New Works' 10th anniversary presentation of the "All Over the Map" series of free outdoor music and dance performances at Ron Basford Park on Granville Island concluded on Sunday with the pairing of the hybrid Silk Road Trio and the solo movement improvisations of Wen Wei Wang.
Featuring Qiu Xia He on pipa (sort of like a Chinese version of the lute) and vocals, husband André Thibault on guitar, oud, and a variety of wind instruments, and Liam MacDonald on percussion, Silk Road took the audience through an eclectic repertoire of Chinese folk songs, Brazilian samba, and even Memphis-inspired blues. It was certainly stereotype-busting to see Qiu Xia pluck out a Lead Belly-esque number on the pipa, and MacDonald at one point gave a virtuoso tambourine solo that gave me new respect for an instrument that ever since The Partridge Family I'd always maligned as the province of second-rate back-up singers with bad 70s hair.
Then there was Wang, who joined the trio for three numbers. If his improvisations relied a bit too much on props (an oversized pair of chopsticks, eight peacock feathers, and a bright green fan) for my liking, he at least made canny use of the site-specificity of the "All Over the Map" series, beginning his peacock dance, for example, upon the hill where the audience was seated, and slowly wending his way to the stage, tickling a few faces and necks along the way. And in his last improvisation, Wang also incorporated some of Silk Road's ironic and deconstructive approach to Western and Eastern musical styles into his movement vocabulary, his flowing arms and legs at one point segueing into a version of popping and locking.
P.
Showing posts with label Ron Basford Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ron Basford Park. Show all posts
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Flamenco at Midday
Yesterday at 1 pm the western slope of Ron Basford Park on Granville Island (the one facing Performance Works) was filled with Vancouverites looking to add a little Spanish spice to their summer. We were treated to this and more courtesy of the local dance troupe Karen Flamenco, who were performing as part of New Works' 2013 "All Over the Map" series, which is presenting free music and dance with a global flavour on successive Sundays at this outdoor spot.
Accompanied by guitar, percussion and stunning vocals, Artistic Director Karen Pitkethly's troupe of nine female (including herself) and one male dancer treated us to a succession of choreographed and improvised sequences, all of which doubled as object lessons in flamenco technique: the importance of rhythm, precision of movement, verticality of bodily alignment, tightness and speed in turns, etc. Of course, everyone is mesmerized by the clacking heels. However, I am always drawn to flamenco dancers' arms and hands, to their graceful and fluid floating upwards even as the beat gets faster and more furiously staccato, always ending with the blooming floreo of the fingers as they unfold and extend one by one. Such movements, when done expertly, always appear to me to be almost boneless and remind me of the repeated injunction of flamenco teacher Susana Robleda in the award-winning NFB documentary Flamenco at 5:15: "No elbows, no elbows!" That documentary made a big impression on me when my English teacher showed it to our class in Grade 11, and yesterday's performance reminded me of flamenco's role in the early formation of what we might call my "dance consciousness."
Clearly Pitkethly, who when not on stage sat with the musicians clapping out the beat, has given her own version of Robleda's instruction to her dancers, who together made up a pleasing mix of ethnicities and body types. Same goes for the audience, where there was some added drama when an elderly lady in the front row suddenly collapsed. Fortunately attentive fellow patrons sprang to action and an ambulance was called; by the time it arrived, the woman was awake and speaking. However, the producers rightly called the show, knowing there would be another performance at 3 pm.
"All Over the Map" continues next Sunday with Wen Wei Wang and the Silk Road Trio.
P.
Accompanied by guitar, percussion and stunning vocals, Artistic Director Karen Pitkethly's troupe of nine female (including herself) and one male dancer treated us to a succession of choreographed and improvised sequences, all of which doubled as object lessons in flamenco technique: the importance of rhythm, precision of movement, verticality of bodily alignment, tightness and speed in turns, etc. Of course, everyone is mesmerized by the clacking heels. However, I am always drawn to flamenco dancers' arms and hands, to their graceful and fluid floating upwards even as the beat gets faster and more furiously staccato, always ending with the blooming floreo of the fingers as they unfold and extend one by one. Such movements, when done expertly, always appear to me to be almost boneless and remind me of the repeated injunction of flamenco teacher Susana Robleda in the award-winning NFB documentary Flamenco at 5:15: "No elbows, no elbows!" That documentary made a big impression on me when my English teacher showed it to our class in Grade 11, and yesterday's performance reminded me of flamenco's role in the early formation of what we might call my "dance consciousness."
Clearly Pitkethly, who when not on stage sat with the musicians clapping out the beat, has given her own version of Robleda's instruction to her dancers, who together made up a pleasing mix of ethnicities and body types. Same goes for the audience, where there was some added drama when an elderly lady in the front row suddenly collapsed. Fortunately attentive fellow patrons sprang to action and an ambulance was called; by the time it arrived, the woman was awake and speaking. However, the producers rightly called the show, knowing there would be another performance at 3 pm.
"All Over the Map" continues next Sunday with Wen Wei Wang and the Silk Road Trio.
P.
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