Results tagged “amehenderson”

How lucky are we that the "artistic funhouse" (a.k.a. the SummerWorks Performance Gallery) is on for seven more nights (August 7–9, 13–16)? Yesterday, we took in the debut soirée at the atmospheric Gladstone Hotel, not knowing what to expect, and left agape at the stunning performances that are practically being given away for free (PWYC). On any given evening, as many as seven different five- to eight-minute shows are available for patrons to peruse at their leisure, taking place in the rooms (including the restroom) and hallways on the second floor. The doors to the balcony facing Queen Street are thrown open to the summer evening, letting the sounds of the city meld with the eclectic mix of performances that make up the Gallery. Below are some we particularly enjoyed.

There's a moment in Small Wooden Shoe's Dedicated to the Revolutions, which opened last night at Buddies in Bad Times Theate, where Erin Shields talks about the Scientific Method as she remembers it from her high school education: Hypothesize, Experiment, Observe, Report. For Small Wooden Shoe, this show represents their own version of the "Report" stage. In 2006, the company began work on a series of shows, each devoted to one of seven scientific/technological revolutions: Gutenberg, Copernican, Newtonian, Industrial, Darwinian, Nuclear, and Information. This new show is a culmination of those other shows, bringing together everything they've learned about how these revolutions have shaped our society with the help of dry-erase markers, some string-cup telephones, and a ukulele.

Dancemakers just closed its latest show last night at Harbourfront's Premiere Dance Theatre. Called Double Bill # 1, the show consisted of two pieces danced by the company choreographed by different artists. Though quite different, both pieces explored the repetition of physical actions and the idea of "covers." The music was provided entirely by local curiosity The Reveries, a group that exclusively covers love ballads. The twist is that they play the covers with cellphone speakers in their mouths, each playing back the music of one of the other musicians. The result is hauntingly beautiful. The music was not performed live, instead, the dancers would choose which songs they would dance to by putting their CDs into the stereo they had on stage with them. This notion of "covers" was also carried over to the dance. In the first piece, "It Was a Nice Party" (choreographed by Ame Henderson), the dancers move around the stage in a way that at first seems random and violent, though somehow reminiscent of a party. At their own pace, the audience discovers that they are actually copying the physical actions of a group of revelers in a wild party scene from Fellini's La Dolce Vita (it is eventually projected behind them). The result is energetic, funny and completely delightful.