Canada Dance Festival 2008
T.S. Warren
Come rain or shine, Ken Emig will literally be the odd man out at the 12th biennial Canada Dance Festival.Every day at noon between June 7 and 15, the self-described Ottawa transdisciplinary artist will perform "a spontaneous choreography" for the public on a roof terrace of the National Arts Centre."It's a real challenge to do site-specific work - this is the real world, not a controlled situation like a theatre," noted Emig on a particularly blustery day as the wind whistled between the outdoor concrete walls.
He admits he's come to love the NAC's "brutish" architecture and mystical hexagonal motif, and with his background in sound technology as well as dance and the visual arts, Emig's work promises to cast the four-decade-old structure in a new light. Ottawa composer Edmund Eagan will improvise an electronic score while six cameras mounted on an outdoor skylight will feed Emig's performance into the NAC foyer.
As ever, the arts centre provides the locus for the national event, a celebration of Canada's real movers and shakers. More than a hundred dancers will present 43 performances, including 13 world premieres, during the nine-day event.
Highlights include a solo evening with Louise Lecavalier, the phenomenal Montreal dancer whose kamikaze moves helped launch Canadian contemporary dance onto the world stage, and the premiere of a new work by Vancouver's Crystal Pite for her Kidd Pivot company. Women choreographers dominate the lineup with new works from Toronto's Lata Pada, Winnipeg's
Ruth Cansfield and Six Nations artist Santee Smith presenting the world premiere of Tripped Up Blues, as well as a duet with acclaimed actor and dancer Michael Greyeyes. While most of the festival action takes place on NAC stages, some of Canada's top hip-hop crews, including Victoria's Filthee Feet, will converge on the theatre of the Canadian Museum of Civilization for a world premiere performance, Saturday, June 14. Wrapping up Hip Hop 360 is a Sunday block party in Brewer Park, across from Carleton University.
www.canadadance.ca
