Cirque Éloize: iD at the Sony Centre

I saw iD, Cirque Éloize's newest creation tonight as it finished up a run as the first show to open up the renovated Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

Having fallen deeply in love with the previous three Cirque Éloize shows I've seen; Nomade, Rain and Nebbia, all directed by Éloize's previous director Daniele Finzi Pasca as part of his "Sky Trilogy", I was taken aback when I saw the first promo videos of their new show iD. The images of Bboys dancing in front of graffiti-laden cityscapes to electronic music couldn't be a further departure from the languid, old-world romanticism that defined Finzi-Pasca's Sky Trilogy. I had some reservations going into the show. Done poorly a "young and urban" approach to nouveau cirque could be a tacky disaster. Happily, this is not the case.

Sure, iD is a huge departure for Éloize but while the style of the show is completely different, the performance quality, the artistic direction and the sheer talent and energy of the company remain at the same consistently high level. iD is a stunning, energetic tour-de-force. It is an exhilarating meeting of urban dance and circus framed in a simple but effectively drawn-out through-line of a rivalry between two street gangs. The show sizzles with youthful, exuberant energy, it's gritty and sexy and thrilling.

As is always the case in Cirque Éloize shows the cast consists of several talented, multi-disciplinary full-fledged and learned circus artists.

iD features a hand-to-hand act, it is the first act after the opening of the show which features characters hurriedly walking about the stage to create a bustling urban street scene, a chance encounter between a man and a woman leads to a beautifully-choreographed hand-to-hand number.

The juggling act takes place on a construction site. It's the kind of contrived scenario that could easily come off as hokey if done poorly but somehow director Jeannot Painchaud is able to focus the staging of the act and the construction worker characters on the stage so that it works as a clever context for the jugglers.

The contortion in iD is performed as a pas de deux between the contortionist (Leilani Franco) and a Bboy, in the loose storyline they are from rival gangs so there is a "forbidden love" pre-text to the act. Throughout their dance they mirror each others' moves in their own unique styles, they come together and create a beautiful, tender moment in the show. The act is original and cleverly staged, it presents contortion in a new context audiences have never seen. The two performers have great chemistry and performance quality and the act works brilliantly.

Urban dance plays a huge part in iD. There are several featured Bboy soloists but group dance numbers are infused throughout the show during the different numbers and really serve as the pulse that connects the show together. Too often urban dance isn't incorporated well into choreography and it just looks like a bunch of competing solos. This isn't the case with iD. Though the choreography isn't anything avant-garde, the dance is presented organically, the ensemble radiates energy and the choreography flows and makes sense with the presentation.

Other stand-out acts of the evening included a breathtaking dance-trapeze act by Evelyne Lamontagne and an interesting mixed-discipline pas-de-deux which Cirque Éloize does often. This time it's a dance between an aerial silks artist and a roller blader and made for another gorgeous moment in the show.

The set features a blank outline of a cityscape which is filled in with different projections during the show. The use of projections was very well-done and enabled the setting to keep up with the dynamic pace of the show. The projections were especially effective during the trampoline-wall finale. The backdrop is constantly shifting, windows open, ledges slide in and out, walls are rotated into place. The act is well-paced and builds to an ovation-inducing climax.

I guess you can pretty much gather that I really enjoyed iD and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. It's not my favourite Cirque Éloize show (a battle between Rain and Nebbia) and it certainly doesn't have the deep layers of emotion and soulfulness that the previous Éloize shows have but what it lacks in depth and subtlety it makes up for in style and energy and is well worth going to see.

Double Double Toil and Trouble, Electric Guitarias and La Habañera

We're in the full thick of winter now and it's COLD, the days are still short and it's too miserable outside to do anything. I've been taking in some performing arts events this past week to get through the boredom of the winter doldrums:

Macbeth

I took in a performance of The National Arts Centre's production of Macbeth. I studied Macbeth in Grade 11 English Lit but this is the first time I've seen a live-stage version (if you don't count MacHomer a one-man version of Macbeth done with the Simpson's characters). I'd been to other NAC productions of Shakespearean plays before (Othello, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost) but I found them lacking. If you have a play like Hamlet that's been staged thousands of times you really need to give it a fresh point of view to make it relevant to contemporary audiences otherwise it's just a costume pageant.

