Performance at the Gas Station Theatre, Friday, February 11, 2011
Reviewed by John Herbert Cunningham
If you attended, you were entertained. That was a guarantee with this group of fledgling dancers. The Young Lungs company are just beginning to spread their choreographic wings under the tutelage of Natasha Torres-Garner and Johanna Riley, two seasoned and exceptionally talented senior dancers who were involved in founding the company.
No Idling is Young Lungs Dance Exchange’s annual choreographic showcase featuring the work of several of Winnipeg’s young dancers.
First up, and the first surprise of the evening, was Ali Robson’s choreography. You could see the skills she has developed through her apprenticeship with Peter Bingham and his Edam Dance company out of Vancouver as she and Ian Mozdzen engaged in a dance of seduction, sexuality and separation. In what could be considered a three-part development, Robson and Mozdzen entered the stage seemingly unaware of each other’s existence but each searching for something. Robson spends a significant amount of time en pointe which would indicate ballet training. Slowly, they become aware of each other and begin a courting ritual. This results in their coming together in the intensity of a pas de deux. Whenever I think of a pas de deux, I think of Evelyn Hart and David Peregrine’s Belong. This is an unfair comparison for any choreographer as Belong is an exceptional work. But the work of Robson and Mazdzen came close, a testimony to their abilities as dancers and Robson’s blossoming talent as a choreographer. Following the intensity of this passion, they slowly began to drift apart but not with any sense of melancholy; rather, it was almost a sense of inevitability that was portrayed as if life is a series of temporary monogamous relationships.
Image by Leif Norman
Sarah Roche has been a dancer to watch on the Winnipeg scene for some time. A graduate of the Contemporary Dancers Professional Division, she brings an immense talent to the stage. Here she was teamed up, both choreographically and creatively, with Ian Mikita, who began life as a computer geek. The theatrical training and talent of both was evident from the outset, particularly with Mikita, who projected well from the stage in his initial audience address. This is a witty work parodying the domestic relationships of the fifties. Roche is dressed like June Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver — a 1950s housewife catering to her husband’s every need. Every time Mikita summons her with the cry of “dear, oh dear,” she dances to his side and they stand with arms linked facing the audience as she is led submissively by him. All goes awry towards the middle of the dance when decides that she wants to go this way to his that and a power struggle emerges. In the end, they seek separate paths to fulfillment. With her new-found freedom and empowerment, the audience believes much more in her future success than his as he goes off to find another June Cleaver clone.
None of the preceding prepared us for what happens next. Ming Hon, a welcome new addition to the Winnipeg dance scene, enters the stage and, in a comic manner, begins to take things out of a shopping bag she carries and place them at the front of the stage. She then exits to be replaced by Ian Mozdzen and Coral Maloney, who partnered in the creation of this choreography.
I recently saw Mozdzen acting in his and Mia van Leeuwen’s Out Of Line theatre production of Time 2B Fame Us which concerned identity theft: van Leeuwen stealing the identity of Madonna, for example. It became clear both from this choreography and the theatre production (where Mozdzen spent half the time with his penis bobbing up and down and exposed) that his sine qua non is to shock the audience. He succeeded here too with Maloney playing no small part. With legs hairier than his and a small moustache to which shaving cream would be applied later in the production, the audience surely experienced some gender confusion. The evident breasts certainly added to the effect. Then each dancer would frequently lie face-up while the other would lie on top, with genitalia placed strategically over top of the other’s mouth. The choreography concluded with each spraying copious quantities of shaving (or whipping) cream into each other’s hair and Ming Hon reappearing with a towel to clean off the stage.
The final choreography was a collaborative work by Alexandra Elliott and Renee Vandale involving six female dancers. I was more than impressed with the revision of West Side Story where the rival Latino and White street gangs were transformed into two female ones, three on each side, who, rather than guns and knives, used dance to decide the victor of the rumble (perhaps our current street gangs could use a lesson here.) Unfortunately, there was a transition to another part. First off, it involved all six women running around the stage which, although effective in capturing the audience’s attention and providing a quick and easy scene change, lacked the refinement available to a more seasoned choreographer. The transition led to a scene where the dancers are screaming and crying while they cling to the back wall of the stage and generally making quite a hullabaloo. I’m assuming this was supposed to be representative of the female onlookers at the rumble, who have just witnessed the murder of one of the gang members. Unfortunately, it reminded me of little more than a sixties porno of women in jail. I was waiting for the lesbian escapades. It was disheartening to have such interesting choreography end on this unfortunate note.
But as promised, the audience was entertained, and were also witness to some exceptional choreography and dance. Overall, this was an impressive evening from some of Winnipeg’s up and coming dance talent.
