MONDOmagazine

Lata Pada Sampradaya Dance Creations presents Shunya & B²
May 30-31 @ Premiere Dance Theatre

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

According to Lata Pada, internationally-renowned bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, Toronto is the crossroad to cultural convergence. Pada, born in Bangalore but residing in Canada for over four decades, presented two captivating world premieres last week in the T-Dot that exemplify the confluence of the east and west dance matrix. Shunya and B² are works that represent not a fusion but rather a dialogue between the classical bharatanatyam and ballet idioms, created in collaboration with avant-garde choreographer Mavin Khoo, dancers from Toronto’s Ballet Jörgen, and other guest artists.

Shunya, the Hindu concept of zero invented by mathematicians thousands of years ago, represents completeness and potential. Contrary to the western thought in which zero is a symbol of absolute absence, shunya is imbued with philosophical and spiritual metaphors, evoking mystery and ambiguity. Pada’s choreography portrays these notions through a cross-cultural dialogue between bharatanatyam and kathak styles, two foreign movement languages that are rooted in ancient esoteric traditions.

Three Sampradaya dancers are joined by four high calibre dancers from India, Germany, England and Canada in the densely detailed abstract work. Acute concentration and sophisticated coordination is required to execute the precise dynamics and expressive gestures conveyed by the dancers through a Zen-like fluidity which lingers through moments of stillness. Impressive feats are performed as one male dancer suspends himself briefly on tiptoe without the support of footwear as another spins with unbelievable rapidity and control. The dancers are accompanied onstage by a percussionist, vocalist, and bansuri (bamboo flute) player. The production is enhanced by video designer Jeremy Mimnagh’s projections of rotating circles, strips of Asian script, and a fitting closing image of the infinite symbol.

Bharatanatyam and ballet collide in B², a history-making intercultural collaboration between Khoo, Pada, and Ballet Jörgen. Four dancers from each discipline dressed in white occupy the stage, blending two distinct classical genres which at once contradict and complement one another. While the ballet dancers strive to appear weightless en pointe, the bharatanatyam dancers embrace their relationship to the ground with a constant demi-plié stance and intricate, weighty footwork. The traditional classicism inherent in both styles is what ties the piece together and Khoo emphasizes long pauses and poses as the dancers weave together, allowing viewers to adjust to this progressive paradigm. A pas de deux between two males further pushes through barriers of tradition as they take turns partnering one another, executing daring lifts and pointework in what emerges as a natural collaboration of gender and genres.

Pada is an artistic intellectual whose work is rooted in philosophical concepts. Her varied work ranges from the deeply profound and tragic, referring to her work Revealed by Fire (2003) which dealt with the loss of her husband and two daughters in the 1985 Air India terrorist attacks, to lighter matter such as Cricket (2005) about India’s sporting obsession. Pada can be credited for bringing the two thousand year old bharatanatyam dance form onto Canada’s main stages with Sampradaya Dance Creation, retaining tradition while exhibiting contemporary innovation which leaves nothing to be lost in translation.

May 1-3 at Enwave Theatre (Harbourfront)

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

In honour of Asian Heritage month (this month!), the CanAsian International Dance Festival offered a smorgasbord of world-class pan-Asian dance, presented through three different programs of five dance works at Enwave Theatre. Now celebrating its 10^th anniversary, the festival plays an important role in Canada’s multicultural dance landscape, exposing traditional and cutting-edge contemporary dance forms and live music from India, Indonesia, China, Korea and Japan. Featured choreographers this year included Hari Krishnan, Peter Chin, Wen Wei Wang, Soojung Kwon, Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik, and Natsu Kakajima. The outstanding works ranged from classical to experimental, both amusing and poignant, and one dance included a magnificent twist that echo’s Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game.