The Macbeth director understood that, he transposed the setting of the play to World War II era Europe and made really effective use of the symbols of that era; air raid sirens, bombs, scratchy radio broadcasts and he appropriated Nazi/fascist iconography to underscore the ruthless tyranny of the Macbeths' ascent to power. I thought setting the play in WWII was a brilliant choice since it allows the audience to draw modern parallels to the story plus Second World War imagery still invokes a visceral reaction in today's audiences.

Another interesting choice the director made was casting children in the role of the Witches ("Double double toil and trouble"), it made for a creepy effect in addition to underlining war's toll on the innocent.

I also loved how he staged the final act, the siege of Dunsinane castle by MacDuff and Malcolm's troupes. He had actors in World War II combat gear crawling around the stage like in a trench battle then, once inside the castle they were ducking around corners like the door-to-door combat of the Italian campaign. And then for the final showdown between Macbeth and MacDuff; a good old-fashioned Shakespearean sword fight. It made for some great theatre.

I also liked the production design, at the back of the stage they had this semi-transparent frosted-glass divider and when performers stood behind it they could be lit to give a ghostly aura which was a simple but really cool-looking effect.

The East Village Opera Company

Last weekend I went to a concert by EVOC, a band that does Rock-arrangements of operatic arias. It was a special concert being recorded for CBC Radio and they were trying out a bunch of stuff from their upcoming album.

I love this band they have some really original ideas for the arrangements and they totally rock.

For the second encore they performed one of my favourite songs of theirs; When I am Laid in Earth (Dido's Lament) from the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Dido, Queen of Carthage sings this aria at the end of the opera after her lover Aeneas has left her and she decides to commit suicide. She pleads to be remembered for the way she lived her life and not how she chooses to end it. The EVOC arrangement puts another melody, a lullaby for a child, in counterpoint and it gives this amazing sense of drama. It starts off subtly with Indian tablas and then builds to the electric guitar crescendo. I love it!



Carmen, The Passion

Tonight I attended a performance of Carmen, The Passion by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. It's an adaptation that takes one of the most famous operas and transforms the story for dance.

The ballet featured an original score. I was unsure about that decision since the Bizet score is so iconic but I enjoyed the original composition, it featured a lot more authentic Andalusian stylings and references plus setting the ballet to an original score really helps the viewer focus on the story.

The staging was minimal; the set consisted of some scaffolds and projection screens. Unfortunately, the projections looked like cheap Winamp visualizations. I understand they were used to fill in the negative space overhead but they didn't add anything to the scene and since I was close enough that the dancers filled my field of view I just found the projections distracting.

The dancers were good, I always marvel at the training and discipline it takes to dance ballet. When I saw the RWB's performance of Dracula a couple seasons ago I thought that production lacked some of the passion, gothic darkness and sensuality that the Dracula story allows. Their Carmen however was passionate and full of sexual energy, it was hot!

Diavolo Dance Theatre

I went to check out a performance by DIAVOLO the LA-based dance company founded by Jacques Heim the guy who did the choreography for Cirque du Soleil's KÀ. I went more out of curiosity than actual interest since I wasn't really impressed at all by what I've seen of Heim's work in KÀ but I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

Diavolo is known for incorporating over-sized surrealist sets and large structural pieces into their performances so I was expecting something vaguely KÀ-like, in fact some scenes in KÀ are blatantly borrowed from concepts developed by Diavolo. The difference was that Diavolo was able to effectively use these large props and set-pieces in a way so that the performances shone through and weren't upstaged by the sets. It didn't seem gimmicky at all like it does in KÀ.

