Historic Theatre, The Cultch

1895 Venables St, Vancouver

Running thru January 29th.

I attended on opening night and was a tad confused for the 1st part of this performance. After the audience is together standing around waiting for something to happen, the play unfolds in front of our eyes as we start to figure out what is happening.

What does it mean to be together? More specifically, what does it mean to move together, to dance together? Can it be possible to maintain individuality while embracing unison? Or, is unison the death of all independence?

These questions and more are explored in relay, choreographed by the adventurous dancemaker Ame Henderson. Deemed a daring dance “experiment,” Henderson takes a creative leap with her Toronto-based company Public Recordings and the result is both highly cerebral and visually stunning!

Throughout relay, Henderson draws on her fondness of creating cross-disciplinary works by delicately intertwining movement with live music. Bonding together 8 dancers with 2 musicians, Henderson creates a world in which the analytical and the abstract unite. A deeply collaborative process, relay was designed from the memories of past performances from all dancers involved. In this world the act of both watching and experiencing movement are the tools Henderson uses to explain her unique take on the idea of togetherness.

Full of adventurous risk-taking, unexpected happenings and extreme investigations, relay is art worth talking about.

relay is a co-production of The CanDance Network Creation Fund, Harbourfront Centre, Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Agora de la danse and Canada Dance Festival, and  supported by the Dance Section of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Performed by Eric Chenaux, Eric Craven, Chad Dembski, Tomislav Feller, Claudia Fancello, Matija Ferlin, Mairéad Filgate, Marie Claire Forté, Brendan Jensen and Bee Pallomina.

Tickets and information