Programme A comprised of Toronto-based inDance’s Uma, a work focused on Bharatanatyam dance, and Mind’s Hammer by Peter Chin’s Tribal Crackling Wind, in association with Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan. Uma, a solo which explores the eroticism of the devadasi temple courtesan dancers in pre-modern South India, is accompanied by seven musicians positioned onstage in a circle around dancer Sudarshan Belsare. Belsare, elaborately dressed in rich purple fabrics with fingertips and feet painted red, performs complicated, intricate footwork with ankles bound in strings of bells, coordinated with precise hand gestures and sensual eye articulations. The dancer’s incredible presence exudes pride and power, representing an idealized image of a woman as a virgin, lover, wife, and goddess. Oh yeah, did I mention that the beautiful Belsare is in fact a man?! Depicted through the medium of stri-vesham (female impersonation), the work merges tradition and modernity through wildly pleasurable means.

Mind’s Hammer displays similar flamboyancy through Peter Chin’s succinct, staccato movements, as he deftly crosses the stage like a leprechaun after Lucky Charms. His eyes are often closed as he shakes his head violently, perhaps attempting to awake from a nightmare, or simply mad from a marshmallowy sugar high. The highlight of the piece is the exotic music by Canada’s first performing gamelan (an Indonesian gong instrument) ensemble, whose clinking and clanking on gold pots visibly taunt Chin.

Programme B included an excerpt of Wen Wei’s One Man’s, and the world premieres of Kwon’s The Choonengmu Project and Patnaik’s Kedar Pallavi. One Man’s fuses movement, storytelling, film and music in a compelling autobiographical solo which communicates Wen Wei’s life experiences in China and Canada. China’s pet genocide occurred during Wen Wei’s childhood, forcing him to slaughter and consume his beloved pet chicken, leaving him with a happy stomach but a hurting heart. This evocative allegory is supported by animalistic movement combining ballet, martial arts and meditation, set against a projection of Chinese market stalls and ambient noise.

The Choonengmu Project, based on a 19^th-century classical Korean court dance, deconstructs traditional canons and reinterprets the repertoire with contemporary dance vocabularies to live accompaniment. Kwon dances centre stage with graceful humility in a richly coloured, exquisitely long-sleeved costume as her collaborator Jihee Son shadows her minimal movements, every pose creating an image worthy of a Korean imperial dynasty portrait.

Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations presented pure lyrical dance based on a Raga (melody), aptly titled Kedar Pallivi, meaning elaboration. Danced by brother and sister prodigies Devraj and Ellora in the traditional abstract Odissi style, the playful duet was a feast for the eyes, with decadent costume and body ornamentation enhancing the immaculately detailed and expressive choreography.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend Programme C, which showcased artistic director Denise Fujiwara dancing a final performance of Natsu Nakajima’s Sumida River (1994). A contemporary choreography based on the renowned 15^th century Noh play Sumidagawa by Motomasa, the story acknowledges the “difficult inner journey of a woman…[approaching] the core of the dance in a contemporary way through image, metaphor and the inner life of the dance movements” (Nakajima). As a teenager, Nakajima received training at the pioneering Kazuo Ohno Dance Institute, where she developed skills in Butoh, perhaps the most profound and expressive of all dance idioms. Nakajima and Fujiwara are key figures in exposing audiences around the world to Butoh through extensive touring of Sumida River.

From its beginnings as a small festival with a meager budget of $5,000, the CanAsian International Dance Festival dedicated itself to challenging conventional notions of pan-Asian dance and to provide a platform onto which dance artists could present diverse expressions of dance aesthetics. Since its inception in 1997 the festival has grown rapidly, having recently been awarded a Trillium Grant along with government and non-profit foundation support, bringing its budget to a respectable $200,000. Everyone involved in the festival, including its dancers, supporters and audience, has proven to be invaluable in bringing awareness to multicultural dance forms. No longer hidden within the fringes, pan-Asian dance, imbued with quality and curiosity, rightfully occupies an important position at the forefront of the Toronto dance world.

