Syrian dancer and choreographer Hoor Malas is cloaked in a pink shawl, lying in near-darkness in a fetal-like position on the floor. Malas’s breaths echo through the performance space. Her arm extends weakly, yet with purpose, as she attempts to pull herself over to the singular illuminated light, beaming at[Read More…]
Dance
‘Dancing with the Stars’ premiere shimmies into the spotlight
Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) is the perfect mix of fact and fiction. Fact: I’m very confident that the majority of viewers that judge DWTS on Twitter could not tell the difference between a Paso Doble and a Jive. Fiction: The promise that all the contestants put the “star” in[Read More…]
‘Why We Dance’ is a masterclass on the science of movement
From McGillian to award-winning documentarian, Nathalie Bibeau’s career is the answer to a question many Arts students dread: “What are you going to do with an Arts degree?” Bibeau graduated from McGill in 1998 with a Joint Honours degree in history and sociology, before completing her Master’s degree the following[Read More…]
Sensual dance show ‘Whip’ premiers at MAI
Whip is a nuanced dance performance that fuses touch, sound, space, light, and above all, the relation of one human to another. The production, which ran from Nov. 3 to 6, was co-produced by Montreal Arts Interculturels (MAI) and dancer Ralph Escamillan’s performance company FakeKnot, with Escamillan and Daria Mikhaylyuk[Read More…]
Émilie Monnet’s ‘Okinum’ forages for fervent dreams
On Sept. 2, Okinum made its English debut at Montreal’s Centaur Theatre to a sold-out audience. Originally a 2018 award-winning novel by Canadian writer and performance artist Émilie Monnet, the English version of Okinum was adapted to the stage as part of Centaur’s Brave New Looks program and was co-produced[Read More…]
Japanese urban dance film ‘Dreams on Fire’ sets Fantasia Festival ablaze
On Aug. 8, Dreams on Fire made its North American debut at the 25th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival. Written, directed, and produced by Montreal-born filmmaker Philippe McKie, the film follows Yume’s (Bambi Naka) pursuit of fame as she moves to Tokyo to become a dancer. There, she[Read More…]
Festival TransAmériques 2021 reveals the human condition through performance
Founded in 1985 by Marie-Hélène Falcon and Jacques Vézina, the Festival TransAmériques (FTA) is an annual contemporary dance and theatre festival that brings artists from across the globe to Montreal to kick off the summer season. This year, dance and performance artists dusted off their costumes and laced up their[Read More…]