The troupe performed five pieces from their repertoire tonight. The second piece tonight D2R-A was the inspiration for the Climb scene in KÀ:



In this version the Plinko board is stationary and doesn't fly around in the air. The piece was originally created back in 1995 but they've since reworked it and it's now performed to the end title theme of The Matrix Revolutions which gives it a bit of a KÀ feel but the choreographical concept for the Diavolo version is much better defined and the piece was powerful.

The finale piece tonight, Trajectoire, is performed on a large rocking boat-like platform (and was obviously the basis for the Storm scene in KÀ).



However, the way the choreography was structured with interesting variations in the styles of movement and above all the emotion projected by the dancers was able to transcend the overwhelming set-piece and create a beautiful work of art. I was completely captivated throughout the entire half-hour piece (by comparison I get bored and lose interest about a minute and a half into the three-minute Storm scene in KÀ). I was surprised that a piece featuring such an ungainly and cumbersome set-piece could actually be so lyrical. Trajectoire ends with a lone female dancer on the tilted platform doing a beautiful, heart-wrenching solo. Her expression combined with the music was just stunning.

Fast forward to about 6:45 in the vid for a clip of Trajectoire:




The other pieces they chose to perform tonight were also very good, they opened with one of their newest pieces called Foreign Bodies which was a very abstract expressionist piece involving a large cube that they de-construct and re-construct into a variety of different geometric shapes. I loved how the piece combined dance with the notions of geometry and architecture.





The other two pieces were pas de deux entitled Knockturne Duet I and II, "knock" being a pun because they are centered around a door set-piece; duet one was a little comedic vignette, duet two was very lyrical and poetic and reminded me of La Nouba's aerial cradle.

Anyway, I'm glad I decided to go check out Diavolo, Jacques Heim's original work for Diavolo is infinitely more interesting than the stuff that ended up in KÀ. He seems like an interesting guy too, he personally came out on stage to introduce the show and he hosted a talk-back with the cast afterward.

I definitely recommend checking out a Diavolo performance if you get the chance.

KODO: One Earth Tour

I longed to see a world beyond this one, so I searched for the door that would take me there. Until I open the door, I have no idea what awaits me on the other side. For now I simply dream about the unknown.

I just got back from Kodo's One Earth Tour, it was, in a word, AWESOME! I've been a fan of Kodo ever since I picked up a couple of their CDs a few years ago after Mystère piqued my interest in Taiko drumming.

Having only heard the music on CD I was surprised at how visual the show was, it really is a blend of both music and dance and I loved watching the troupe's precise movements when playing synchronously. I was amazed at the sheer physicality of the performance, the drummers' stances and the movements that they use to play exude grace and power. The performance ran the gamut between intricate, densely layered pieces involving dozens of drums to simple but masterful solos.

In between the major pieces when they were setting up the drums they had little interludes, during one they were playing these Japanese chimes and bells and it sounded exactly like the Mystère opening. I was sitting there waiting to hear the crying babies! Three of the drummers also do these little subtle comedic interludes while performing percussion and choreography, they reminded me a lot of the Blue Man Group or Les Cons from La Nouba the audience loved them and it really served to show that the group doesn't take itself too seriously. At the beginning of the first encore these guys even lead the audience in a call and response banging out rhythm patterns that the audience would clap back (Stomp does this for audience-participation at the end of their show as well).

My favourite piece was O-Daiko. It's a huge two-sided drum (pictured above) and the drummer on one side beats out a basic rhythm and the soloist on the other side freely improvises. It was amazing the soloist was giving it hard for about ten minutes non-stop. It was intense.

I'm glad they chose to perform in the Opera House because the acoustics were awesome, these drums are huge and when they play the bigger ones you can feel the sound resonate in your chest cavity. It also meant that the quieter drum pieces and the vocal solos could be performed un-amplified. There was one song performed by an amazing female vocalist who would modulate and trill the notes brilliantly, she was accompanied by wood flute and Chinese violin it sounded gorgeous.

