A gang of us from Hamilton made it out to Guelph this weekend. First off we stopped in at Louisa Kratka's new gallery space, Studio 490. She's a talented violinist, bookmaker, artist, and now she's even weaving! She has a really nice space in a huge old warehouse-type building.
We caught the 4:00pm Mainstage A show of the Guelph Dance Fest and enjoyed it immensely. David Earle's piece was campy and humourous with many styles of dance investigated. I especially liked Deborah Dunn's piece which, like her contribution in last year's festival, was narrative and theatrical. My favourite part was a duet section in which the dancers moved mainly on the floor. My kind of dance--where the steps melt away into the storyline and you longer see the split or pirouette or arabesque.
The second Mainstage show of the day was very long. The programme began with a piece by Janet Johnson, followed by a group from Calgary called La Caravan. The latter tried to incorporate grotesque vocal "sounds", ballet pointe work, and had a sort of absurdist angle to it.
The third piece was, to my surprise, a relief to watch. I enjoyed the grounded partnerwork of Kaeja d'dance's Abattoir which I had already seen
at Harbourfront this season. When contrasted with a group like La Caravan, the skill of the dancers and the fluidity of the choreography in Kaeja d'dance is glaringly appearant.
at Harbourfront this season. When contrasted with a group like La Caravan, the skill of the dancers and the fluidity of the choreography in Kaeja d'dance is glaringly appearant. The fourth dance was a duet by Kate Alton which was performed well but by that time the show was in its 3rd hour which was taking me beyond my breaking point.
The festival is an amazing success, now in its 10th year. How great that you can see progressive and entertaining contemporary dance in a smaller community. Now, we just need more of it!
