NEW YORK/TORONTO PROJECT choreographed by Joanna Kotze and Jeanine Durning (Toronto Dance Theatre). At the Winchester Street Theatre (80 Winchester). Runs to February 20. $20-$26. 416-967-1365. See Dance listings. Rating NNNN
For the New York/Toronto Project, two NYC-based choreographers worked with five Toronto Dance Theatre dancers each to create works with similar concerns but very different attitudes. As a lesson in what dance can be, this double bill offers both company members and audience a shrewd challenge.
Joanna Kotze‘s un petit peu plus opens the program with Jarrett Siddall alone onstage, consuming vast amounts of space with leaps and poses. The house lights remain on and it’s quiet, so we notice his intense yet controlled focus.
In turn, he is aware of us watching and makes eye contact frequently. In short order, four colleagues join him, entering in an energetic gaggle.
There are many moments of playful beauty, and they spring from the individual qualities of the performers: Valerie Calam in a brief solo communes with the back wall of the theatre, revealing her command of so many ways to move, from classical to social Yuichiro Inoue strut-prances, his head bobbing as he gazes neutrally at his audience, or executes reverse spins with aplomb Megumi Kokuba channels cheerleading intensity for one sequence, in another holds on ferociously to an arabesque as the two male dancers haul her in and out of the performance space toward the end, Christianne Ullmark goes for a mesmerizingly authentic run many times around the space, a half smile turning into a grin as she hails the audience in one fly-past. Up to this point simply riveted, the audience breaks into laughter.
By contrast, Jeanine Durning‘s This Shape, We Are In is more cerebral, using spoken word and twitchy movement to destabilize the performers. Program notes describe the choreographer’s hope for audience complicity, yet too many moments hint at a process we’ve not been privy to, codes in play that we’re unable to decipher. So it can be frustrating.
Good thing that TDT’s dancers are fascinating in their own right. For example, I could have watched Mairi Greig‘s offbeat movement and subtle facial activity in the Durning piece for hours and not been bored.
Even when the choreographic direction becomes inaccessible, this company is a lot of fun to watch.