DanceWorks Mainstage Series presents Adelheid Solos
April 24-26 @ Enwave Theatre

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

Toronto-based dance artist Heidi Strauss recently returned from Prague to present Adelheid Solos, a multimedia programme consisting of a remount of her 2002 work Das Martyrium (a haunting portrayal of madness inspired in part by Joan of Arc), as well as the world premiere of her newly created solo Ohne, which examines memory and the process of starting over. The word Adelheid, meaning ‘exalted nature’ or noble intent, is the root word from which Strauss’ name is derived, and is a fitting description of the work’s relationship between history and the present.

As a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Strauss has spent the past 14 years establishing herself as an independent dancer, having founded an environmental activist group called Earthdancers in 1989, acting as co-artistic director of Four Chambers dance projects, as well as choreographing, teaching and writing. This highly intelligent, motivated artist methodically researched thematic ideas for Adelheid Solos, communicating sophisticated theory within a concise physical monologue integrating text, theatre, video and an abstract score by Jeremy Mimnagh.

Das Martyrium functions as a tribute to exalted heroes, depicted by Strauss through several passionate female figures including Joan of Arc and an autistic schoolmate from Strauss’s childhood named Emma, both of whom are possessed by imaginations beyond their control. The piece at first appears to run the gamut of cliché contemporary interpretive dance, including repetitive “organic” movement, mimed hand gestures (somewhere between sign language and charades), and the use of props (in this case a sword and fencing mask); all this to a soundtrack of trickling water and fragments of conversation, both English and German. As the theory behind Strauss’s choreographic choices unfold however, it is clear that there is a method to her madness, as rich imagery and symbolism are revealed within the small confined area of center stage in which she isolates herself. With hands and knees bound in dressings, Strauss emerges both as a vulnerable fighter and strong survivor.

Ohne may appear quite similar to Das Martyrium in terms of movement vocabulary, but the story involves more abstract concepts, depicting less of a defined character. Ohne, meaning ‘without,’ explores expectation and the process of starting over, as Strauss repeatedly falls violently to the ground only to spring back up and continue moving with precision, twisting and curling her limbs and torso. The work delves into deeper psychological territory regarding the relationship between reality and imagination, dividing the dance into two worlds, represented through drastic light changes. When the stage is brightly lit, Strauss compulsively sets up the stage floor, pacing back and forth in her heels as she nervously shakes her keys, scratches her head and acknowledges the audience as voyeurs of her immediate experiences. As reality passes into an external realm, one represented by darkness, highlighted only by small kaleidoscopic fragments of colour, Strauss appears to be reliving the past. A frightening, ghost-like image projected on the backdrop suggests a tormented history which she is unable to escape.

Strauss’s interpretive dance is highly cerebral, but boarders on the inaccessible towards newer dance audiences. Reading reviews from various sources, it is evident that not everyone comprehends the deeply layered work, which at first glance appears simplistic-almost formulaic. It is the kind of material that forces the viewer to think deeper about the messages or concepts being conveyed. Strauss herself speculates that contemporary dance is often overlooked due to the fear “of not getting it.” Judging by the small audience, the majority of which were colleagues and friends of the artist, contemporary dance certainly lacks the draw that other art forms possess.

Work such as Adelheid Solos definitely merit wide attention and close investigation. Patience is the key here; a dancer is rarely compelled to devote so much time and effort into creating a meaningless sequence of movement. Clues relating to the work’s meaning, whether literal or abstract (or both in the case of Adelheid Solos) can be extracted and translated from various areas of the overall stage production, including movement, sound, lighting, video, and props. Of course, if all else fails, there’s always the programme notes!

