Dance Highlights of 2008 – Short Works

While my list of long works showed a great deal of variety as far as spaces go, here Tangente shows that they are the space for emerging choreographers and dancers. What links the two lists however is the preponderance of artists from Quebec (four on each), showing that contemporary dance here is, to say the least, alive and well.

1. Meeting you, Yunjung Kim
I used to envision imagination and the physical world with an insurmountable wall standing between the two. Then Korean choreographer Yunjung Kim, inspired by children’s books, shattered this wall by creating a duo where the human body became a concrete extension into space of her wild imagination. She proved the tacky saying true, that the only limits are those we impose on ourselves.

2. At the Hem of My Northern Coastal Clouds & Par un fil d’argent, Margie Gillis
At the Hem of My Northern Coastal Clouds might be the most economical work of the year: performer Holly Bright gently thrusting her hips to make her skirt swirl around her as she slowly travels around the stage. That such a simple piece could become a moving reminder of our mortality speaks tons about its great power. For her own solo, Gillis made absence palpable by struggling with a coat hanging from a metal wire. With both pieces, she proved that in the right hands minimal movement can have maximal effect.

3. Daylight, Dean Makarenko
For Daylight, Makarenko left the doors leading into Tangente wide open and with good reason: the room is not spacious enough to contain the life that this work exudes. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a space that could meet such requirements. The performers acted like a bunch of uninhibited children giving full reign to their id. Constantly walking in and out of the room, they gave us generous glimpses of their free-spirited antics.

4. Projet de recherche, Marie-Julie Asselin
For most of Projet de recherche, the dancers evolved independently, but simultaneously, scattered across the stage. The result was a chaotic work where a feeling of danger clouded the entire performance, the performers seemingly on their way to an inevitable collision. Their lack of grace denoted so great a freedom that it threatened to bring them all the way to the edge of madness.

5. The Sorrowful Sons, Clara Furey & David Rancourt
Furey and Rancourt crafted a deceptively simple duo with very little in terms of scenography. What made it one of the most touching performances of the year was the undeniable complicity between the two dancers, one that could not be faked. Their playful interactions became indicative of a desire for connection that happily found itself fulfilled.