I have written of one of our city's best kept secrets (so unfortunate for those who don't know) which is Dances for a Small Stage. I have written about Movent run by Julie-Anne Saroyan and Day Helesic.
Day Helesic
Day Helesic, again
They have an upcoming (the 18th in the series!) Dances for a Small Stage , Thursday Jan 31- Fri Feb 1, which nobody in their right mind should miss. But I have a wish list for the next one, 19. Here is my idea.
In September 1999 the Georgia Straight was keen in having original photographs accompany its arts coverage (sadly that has changed not only for the Straight but for the Vancouver Sun, too). For that season's arts preview they gave me a list of 6 artists. I decided to pair them off as unlikely combinations, for example an opera singer and a modern dancer. But the most interesting combination was pianist Ian Parker and Ballet BC dancer Edmond Kilpatrick. I took two photographs in which each one featured one of the artists over the other one. I took the pictures in Parker's house and we were limited by the large piano and the cramped quarters. This did not seem to limit Kilpatrick. It was then that I came up with my idea that I would love to see various dance compositions choreographed around a piano and a pianist.
I can see now Ian Parker playing at Dances for a Small Stage perhaps paired off with modern dancer Alison Denham. Brad Turner, who plays a jazz piano, could perform with Susan Elliot and so on. And so on, but I also have the vision of dancer Cori Caulfield in an 18th century powdered wig dancing to a Mozart piano sonata.
Can Movent and Dances for a Small Stage take up this challenge? If not, there is another wonderful kept secret and that is Brief Encounters.