Pleasure Dome & Images Festival presents:
Hail the New Puritan (1985/86 84:47) +
Charles Atlas live with Alan Licht
April 9, 11 @ Joseph Workman Theatre

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

With his trademark orange carrot-shaped sideburns disconnected from his silver hair, and a bright yellow SpongeBob t-shirt covering his slight physique, NYC video pioneer Charles Atlas does little to resemble the famous bodybuilder that shared his name. Atlas made his inaugural visit to Toronto last week for the 21^st Images Festival, which showcased contemporary moving image culture from April 3-13. Audiences were granted not only with a rare glimpse of the Canadian premiere of Hail the New Puritan (1986), Atlas’ cinéma vérité style film revolving around the Scottish-born post-punk dancer and choreographer Michael Clark, but were also provided with the opportunity to attend a lecture and discussion with the filmmaker in person, as well as witness a world premiere media experiment with composer/guitarist Alan Licht in an intensely visceral live performance.

The dynamic diary film, Hail the New Puritan, inspired by the Beatles’ dancing movie A Hard Days Night, documents the daily life of Britain’s bad boy of ballet Michael Clark in a pastiche of narrative, performance and fantasy. It follows his professional life as director of his anarchic dance company, and also offers a glimpse into his personal life as he lustily mingles with numerous London scenesters including bi-sexual clubgoer and original party monster Leigh Bowery. “What I was trying to do was put Michael’s work in a context where you wouldn’t need an explanation,” Atlas explains, acknowledging the ethics involved in collaborating with dancers (one must not upstage them).

Clark’s dancers flaunt bare bottoms, fake bosoms, platform shoes and bizarre make-up, embodying a decadent subculture of androgyny and absurdity juxtaposed by a dispossessed, Thatcher-era landscape; all this to a wicked soundtrack of music by Glenn Branca, The Fall, and Wire’s Bruce Gilbert. It is Clark’s solid base in classicism which allows him to maintain a purity of form while challenging and redefining his outrageous combination of high art and pop culture, exhibited through the lens of Atlas’ camera.

The live screen segment of Atlas’ last day in residency with the festival comprised of a collaboration among Atlas and electronic musician Licht, in which both artists improvised to create a collage of image and sound. Atlas worked at one end of the large screen at the Theatre, mixing and manipulating sampled stock footage and prepared loops of various Stanley Brakhage video processed through numerous laptops, DVD players and a mixer. Psychedelic shapes and colours initiate transitions from footage of a body builder layered over a damsel in distress to cameos of a crazed Bugs Bunny and Mariah Carey, deriving new meaning from Brackhage’s already experimental work. At the other end Licht sat with his electric guitar surrounded by half a dozen distortion pedals, generating minimalist noise into waves of volume, feedback and drone to create a sensual, sometimes violent audio accompaniment to the visual content. The two artists interacted in a loose partnership, playing off each other’s techniques in a non-specific manner, resulting in a layered, dreamlike atmosphere of visual music.

Atlas is a scientist at merging performance and media art, having created a prolific body of work that spans four decades and includes a long list of international collaborators. From his beginnings as a Super 8 filmmaker in the 1970s, Atlas has gone on to create 114 films, many of which have been exhibited at festivals and institutions around the world. Video performance has been an integral part of his practice since his early days with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1974-83 where he produced ten works in collaboration with the choreographer-musician John Cage. He recently admits to becoming a Cagean, having accidentally developed a more chance-driven methodology from what he considers to be his classical training with the Cunningham Company.

Lately Atlas has worked within the live concert setting, in which he brings laptop computers into the theatre to create video montages. He recently collaborated with the New York-based band Antony and the Johnsons in Turning (on which he’s currently completing a documentary), and is also in the process of creating a film version of Cunningham’s ambitious work Ocean. At fifty, Atlas continues to challenge the possibilities of technology using both controlled and spontaneous techniques, constantly striving for variety and newness. His work remains inspirational to contemporary artists in multiple fields, proving indeed that media art matters.

Kaeja d’Dance presents Abattoir

March 25, 27-29 at Premiere Dance Theatre

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

“Guts, liver, kidneys, heart…Oh, the beauty of the movement of flesh against the gleaming metal.” These words, recited by actor Aaron Willis as he dances in unison with the six other members of Kaeja d’Dance, accurately describe the theme of the company’s multi-disciplinary production Abattoir.

