ONSTAGE
What: Romp! Festival of Dance
Where: Metro Studio, Beacon Hill Park
When: In the Melting Pot, July 15; Romp in the Park, July 16.
Tickets: $20 advance (suddenlydance.ca) or $20 door
Canadian dance legend David Earle has no qualms about showing a聽work in progress.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to say: 鈥業鈥檓 hard at work at something 鈥� here are the pieces at hand鈥� and give it the best shot I can. And I鈥檓 happy to hear what people have to say about it,鈥� says the 77-year-old choreographer and dancer.
On Saturday, Earle鈥檚 in-progress piece Ladder to the Moon will be presented as part of聽the Romp! Festival of Dance. It聽features dancers Michael English and Danielle Baskerville, both members of Dancetheatre David Earle, his Guelph-based company.
Under the auspices of the Romp! festival, which is produced by Victoria鈥檚 Suddenly Dance Theatre, Earle is in Victoria to teach classes and continue work on Ladder to Moon.
A towering figure in sa国际传媒鈥檚 modern dance scene, Earle trained at Toronto鈥檚 National Ballet School and studied with Martha Graham. He co-founded Toronto Dance Theatre in 1968 and led the company until 1994, as聽both artistic director and co-artistic director.
Renowned for the theatricality and sensuality of his dance, Earle聽has choreographed more than 100 dances.
鈥淭hey have a certain spiritual essence to them. They鈥檙e really comfortable being performed in聽church as well as theatres. There鈥檚 an ecstasy to them,鈥� said聽David Ferguson, co-artistic director of Suddenly Dance Theatre.
Earle says Ladder to the Moon, which he has been creating for several years, is inspired by a film that never got made. The movie was to have been about a young woman who waits for the return of a relative lost in the war. Earle read a magazine article about the story, which he believes was sketched out by French film-maker Abel Gance.
Ladder to the Moon is part of In聽the Melting Pot, an evening of dance being staged at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Metro Studio.
The event takes its name from one of the dances on the program: In the Melting Pot by South Korean dancer/choreographer Hoyeon Kim. The night also includes Lilac by Vancouver鈥檚 Mahaila Patterson-O鈥橞rien and Brother by Namjin Kim, also from South Korea.
Advertised as 鈥渃omic dance theatre,鈥� In the Melting Pot is a commentary on global pollution. At one point, Hoyeon Kim, joined by two other dancers, attempts to breath through a plastic water bottle with two plastic caps stuck in his eyes. Elsewhere, dancers don gas-masks and astronaut suits.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of him being almost asphyxiated while dancing,鈥� Ferguson said.
Lilac combines projections and聽text as well as sound and movement. Brother is inspired by聽Namjin Kim鈥檚 experience of聽growing up with a disabled sibling. It鈥檚 danced by Kim and Sung Kuk Kang.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an absolutely beautiful piece, done with a dancer and a non-able-bodied dancer 鈥� It鈥檚 a profoundly emotional piece,鈥� Ferguson said.
On Sunday at 4 p.m., the festival offers a free 60-minute mixed program, Romp! in the Park, at Cameron Bandshell in聽Beacon Hill Park. Ballet Victoria will perform contemporary ballet works choreographed by Paul Destrooper. There will聽also be performances of dances by David聽Earle and Hoyeon Kim.
Ferguson says he鈥檚 thrilled to be reunited with Earle, an early mentor whom he first met when he was 16. 鈥淔or any dancers who鈥檝e experienced his class, it鈥檚聽an ecstatic, highly educational artistic experience,鈥� he said.
Despite being well into his eighth decade, Earle said he鈥檚 able to demonstrate most of the dance moves he teaches. For this veteran dancer/choreographer, teaching the art of dance remains a transcendent experience.
鈥淚 love to teach, even though I鈥檓 ancient. I have come to think of teaching as a way of coming to terms with existence through the body, through experience, through movement.鈥