Thus Spoke | SCPA Review

Thus Spoke brought together a series of controversial topics and presented them through raw and unfiltered explanations and movement. Each dancer willingly threw themselves into the monologues they were presenting and delivered their message in ways that included comic relief. The topic of acceptance of all people in society, as well as the importance of privilege were some of the big topics explored throughout the piece.

The passion of the dancers helped to create a raw, uncensored picture of the way people think about certain topics. The actual movement itself was quite simple in that it was a series of hip isolations, subtle reaches, wild abandonment, all movements that complimented the message being shared. Though powerful at times, I must say some of the content was uncomfortable to witness as viewer. Dance takes many forms and allows for much experiment and abstractness as an art. However, in this particular piece the sexual references used, took away from the power of the messages and created a level of discomfort.

As a whole, it was evident that the dancers were immersed in a form of urban art, with the intention of involving the audience in a journey through speech and movement designed to create an impact, provoking thought in the audience members. A goal that was efficiently achieved.

Madeline Russo is currently enrolled in the dance program at the University of Calgary as a dance major in a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has been dancing for 15 years. She has trained in all styles, specializing in ballet for 13 years. She has worked with Alberta Ballet and was accepted into their professional division program at age 13. Recently however, Madeline switched her major study of dance to hip hop, and she now dances with a company called “Illfx” in one of their top pre-professional crews.