Young Lungs Dance Exchange: Shock & Sex in the Peg
Articles
Performance at the Gas Station Theatre, Friday, February 11, 2011
Reviewed by John Herbert Cunningham
If you attended, you were entertained. That was a guarantee with this group of fledgling dancers. The Young Lungs company are just beginning to spread their choreographic wings under the tutelage of Natasha Torres-Garner and Johanna Riley, two seasoned and exceptionally talented senior dancers who were involved in founding the company.
No Idling is Young Lungs Dance Exchange’s annual choreographic showcase featuring the work of several of Winnipeg’s young dancers.
First up, and the first surprise of the evening, was Ali Robson’s choreography. You could see the skills she has developed through her apprenticeship with Peter Bingham and his Edam Dance company out of Vancouver as she and Ian Mozdzen engaged in a dance of seduction, sexuality and separation. In what could be considered a three-part development, Robson and Mozdzen entered the stage seemingly unaware of each other’s existence but each searching for something. Robson spends a significant amount of time en pointe which would indicate ballet training. Slowly, they become aware of each other and begin a courting ritual. This results in their coming together in the intensity of a pas de deux. Whenever I think of a pas de deux, I think of Evelyn Hart and David Peregrine’s Belong. This is an unfair comparison for any choreographer as Belong is an exceptional work. But the work of Robson and Mazdzen came close, a testimony to their abilities as dancers and Robson’s blossoming talent as a choreographer. Following the intensity of this passion, they slowly began to drift apart but not with any sense of melancholy; rather, it was almost a sense of inevitability that was portrayed as if life is a series of temporary monogamous relationships.
Image by Leif Norman
Sarah Roche has been a dancer to watch on the Winnipeg scene for some time. A graduate of the Contemporary Dancers Professional Division, she brings an immense talent to the stage. Here she was teamed up, both choreographically and creatively, with Ian Mikita, who began life as a computer geek. The theatrical training and talent of both was evident from the outset, particularly with Mikita, who projected well from the stage in his initial audience address. This is a witty work parodying the domestic relationships of the fifties. Roche is dressed like June Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver — a 1950s housewife catering to her husband’s every need. Every time Mikita summons her with the cry of “dear, oh dear,” she dances to his side and they stand with arms linked facing the audience as she is led submissively by him. All goes awry towards the middle of the dance when decides that she wants to go this way to his that and a power struggle emerges. In the end, they seek separate paths to fulfillment. With her new-found freedom and empowerment, the audience believes much more in her future success than his as he goes off to find another June Cleaver clone.
None of the preceding prepared us for what happens next. Ming Hon, a welcome new addition to the Winnipeg dance scene, enters the stage and, in a comic manner, begins to take things out of a shopping bag she carries and place them at the front of the stage. She then exits to be replaced by Ian Mozdzen and Coral Maloney, who partnered in the creation of this choreography.
I recently saw Mozdzen acting in his and Mia van Leeuwen’s Out Of Line theatre production of Time 2B Fame Us which concerned identity theft: van Leeuwen stealing the identity of Madonna, for example. It became clear both from this choreography and the theatre production (where Mozdzen spent half the time with his penis bobbing up and down and exposed) that his sine qua non is to shock the audience. He succeeded here too with Maloney playing no small part. With legs hairier than his and a small moustache to which shaving cream would be applied later in the production, the audience surely experienced some gender confusion. The evident breasts certainly added to the effect. Then each dancer would frequently lie face-up while the other would lie on top, with genitalia placed strategically over top of the other’s mouth. The choreography concluded with each spraying copious quantities of shaving (or whipping) cream into each other’s hair and Ming Hon reappearing with a towel to clean off the stage.
The final choreography was a collaborative work by Alexandra Elliott and Renee Vandale involving six female dancers. I was more than impressed with the revision of West Side Story where the rival Latino and White street gangs were transformed into two female ones, three on each side, who, rather than guns and knives, used dance to decide the victor of the rumble (perhaps our current street gangs could use a lesson here.) Unfortunately, there was a transition to another part. First off, it involved all six women running around the stage which, although effective in capturing the audience’s attention and providing a quick and easy scene change, lacked the refinement available to a more seasoned choreographer. The transition led to a scene where the dancers are screaming and crying while they cling to the back wall of the stage and generally making quite a hullabaloo. I’m assuming this was supposed to be representative of the female onlookers at the rumble, who have just witnessed the murder of one of the gang members. Unfortunately, it reminded me of little more than a sixties porno of women in jail. I was waiting for the lesbian escapades. It was disheartening to have such interesting choreography end on this unfortunate note.
But as promised, the audience was entertained, and were also witness to some exceptional choreography and dance. Overall, this was an impressive evening from some of Winnipeg’s up and coming dance talent.