I sometimes wonder whether audiences truly realize the extreme caliber of creativity in this city. Peter Quanz' young company - Q Dance - is celebrating its first season to be presented by the RWB as part of the regular subscription. The performances this week included two of Quanz' well known pieces - Quantz by Quanz created for the Banff Arts Centre, and the ingenious Double Bounce, along with the World Premiere of his new story ballet, Murder Afoot.
Quantz by Quanz is a beautiful piece with quickly changing shapes. The challenging choreography is clearly influenced by George Balanchine in its many extensions and juxtaposed angles. The strength of the dancers shines in this piece, with Sofia Lee and Liang Xing dancing the lead roles, and a very strong ensemble supporting them. In this piece, an earlier one of Quanz, we see primarily a classical vocabulary, but the beginnings of the bending, asymetrical shapes which characterize his later work.
The second piece, danced by an enigmatic Beth Lamont with Stephan Possin, is centred around a playful idea - what if the tutu's edge were maleable, to be re-shaped every time the dancers come in contact? Lamont sparkes, and breezes through the choreography which showcases more of the Quanz obsession with unusual shapes. Possin however struggled with the challenging work - one can see quickly that the piece was choreographed on the dynamic and nearly superhuman Yosuke Mino.
The final piece, Murder Afoot, really allows Quanz sense of humour to sparkle, while using the most provocative movement vocabulary of the three pieces. Essentially created for 7 soloists, with only minimal ensemble dancing, the piece incorporated fantastic lighting and video design by Hugh Conacher, including a live feed from other parts of the theatre. Truly pushing its way into dance theatre, Quanz and Conacher's collective vision is unlike any other narrative ballet you've seen. Its sense of the theatrical was undeniable. I would have liked to see even more interplay - the moments where the video seemed to comment on the stage action had a fantastic Brechtian quality, and the piece would have been even more outstanding with this.
Overall this was a fantastic programme which not only showcased the incredible dancers, but the emerging genius that is Peter Quanz.
Quantz by Quanz is a beautiful piece with quickly changing shapes. The challenging choreography is clearly influenced by George Balanchine in its many extensions and juxtaposed angles. The strength of the dancers shines in this piece, with Sofia Lee and Liang Xing dancing the lead roles, and a very strong ensemble supporting them. In this piece, an earlier one of Quanz, we see primarily a classical vocabulary, but the beginnings of the bending, asymetrical shapes which characterize his later work.
The second piece, danced by an enigmatic Beth Lamont with Stephan Possin, is centred around a playful idea - what if the tutu's edge were maleable, to be re-shaped every time the dancers come in contact? Lamont sparkes, and breezes through the choreography which showcases more of the Quanz obsession with unusual shapes. Possin however struggled with the challenging work - one can see quickly that the piece was choreographed on the dynamic and nearly superhuman Yosuke Mino.
The final piece, Murder Afoot, really allows Quanz sense of humour to sparkle, while using the most provocative movement vocabulary of the three pieces. Essentially created for 7 soloists, with only minimal ensemble dancing, the piece incorporated fantastic lighting and video design by Hugh Conacher, including a live feed from other parts of the theatre. Truly pushing its way into dance theatre, Quanz and Conacher's collective vision is unlike any other narrative ballet you've seen. Its sense of the theatrical was undeniable. I would have liked to see even more interplay - the moments where the video seemed to comment on the stage action had a fantastic Brechtian quality, and the piece would have been even more outstanding with this.
Overall this was a fantastic programme which not only showcased the incredible dancers, but the emerging genius that is Peter Quanz.