Boozing and Fighting at Tangente

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you witnessed your favourite punk rock band fight and they were professionally trained dancers? If you were lucky enough to be part of the audience at Tangente last week for Katie Ward’s Hawks and Doves, you know that the answer is “F***ing hilarious!” (Are we allowed to swear on this website?) Ward’s choreography was part of the third instalment of Tangente’s Split Stage series along with Sasha Kleinplatz & Andrew Tay’s Because We Can.

Three dancers compose the fictional band in Hawks and Doves. The only set piece is a pop art painting of electric guitars with “rock” written in big capital letters. The female member of the band urges her male peers to run and throw themselves on the painting. Already, the tone is set: the band is more concerned with their image than with their music.

There should be a rule that Peter Trosztmer must be in every single show at Tangente. He gives us yet again a solid performance with his turn as a black leather jacket and tight jeans wearing musician whose self-importance is hysterically funny. He talks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, like every word that comes out of his mouth is so loaded with pain and anguish that it becomes utterly unintelligible.

To top it all off, there are some great moments of dialogue to alleviate the tension from the fighting even as it is happening, like when Benjamin Read sings/shouts to his fellow band mate Alli Blakley “This is a rock band, not daycare!” Violent enough to make you squirm, humorous enough to make you laugh, and self-derogatory enough to be enjoyable, Hawks and Doves stands out as one of the highlights of Tangente’s season.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I felt as strongly about the work that opened the evening, Sasha Kleinplatz & Andrew Tay’s Because We Can. A study of how alcohol consumption affects movement, it opens with Tay mechanically drinking from an empty bottle of wine as he stands behind countless more bottles. The repetitive gesture is broken when he is joined by two women in a similar state of mind.

Their inebriated, slowed down movement sometimes comes across as parody of smashed club patrons and pop dancing, with its series of simple steps that can easily be followed by even the drunkest bar hopper. The problem is that Because We Can always remains at this literal level.

If it strives to be a study of movement under the influence of alcohol, what is gained from watching dancers fake intoxication rather than witnessing the real deal? As such, Because We Can is never able to transcend its own artificiality. If it is an exploration of how inebriation can lead to the discovery of new movement, then why keep it locked into its simplistic context? The envelope needed to be pushed further. Still, Tay manages to offer a satisfyingly energetic performance.

From Thursday, April 12 to Sunday, April 15, Tangente presents the fourth and final week of this year’s Split Stage series with works by Karine Denault and Sasha Ivanochko. Of all the different programmes at Tangente, this one has been the most consistently rewarding with the already intimate space divided into two even smaller rooms, imposing a refreshingly close proximity between performers and audience. I highly recommend you check it out. Tickets are 16$ (13$ for students) and can be purchased by calling (514) 525-1500.