Inspired by co-artistic director Allen Kaeja’s childhood working at his father’s kosher butcher shop in Kitchener, the edgy work, which layers dance with new-opera, music, and theatre, explores human conditioning through the rite of passage of Jacob, a young boy learning the art of animal processing. Grisly groans initiated by Allen’s life partner Karen begin the show as bodies are revealed, emulating animals though intensely physical movement. The dancers violently hurl their slouching bodies to the ground and suspend one another upside down in the air using partners’ bodies like a butcher tool slicing through space.

The Kaeja’s signature style, which deconstructs the dictum of traditional partnering, is conceived through a combination of Allen’s background in wrestling and Karen’s roots in modern dance. The contradictory dynamics inherent in their cerebral and abstract work blends explosive athleticism with sensual, fluid lyricism to create a kinetic, androgynous movement vocabulary that conveys the rhythm and beauty of the slaughterhouse.

The work appears to be an authentic collaboration among all aspects of theatrical production. Patterns of light by designer Reolof Peter Snippe articulate a mysterious atmosphere, making the bare stage appear simultaneously stark and sanguine. The industrial score by composer Edgardo Moreno is layered with abstract vocals from new-opera artist Fides Krucker, text by Jason Sherman, and chanting of the dancers.

Although it contains enough gruesome imagery to make Hannibal Lecter convert to vegetarianism, Abattoir does not pass judgment upon the ethics of the production of meat, which can be at once cruel and beautiful. As an open metaphor for life, it reveals the deeper psychological impact of the person whose job it is to slaughter and the ways that person associates with or disassociates from the creature being killed. For Allen, a devout pescetarian, the abattoir instilled in him a deep respect for life.

Abattoir is a captivating addition to the Kaeja’s repertoire, which includes productions for the stage as well as award-winning dance films and educational and outreach programs. The work is accessible to wide audiences, and at just over an hour, it never felt too long. It just left me hungry for more.

Mixed Emotions for the National Ballet’s mixed program

March 8-16 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

Dancers of the National Ballet of Canada hung up their tutus and gave their tippy toes a rest for the latest mixed program presented by artistic director Karen Kain. Featuring the most contemporary, commercial repertoire the company has seen in years, the company was noticeably desperate to fill seats and redeem the increased costs of production at the Four Seasons Centre, employing hip marketing schemes portraying the seductive Aleksandar Antonijevic as the alpha-cock of the Rolling Stone’s based Rooster. Despite the best of efforts, the program failed to deliver satisfaction as audience attention spans turned on, tuned in, and quickly dropped out.

Quebec choreographer Marie Chouinard, a recently appointed officer of the Order of Canada, opened the program with 24 Preludes by Chopin (1999). The work, which explores the tension between the formal and emotional, challenges traditional movement and music associations by deconstructing Chopin’s romantic score, combined with animalistic movement that included more strutting and preening than Rooster itself. The 17 dancers transition between a series of small groups and ensemble pieces, with undulating, liquid torsos in see-through black leotards with strategically placed bars of opaque fabric.

It was shocking to see a work so overly spiced with contrasting dynamics and arbitrary gimmicks, including a random recital of the musical scale by one dancer (in French), and an impromptu game of soccer. I’d like to think that there was some metaphor intended, but I’m more inclined to believe that Chouinard is simply taking the piss out of the audience and her commissioners. If there was indeed humour and irony in the anticlimactic work, its relevance was unclear, and regrettably failed to do justice to Jean-Francois Latour’s poignant piano solo. The sole redeeming quality of this hodgepodge was Guillaume Côté’s half-naked body pogo-ing up and down, and a short solo in which a dancer spins with increasing centrifugal force, appearing as a cross between a grotesque butoh dancer and whirling dervish; portraying qualities which uncannily paralleled my dizzy, nauseating sentiment towards the rest of the work.