Anyway, I highly recommend catching the show if you're a fan of music, dance or performance art, it's a thrilling night of theatre.

Leaving Traces . . .

I had the chance to catch Traces, the sophomore show by 7 doigts de la main a couple times this week.

The show is performed by five fresh, young graduates of École nationale de cirque; Héloïse Bourgeois, Brad Henderson, Will Underwood and brothers Francisco and Raphaël Cruz. These artists seem to have a limitless supply of energy; the performances are explosive, fast-paced and action-packed. The 90-minute show seems to zoom by in an instant.

Traces has a darker tone and a faster pace than Loft did. Whereas Loft had more existential overtones Traces is more Fatalistic. The theme is some sort of impending catastrophe and the set is a kind of make-shift fall-out shelter that the artists have constructed. There's a countdown/ticking clock motif throughout the show that really gives the show a sense of urgency and sets an ominous tone. The artists are basically racing against time to create something by which they can be remembered, to leave their "traces" on the world.

Though the backdrop is sort of bleak it really serves to contrast the actual performances in the show which have an energetic, youthful, rebellious and often whimsical quality to them. Though the performers are young (all in their early 20s) they are extremely talented and multi-disciplinary. Their style is really fresh and hip, even compared to 7 doigts' first show.

The soundtrack is mostly progressive rock and hip hop with some old school jazz and classical piano (performed by the artists themselves since four of them are classically trained pianists as well). The choreography is contemporary and urban. The two standout acts in the show are ancient Chinese circus disciplines, Chinese Poles and Hoop Diving, but the presentation in Traces is so fresh and creative it's like watching these acts for the first time. I loved the Chinese poles number performed to a Radiohead song and the gorgeous and graceful Roue Cyr solo performed to a hip hop song.

The choreography is inventive and often stunning. There's an amazing group dance and manipulation number using a basketball and another sequence where the artists use skateboards to produce a whimsical old-school Hollywood musical number that would make Fred Astaire proud. The show also had moments of beauty, showcasing the depth and range of these young artists performance abilities. There are two gorgeous hand to hand numbers (one by a Will and a Héloïse the other by the Cruz brothers) and a stunning solo aerial strap number performed by Héloïse.

The 7 fingers' style is omni-present in the show but Traces also creates it's own signature style; it doesn't have the same distinctly sexual undertones that Loft did but really emphasizes youthful energy and it's absolutely exhilarating to watch. Every time I come out of a 7 doigts show I can't help but think how the sheer creativity, inventiveness and resourcefulness of this small troupe makes Cirque du Soleil look stale and old in comparison.

The show is still new (less than a year old) so it's still a little bit rough in some places but I loved it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

I went to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tonight, I've been wanting to see them perform for a while and was not disappointed, they are absolutely spectacular. It was definitely one of the most exhilarating dance performances I've ever seen.

I love jazz ballet because I find it much more free form and expressive than classical ballet which is too often burdened by its rigid structures. The energy and intensity of the Alvin Ailey dancers was amazing, such power, grace and precision.

The show was sold out tonight, which I rarely see for dance performances in Ottawa (outside of schmaltzy acts like Riverdance).

The troupe performed four pieces from their repertoire; Night Creature, Solo, The River and one of Ailey's signature pieces Revelations. Two of the pieces Night Creature and The River were choreographed to the music of Duke Ellington which was awesome 'cause I love The Duke's music.

Solo was an interesting piece for three male dancers choreographed to a Bach violin concerto, it was an interesting juxtaposition of classical music with modern dance.

Revelations was brilliant, it's performed to African American Spirituals and has such an amazing energy. There was a huge ovation at the end and people even stayed standing and clapped in time to the music throughout the encore which is really rare for audiences in Ottawa since it's such a conservative, uptight, white collar town.

I'd definitely recommend catching AAADT if you can, the talent of this troupe is unbelievable and they give an absolutely exhilarating performance.