The scene opens on an empty cabin. It's raining. One by one, the six friends enter and we, the audience, are invited into their overnight reunion.
As the performance unfolds we're treated to the intimacy and familiar rhythms found among old friends. From one to the other, jumping, catching, forming a human net within a fluidity of movement.
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Roy Assaf enjoys circularity. Whether it is three men with linked arms rotating through quick patterns of the feet, a body spinning around its own axis, or a compositional arc that repeats almost verbatim a striking beginning cross, the circle runs deep for Assaf. Even when very obvious nods to folk dance movements surface in the work or four hands relentlessly attempt to join but fail, such moments rarely resist this inevitable circularity.
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Alberta’s artistic sensibilities were on display with a delightful assortment of performative teasers at the Alberta Dance Showcase Wednesday afternoon. From performances ranging from emerging independent artists to -arguably - our provinces’ most successful company the showcase gave a hint of what Albertan artists are exploring. As you may expect the interests, methodologies, and organizing principals of these works were as diverse as our weather patterns; however, the commonality was an interplay between physical mastery and intrigue.
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By Hilary James
At 9:30 in the evening, on Tuesday, October 29th, myself and several devoted dance fans ventured downtown to the Vertigo Theatre. The show was a double bill featuring On Foot by Danny Nielson, and Polyhedron by Catherine Hayward and Shayne Johnson.
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He walked onstage – a straight-legged, up-shouldered, plaid-shirted, short-haired, regular-looking white boy. Then he blew me away.
Tap dance is not easy. In its true essence, it is more music than movement; more ear candy than visual delight or stimulation. This is because the dancer has four taps (heel and toe of each foot) to generate intricate rhythms while actually bearing the weight of the body. If you have to think about weight transfer to free up the “other foot” to make a sound, you will never be a tap dancer.
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