Cloud 9/7e Ciel -- An ecstatic glimpse in rehearsal
The instant I entered the studio I felt very shy. Collected
in one room are five dancers and the work of two choreographers who are the best of the best.
Some of the hardest working artists with the ability to plumb many depths.
(all photos by Omer Yukseker)
Let me summarize my admiration: - in Claudia her bravado and fearlessness
- in Sylvie her precise quirkiness and fluid stops
- in Michael Sean his serenity and immersion
- in Karen her sensuality and abandon
- in Ron his stoic audacity and soft-sharp duality
- in Tedd ideas that are far-flung and absolutely essential at once.
Within seconds of beginning to rehearse an intricate and
wild section of Tedd’s work they all dropped in deeply – breathtaking. They are
running this section for timing and spacing and just plain remembering what
comes next but they automatically fall into really inhabiting the work at the
cellular and psychological, not purely mechanical, levels.
I am struck by the cheekbones and noses of this cast. It
might be exhaustion that causes such relaxation that the edges of their faces
rise to the surface -- but I
actually believe it is confidence, an inherent self-confidence to live inside
the work in whatever state of rehearsal it is in, to be there, wherever there
is….and to enjoy it.
There are ecstatic moments for dancers and watchers alike
when the line is blurred between confusion created by Tedd’s world and confusion
within the real people figuring it out. There are smiles and laughs and gaffs
that make me twitch…was that a mistake, was that a planned response? I don’t
really care. It is delightful.
In watching this piece, the wonders of Tedd’s quirky, quick
and precise world and the wonders of this impressive cast actuating it, I see
ripening performers --a more luxurious variation on that word ‘mature’ that can call to mind
slacks and powder foundation, botox
and stiff upper lips: things that don't apply here. These are performers not afraid to look themselves
in the eye through the mirror as they rehearse, performers who are
instinctually there for each other without having danced this work together
before. I see, and am elated by, my potential future as a dancer. I see how
much further there is to go. I want to go there too.
Yet while watching the run of the full work, which is
thoughtful and raccous, at moments I feel I am watching a ship full of passengers
without their sealegs. I do not have my usual desire to dance it instead of
watch it. I am so fascinated by Tedd’s world and its little earthquakes that
the desirous part of my brain is muted.
Strangely but perhaps not coincidentally, I experienced this
shut down of the wanting-to-dance-the-work-instead-of-watch-it impulse one
other time in recent years. When I first saw Susie Burpee’s trio for Sylvie
Bouchard, Karen Kaeja and Claudia Moore at Older and Reckless in 2011.
Susie’s trio is the other half of Cloud 9/7e Ciel’s program
which opens Thursday June 27th at the Tank House Theatre in the
Young Centre. And once Tedd’s tripping, spilling, scenting world comes to a
close, I get to watch a run of the expanded, deepened version of Susie’s work.
Since I didn’t get to say it before, my admiration for
Susie is, among other things, the breadth of her imagination and the way her choreography possesses
simultaneous play and exceedingly-well-rehearsedness.
The music for this work is deceptive and expansive, it folds
in on itself and echoes at once. It is a frequently used cello partita by
Bach, but Bach at his best leaves choreographers and musicians alike much room
for invention and freshness.
From the start, the responsiveness between the three women,
whether they can see each other or not, seems to curve and bend time and space.
Linearity is not possible. Not physically nor narratively. There are more folds
of space between Sylvie, Claudia and Karen than we can see with the naked eye.
As in Tedd’s piece, there is falling, dizziness, but with an
overriding individuality sometimes carved like a woodblock for printmaking –
intricate and unique and solid.
Three women in a work can easily be stereotyped into a
feminine support structure, the trinity of maiden, woman and crone – but you
can’t go there with this work. None fits these three labels – they are too
beautiful, too luscious, too fragile, too strong, and ageless.
I see three small, lithe women who can take up hordes of space
easily. Voraciously and speedily dancing the material they are given. What they
do as dancers is mirrored by what they are doing as producers: bravely
concocting a program that is a little insane and a little heartbreaking and
oh-so-watchable.
(all photos here by the incomparable Omer Yukseker)
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Cloud 9/7e Ciel Presents An Evening of Exceptional Dance Featuring Two World Premieres by Award-Winning Choreographers Susie Burpee and Tedd Robinson
Performed by Seasoned Canadian Dance Artists Sylvie Bouchard, Karen Kaeja, Claudia Moore and with guest artists Michael Sean Marye and Ron Stewart June 27 - 29, 2013 at 8pm Preview: June 26 at 8pm | Matinee: June 29 at 2pm Young Centre for the Performing Arts Distillery Historic District, 50 Tank House Lane, Toronto TICKETS For tickets call 416-866-8666 or visit www.youngcentre.ca Regular Admission - $25 Student, Senior CADA - $18 | Preview - $15 Ticket Inquiries: nicole@danceumbrella.net or 416-504-6429 x 24 https://www.facebook.com/events/659641150717669/?fref=ts |
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