Sandwiched between 24 Preludes and Rooster was Jiří Kilián’s Soldier’s Mass (1980), an intensely sorrowful and hopeful tribute to unknown soldiers which finds relevance in the current war climate. Kilián’s affinity for choreographing seamless transitions from closely structured unified patterns to looser configurations allows him to evoke images of a community of male soldiers huddled tightly in trenches, and as swaying targets spread out in the distance. His talent also lies in the ability to convey deep emotion through minimal movements, allowing music and choreography to assume equal responsibility. Czech born Bohuslav Martinů provided the score, which included baritone soloist Joseph Song Chi’s haunting accompaniment of the Toronto Mendelssohn chorus members. Unlike Chouinard, Kilián’s work creates a sense of anticipation and momentum which builds to a powerful climax, and creates an atmosphere in which the dancers embody their characters with clear intent.

Last and by far least was Rooster (1991), British choreographer Christopher Bruce’s irritatingly lyrical take on the battle of the sexes in swinging sixties Britain, to a soundtrack of eight nostalgic Rolling Stones hits. Cocky men in colourful Austin Powers attire and demure women in far less exciting garb performed stylized, exaggerated choreography and gestures meant to mimic Mick Jagger’s trademark strut, in a kitschy modern jazz style which lacked the impressive turns, tours and other tricks that the company is capable of performing.

Although the majority of the program didn’t impress, there is much to say for the versatility of the dancers, who conquered the difficult task of retraining their bodies to perform contemporary styles so different from the classical idiom embedded in their muscle memory. It was a clever marketing scheme on Kain’s behalf to lure audiences with a marketable draw like Rooster, while including Soldier’s Mass as the true masterpiece. Results of her efforts were evident in sold-out shows and an influx of dance discussions by bloggers just discovering dance. Hopefully this new inexperienced audience, which applauded confusedly at every unnecessary point throughout the performance, will remain loyal to the National Ballet, so that it can satisfy its quota without selling out its long-enduring integrity. I continue to stay hopeful for the remaining dance season, but I also recognize that you can’t always get what you want.

Peggy Baker Dance Projects
Portal

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

Toronto was the final stop for Peggy Baker Dance Projects’ Canadian tour this weekend (March 6-9), which showcased three works by the queen of Canadian contemporary dance, as well as a duet by revered choreographer James Kudelka. The multi-award winning Alberta-born dancer/choreographer/teacher/Joni Mitchell-devotee exhibited her high calibre artistry at the intimate Betty Oliphant Theatre.

First on the program was Yang, Baker’s 1998 abstract work which explores one of the two principles of Taoist philosophy. Dancers Louis Laberge-Côté and Sahara Morimoto communicated the round, harsh concepts of Yang through a deconstructed, androgynous dynamic, so detailed that the choreography was exhausting to absorb. Their strength seemed to derive from a close relationship to the ground, which was occasionally broken by unusual amphibian-like leaps. Thierry de May’s score Frisking Prolationum for 11 Percussionists closely matched the primal atmosphere created by the dancers, which conveyed an unlikely combination of desperation and control.

Next was Baker’s long awaited Portal, a 10-minute self-choreographed solo, which would have premiered last year, had Baker not broken her foot two weeks prior to opening night. Themes of contradiction inherent in physical form reoccur in her tightly-structured work which is both spiritual and intellectual. The enigmatic solo was performed in silence, except for her audible breaths and the powerful sweeping movements of her legendary long limbs, which appeared simultaneously aggressive and gentle in her kinespheric exploration. A lack of music was justified due to a dialogue of light and movement created by master lighting designer Marc Parent. The effect of light physically connected to Baker’s immaculately defined outline both “reveals and distorts the dancer.”

Preceding the intermission was Brahms Waltzes, which Baker created in 1992. Long time collaborator pianist Andrew Burashko’s presence was visible on stage behind dancer Jessica Runge, who, dressed in a long, royal blue dress (designed by Caroline O’Brien), exuded elegance and sophistication, epitomizing the “high art” aspect of the modern dance discipline. Unfortunately this did not captivate half an audience occupied by students forced to satisfy performance attendance requirements. Admittedly, even for the most enlightened dance aficionado, the remounted piece at times suffered the impression of appearing dated in comparison to Baker’s more recent accomplishments.

