THE LAND OF FUCK (A FABLE) choreography by D.A Hoskins. Presented by the Dietrich Group at the Workman Arts Theatre (651 Dufferin). Continues to March 27, Thursday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Saturday-Sunday 2 pm. $22-$25, Saturday matinee PWYC. totix.ca. See listing.
Who knew that getting turned down for a grant and having a mini-meltdown could inspire a new work? But that’s exactly what happened to D.A. Hoskins.
“It’s politics,” sighs the veteran choreographer. “Someone I knew was on the jury, and whenever that person is on a jury I don’t get a grant. I remember being really angry in rehearsals afterwards and saying, Everything’s so fucked up that I’m going to call my next work The Land Of Fuck.'”
That’s when the proverbial light bulb moment happened. Why not explore the various meanings of this once-taboo word whose letters are still replaced by asterisks in many publications?
“It’s a word that covers everything,” says Hoskins. “It can be cynical or it can be used when you’re in love, it’s a noun or a verb. And as a gay man who grew up in a repressed environment [in North Bay], saying it had a lot to do with finding my liberty.”
Hoskins created the piece for 10 dancers – now nine, since performer Susie Burpee left after discovering she was pregnant. “I’m trying to explore what each one of them brings,” he says. “For instance, Valerie Calam does a tap number. I’ve never done tap, but she’s been doing it since age four, and there’s a video of her on her Facebook page where she clearly stands out in her studio in Sault Ste. Marie.”
Andrew Bathory, meanwhile, is better trained as an actor than as a dancer. “His nerve endings are different,” says Hoskins, who’s paired him with Danielle Baskerville in a duet where, as he puts it, they’re “springboarding off each other.”
Last year was a tough one for Hoskins. His mother was diagnosed with cancer, and between gigs he spent every moment with her. That’s given him a new perspective. “I felt the planet slipping away from me. It’s important to appreciate our time with everyone. The experience has chilled me out, but it’s also allowed me to be more wild.”
For The Land Of Fuck, he’s hired an Argentinean tango instructor to help the dancers in one sequence. For another, he’s outfitted the performers like Salvation Army band members. “We live on an absurd planet,” he says, “and I’m trying to create a sense of play and engagement. The Land Of Fuck is celebratory. This life is ours. And we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
Interview Clips
Hoskins on some of the show’s design elements:
Comparing today’s dance scene with the past:
On professionalism, administration, the future of the Dietrich Group and getting off:
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