VERTICAL INFLUENCES by Le Patin Libre (Luminato). At Ryersons Mattamy Athletic Centre (50 Carlton), until tonight (Friday, June 23), 4 and 7 pm, and at Don Montgomery Arena (2467 Eglinton East), Saturday-Sunday (June 24-25) at 4:30 and 8 pm. $32.77-$44.07. Rating: NNNN
Dance? Theatre? Circus? Figure-skating? None of these labels sufficiently captures what youll experience in Vertical Influences, which finishes its run or should that be skate? today at Ryersons Mattamy Athletic Centre (former home of Maple Leaf Gardens) and then travels to Scarboroughs Don Montgomery Arena on the weekend.
Although its performed on an ice rink, and for half of the show the audience is on the ice (dont worry, you sit on chairs and pillows, and there are extra blankets to keep you warm, but dont wear shorts and open-toed sandals!), the show itself isnt like a figure skating act or even an ice dancing event.
The five talented, if sometimes interchangeable-looking skaters (Alexandre Hamel, Pascale Jodoin, Samory Ba, Taylor Dilley and Jasmin Boivin) are as likely to evoke a hip-hop style battle or mimic skating in slow motion as they are to perform a spin or jump. The show is more akin to a contemporary dance program, with the added bonus that the dancers can move at way faster speeds. Watching the show, theres a huge sense of joy and liberation in the movement.
Helped by dramaturg Ruth Little and lighting designer Lucy Carter, the performers create lots of ghostly effects. In a scene early on in the section where were seated at one end of the rink, the skaters emerge out of the fog and come towards us like some Vikings about to raid a village. A playful blackout makes us think theyre going to collide with us but of course they smoothly glide away at the last second.
Theres lots to see, including examples of one-upmanship and jaw-dropping examples of interweaving ensemble work. But theres also a lot to hear, as some skaters hack or crunch away at the ice with their skates. An early scene has the whole group appear to be jogging, and the visual and sound effects play with your expectations. The use of the sound of broken glass also seems incongruous, since you dont associate it with ice.
While the show consists of group scenes, the tall and lean Ba gets a marvellous solo, performed without music, in which he is at once a Samurai warrior and matador, strutting his stuff for us and making it all look effortless.
A show like this unlike anything youll see during the rest of the season is what makes a festival like Luminato special.
