Physical Therapy Cabaret | Reflections: Clare Preuss

Physical Theatre Cabaret 2019 is a tantalizing mix of fun, powerful, thought-provoking dance. Hosted by Christahh Ahh, the night was a nonstop flow of vivid performance. Taylor Richie’s WITH(IN) is an intimate journey of growth, flight and coming back to centre. The Tomorrows steamed up the floor with Missy Elliot fuelled, sharp edged, hip hop fierceness. Cindy Ansah’s solo pulses with the ebb and flow of staccato spiral echos: a resuscitation of remembering. Hillary James tickled us with her comedic mix-tape meditation on loneliness while Laura Donaldson’s JUST IN TIME brought us from sweet romantic tap duet to full blown tap throw down. Sarah Mitchell’s FUNCTIONING embodied the struggle of performed beauty and Janelle Maddox’s ODYSSEY (EXCERPT) immersed us in flickers of the sublime journey just beyond reach. The night ended off with a wild, playfully-grotesque piece of performance dance art by Julianne Chapple that included the birthing of a beast, voice over of Google self-search, Twitter bots, face recognition avoidance strategies and a dissertation regarding the power of future tech to recognize our each and every movement. I’m left feeling stimulated, stretched, satisfied and a little like I wanna get my tap shoes out of storage. You have one more chance to check out this stellar mix. Catch it on Saturday, 9pm at DJD. #dancelove4ever #treaty7 #yycdance #yycart #yyclcl #fluidfest

Clare Preuss is a multidisciplinary artist who has worked extensively across Canada and in Germany, Lebanon, Switzerland, Uganda and USA. She’s been nominated for some awards and received one. She loves dogs and plants. Clare is a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary and the Artistic Director of Downstage.

Photo credit: Mike Tan