About a decade ago, Port Moody-based dance instructor, performer and choreographer Cori Caulfield wondered aloud what was missing in contemporary dance performances.
She talked extensively with her technical director at the time, Jonathan Ryder, about certain elements not seen in modern shows, and how they could push further.
The topic came up often over the years until, this past summer, when Ryder called Caulfield to suggest they collaborate on a new and innovative piece for the next Dances for a Small Stage, a popular series in Vancouver of which Caulfield had taken part in the inaugural edition in 2002 and had contributed many times since.
With input from the curator, Julie-anne Saroyan, Caulfield and Ryder devised a seven-minute piece called Wormhole, with an original score from Mark Taylor.
Being a new season, Saroyan wanted the motif of "fall" for her upcoming dance series; at first, Caulfield said, her interpretation began as falling through a rabbit hole, "going from one dimension to another," she recalled. "Then I realized my fall was quite rapid and also quite extreme so I thought of the idea for a wormhole, where you go in unimaginable amounts of time and space in an instant."
Wormhole will be one of eight numbers presented Friday and Saturday at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. And it's the first time Dances has been held outside of Vancouver (it will also launch the venue's 2011-'12 season, Live at the 'Bolt.)
Besides Caulfield, Ryder is also teaming up with Cory Philley for the Burnaby show. Other dancers areKarissa Barry,Kathryn Crawford,Léon Feizo-Gas,Lina Fitzner, Caroline Liffmann,Caitlin Griffin,Deanna Overland andRobert Mitchell.
Dances for a Small Stage started in Toronto in the 1990s and was brought to Vancouver with the creator's permission by MovEnt, a non-profit dance company.
Its aim is to showcase new and established contemporary dance in usual places, like the Royal Canadian Legion on Commercial Drive, a run-down drinking hole.
Since it launched, more than 200 performers have offered their talent to Dances for a Small Stage, including artists from Ballet BC. As well, Dances has travelled twice to Ottawa to show at the National Arts Centre: the first time, in 2006, for the Canada Dance Festival; the second, in 2009, for BC Scene.
Caulfield said performing in Dances brings a whole new audience - many of whom haven't been introduced to contemporary dance. Many times, Caulfield said, she's gone to Dances where the lineup has been around the block at the Legion, which pleases her."As an artist, I'm not interested in limiting who experiences what I do and so anything that expands on the audience and allows more people to become engaged is very exciting," she said.
Dances for a Small Stage runs Sept. 23 and 24 at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby). Tickets are $15 with the show starting at 8 p.m. Call 604-205-3000.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