The evening’s final performance was the world premiere of Kudelka’s A Woman by a Man. The charming work investigates the complexities of a long-standing relationship of an unusual duo, performed by Baker and Michael Sean Marye, who remain physically and metaphorically attached. Cartoonish, Popeye and Olive Oyl characteristics, created an endearing aesthetic in which the dancers’ torso remain stiff above disconnected legs, provoking a few conservative chuckles among the serious spectators. Horizontal stripes of shadows and light created a simple landscape onstage which complimented the minimalist choreography. Once again, music remained integral to the work as a pianist (Burashko), violinist (Benjamin Bowman) and cellist (Shauna Rolston) performed Shostakovich’s Piano Trio #2. Brechtian attempts to emphasize to the audience that they are watching a performance included pauses for the musicians to adjust their instruments while the dancers paused to remove their footwear.

Peggy Baker’s Dance Projects are founded on sincere artistic integrity. Admired by the dance community for over three decades, her work often expresses abstract emotions with cerebral insight. Whether she dances her own choreography, or interprets that of another, her unique style allows her to convey characters and stories through a movement vocabulary as clear as an actor’s dialogue. At 55, Baker remains the pride of Canadian modern dance, and continues to inspire the next generations of modern boho dancers.

An Italian Straw Hat

February 27-March 2, 2008

National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

Thanks to DanceBreak, the National Ballet of Canada’s new strategy to lure the aged 16-29 crowd into attending classical ballets for a mere $20, I enjoyed a first row seat at James Kudelka’s revision of Eugene Labiche and Marc Michel’s 19^th century play The Italian Straw Hat. Kudelka, who now serves as the company’s artist in residence after stepping down from the position of artistic director in 2005, has irked me in the past with his irritating tendency to rework (*ahem*, destroy!) major classics such as the Nutcracker and Swan Lake. After experiencing this brilliant ballet however, I gladly oblige to eat my words, and my hat. Pass the salt!

Hugely popular since its inception in 1851, Labiche and Michel’s play has inspired a silent film, Broadway musical, opera, and most recently the full-length comedy ballet which premiered in spring 2005. The reincarnation remains faithful to the work’s focus of caricaturizing the French Bourgeoisie and their petty consumerist pursuit of “brides, pleasure and money.” Setting it in the 1890s Belle Époch rather than original 1850s, Kudelka successfully creates a highly decadent, whimsical atmosphere. The plot, which includes hilarious twists and turns in accord of classic cliché farce, is driven by Ferdinand, (danced by Guillaume Côté), the wealthy hubby-to-be of Hélène (danced by Chan Hon Goh), who is busy taking a stroll through a park with his horse, danced by the equine Noah Long. Nearby, Anaïs (Greta Hodgkinson), a married woman, is participating in a springtime tryst with her lover Emil (Patrick Lavoie), unvirtuously removing her delicate hat. Along comes the hungry horse, which gobbles up the hat. Anaïs is horrified to find the hat missing, and in fear of having her affair exposed, a frantic Benny Hill worthy chase ensues across Paris and up the Eiffel Tower for said chapeaux. Among the slew of eccentric characters participating in the rat race are wedding guests, a vampy milliner jilted by Ferdinand (Jennifer Fournier), a burly Baroness, and a full police force angry at the disturbance all these shenanigans are causing – sacre bleu!

