Off-Site Series:
Saturday & Sunday, April 26 & 27, 2008 4:00 pm

MacDonald Stewart Art Centre, April 26th and 27th, 2008 4pm | (Please) Pay-what-you-can

This year’s Off-Site Series takes place in the inspiring galleries of the Macdonald-Stewart Art Centre where three striking dance narratives will unfold against the backdrop of evocative paintings. This series was especially designed for artists who wanted a more intimate setting in which to test their work and who also wanted feedback from the audience. The festival’s artistic directors will offer a Talkback Session at the end of each day’s performances to facilitate reciprocal learning in artist and audience. Here is the exciting line-up:

COMPANY KAREN ROSE [Toronto]

Helen (2007)

Choreographer: Karen Rose

Helen is a testament to the women of war – mothers, daughters, grandmothers, brides-to-be, wives, widows and survivors. We portray their stories of loss and separation, of death, dehumanization and despair, as well as their stories of resilience, perseverance and resistance. We speak of their experience of grief, struggle, survival, and of their never-ending belief in hope and love. Helen is dedicated to the ones who lost those whom they loved, and to those who lost themselves.

Dancers: Ali English, Kelly Steadman, Stephanie Toohill, Yvette Bon, Karen Rose

Music: Górecki Symphony # 3

Costumes: Karen Rose and Stephanie Toohill

MARIE-JOSÉE CHARTIER [Toronto]

Mata Hari Terbenam (1999)

Choreographer: Peter Chin

Mata Hari Terbenam or The eye of the day drowning evokes a world at dusk whose beauty, as the day passes into night, heightens feelings of loneliness in the witness.

Some Reviews:

“….Chin's drowning day is a time to be emotionally naked, and Chartier takes great risks. Vocally she runs from piercing screams to lyrical chants, while her body tortures itself through an articulation of gestures, lunges and balances that demand excessive feats of control.”

-- Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, November 2, 2002

“...Chartier delivered a gut-wrenching and brave performance.” Voted as one of the top 10 shows of 2002

--Glenn Sumi, Now Magazine, January 1, 2003

Photo Credit: David Hou

Choreography, Music and Costume : Peter Chin

Vocalist and Dancer: Marie-Josée Chartier

HELEN HUSAK [Calgary]

laughter/forgetting (2006)

Choreographer: Helen Husak

"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." ~Milan Kundera

Inspired by Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, this dance piece reflects the novel’s form: the individual parts or chapters of the piece follow each other like discrete stretches of time and memory, culminating in a journey that leads to "litost.” As Kundera explains, “litost is a Czech word with no exact translation into any other language. It designates a feeling as infinite as an open accordion, a feeling that is the synthesis of many others: grief, sympathy, remorse and indefinable longing. Under certain circumstances, however, it can have a very narrow meaning, a meaning as definite, precise and sharp as a well-honed cutting edge." laughter/ forgetting premiered at the National Arts Centre’s Studio Theatre for the Canada Dance Festival in 2006, and has since been adapted to suit a gallery setting.

Choreographed and performed by: Helen Husak

Original Composition/ Sound Score by: Amir Amiri

Photo Credit: John Huh

Performer: Helen Husak