”  The “borrowed chair” continually failed him.  He finally gave up in fear of breaking his neck.  Then we began to see the shape of the piece.  He repeated the same short speech multiple times, sometimes getting the words mixed up.  Loud, painfully loud, music rose up from the “faulty” sound system and lights aimed at us rose until we couldn’t see.  He had moved when we could see again and we saw just how amazingly he could move.  He had become a boxer.  Every moment was a caress followed by a slug to the face.  When the music faded he returned to his first and main persona.  So the night continued.  Entertaining banter with a storyline and hilariously clumsy attempts at acrobatics followed by astounding movement pieces as perfectly defined as they were difficult. When I read the liner notes afterward I found the tagline: “An existential crisis taking place without his knowing.”  Well said.

Kristal L. MacWhirter