SOLOS OF MY LIFE choreography by Sashar Zarif, performed by Sylvie Bouchard, Marie-Josee Chartier and Viv Moore, with Katherine Duncanson and Zarif. Presented by DanceWorks and Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre at the Enwave (231 Queens Quay West). Tonight to Saturday (May 12 to 14) at 8 pm. $33.50, stu/srs $22.50. 416-973-4000. See listing.
Sashar Zarif’s latest autobiographical program is called Solos Of My Life, but don’t expect the dancer/choreographer to take centre stage performing it.
Instead, using his personal stories, he’s created works for and with dance artists Sylvie Bouchard, Marie-Josee Chartier and Viv Moore.
“I approached them to ask if they would be willing to work with me on this personal material,” says the articulate dance artist. “I also asked them to share similar stories and experiences with me. As we worked, the original stories faded away and something universal and accessible remained.”
Why three women, you might ask? Zarif says the main role models in his life have all been female.
One story was inspired by his grandmother, who raised him in Iran after being transplanted from her native Azerbaijan. A former dancer and singer, in her late 90s she taught the young Zarif to do the footwork she couldn’t.
“She would dance with her upper body,” he explains, “and I would be her feet. Those were my first dance lessons.”
Another story involves a deceased female cousin who, after the Iranian revolution, got involved in feminist and socialist circles.
“I loved following her around and wanted to be a revolutionary like her,” says Zarif.
The Dora Award-nominated choreographer, now based in Toronto, says he constructs his dance moves in an intuitive way.
“My life has been a life of survival and improvisation,” he says. “I learned that from my grandmother, who went through displacement and longing for her homeland and had to make dance wherever she found herself.”
Although this program of solos might suggest a string of individual performances, one after the other, Zarif has his dancers enact them at the same time, as if in an ensemble. He and Katherine Duncanson also take part, but in a more supportive capacity.
“I experimented with the solos, juxtaposing them, seeing what similarities and connections they had to each other. And through this process I learned a lot about myself. All those commonalities in the solos reflect the core of who I am or how I look at life.
“I create dance to find out about myself,” he says. “To see what really matters, why something or someone has touched my heart.”
Interview Clips
Zarif on his work, stories and identity:
On working with director and dramaturge Soheil Parsa:
glenns@nowtoronto.com