Detail is a major factor in the effectiveness of the production, and meticulous attention has been paid to every aspect. The choreography includes inventive, acrobatic pas de deux bordering on dangerous, while crowd scenes are busy and chaotic, demanding the spectators’ absolute attention. Santo Loquasto’s lavish costume design comprised of extravagantly patterned black and white garments and over 65 hats, each one unique, allows for a rare and appealing individuality among the corps members. The duo tonality of the costumes is juxtaposed by the exquisitely vibrant punk-inspired cartoon sets that would make Betsey Johnson’s boudoir jealous. The original score composed by Michael Torke, who previously collaborated with Kudelka in The Contract (2002), acts as a binding element. Influenced by a quirky combination of Rossini and Bugs Bunny, the music closely reflects the speed, precision and timing of the choreography and flows effortlessly from the classical genre to a range of tango, salsa and mambo.

Hats off to Kudelka for this visually spectacular sexy satire, and to the company’s comedic characterizations. Special mention goes to the randy maid and valet of Anaïs and Ferdinand, exuberantly danced by Rebekah Rimsay and Piotr Stanczyk, who stole the show with their hysterical unrelenting humping in adventurous positions only a dancer could perform. Of course a ballet review by this critic would not be complete without its fair share of gender-bending, which is satisfied by Joseph Welbes’ channeling of his inner queen as the Baroness en pointe, while character legend Victoria Bertram dances double duty as the chubby Toulouse-Lautrec-stature butler and chief of police. Ah, gay Paris! The comedy resolves itself in the final scene, which displays more naughtiness as the Priest and maid flirt, wedding guests cancan with cops, and the newlyweds float off in a hot air balloon over the dazzling lights of Paris. This cheeky romp finely layered like a French pastry is filled with plenty of sex, both implied and blatant, with sweet plot twists leaving you craving more. Paris, je t’aime!

Tights, Tutus, Tiaras…Chest hair?!

By Leandra de Valois-Franklin

Last weekend Toronto’s dance audience had the pleasure of attending one of two fabulous sold-out performances of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, January 19^th & 20^th at the Elgin Theatre. The Trocks, as they are affectionately known, are a world-renown New York City based all-male ballet company that has, since 1974, performed parodies of classical ballets en travesti (in drag). One of the few comedy companies in the world, including Les Ballets Grandiva (also from NYC), the Trocks model themselves after the old great Russian Ballet companies of the 1930s, whose glamorous but narcissistic ballerinas would attempt to upstage one another. The Trocks’ absurd slap-stick homages succeed in maintaining the integrity of the original work while bitch-slapping its elitist stereotypes right in its faux-lashed face.

The varied programme of satirical interpretations of Les Sylphides, Go For Barocco (an adaptation of Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco), and Paquita, was preceded by a pre-performance introduction in an exaggerated Russian voice announcing cast changes, including Svetlana Lofatkina replacing the injured Natasha Notgudenov. The announcer also warned that “all our ballerinas are in vyery, vyery good moods this afternoon!” The show began with a comic rendition of Fokine’s abstract ballet revolving around the popular figure of the sylph. The dancers subvert the original choreography with outrageous catastrophes; one sylph falls onto his/her face and another sleepwalks right offstage!

The highlight of the production was former National Ballet of Canada member Joshua Grant’s feather-shedding performance as Katarina Bychkova performing the beloved solo of the Dying Swan, appearing more like the executed cock, leaving a trail of bird carnage onstage. The flamboyant demonstration of strength and grace kept the audience on its tippy toes in hysterical laughter, and Bychkova swam in applause in an extended reverence which lasted longer than the solo itself.

The third act saw the troupe trade its signature comic approach for an impressive feat of technical skill. Although at times the dancers are indistinguishable from female ballerinas, their acrobatic jumps and fierce fouettes defy expectation, and their virtuosity claims the spotlight so often denied to men in most ballets.

It’s refreshing to see gender reversal in dance not take itself so seriously. These postmodern pomosexual ballerinas add to the general notions of the female iron butterfly, creating a hyper technique like the third sexuality they themselves embody. The Trocks have earned an international following of devoted fans with their high-class drag show, entertaining both knowledgeable and new dance audiences. The Trocks rock, but leave me wondering…how do their tight tutus accommodate those bulging, uh, trocks?