Thursday, February 16, 2012

Karen Jamieson & Meredith Kalaman

There are those who say that Vancouver is a cultural wasteland. And there are a few who disagree. I disagree.  If you turn off your TV or get off facebook, there’s lot to see in Vancouver. What is remarkable is that sometimes this stuff is not only very good but also free, too. The deal is to know about it and pick yourself up from the sofa . One way is to make friends with people that you can actually see and perhaps even touch should you wish. They might tell you about these events as my new friend  Meredith Kalaman did.

On February 8 I went to the Vancouver Dance Centre to experience a treatise on gravity, that while it may have gone slightly over my head, it would have been devoured quite handily by the likes of Sir Isaac, he of the falling apple.

You see, Karen Jamieson, who without revealing more, shares close birthdays (within 3 years) with Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders approached the physics of a body in space (our down to earth one) through dance and with gesticulation that in itself was sheer beautiful choreography. That she could dance, mano a mano, with the ever much younger Meredith Kalaman was exquisite to behold. All three, Wenders, Herzog and Jamieson give me hope that at my age of 69 I may have some of the best years still ahead of me.

In very few words Jamieson, with the help of individual dancers of her choice, one at a time, is working on a project, Solo/Soul 2012 which will lead her to a series of solos that will culminate in about three years. They will explore dance moment as explained by the five life forces of yoga.



In fewer words Jamieson stated, “We are making gravity visible.” Sir Isaac would have hurrahed!

In one most interesting section of the afternoon performance Jamieson and Kalaman demonstrated the usual dance movement generated by sheer muscle power. Then they shifted to movements that were reaction to that all encompassing force called gravity.

I cannot wait for the next performance.

Karen Jamieson Dance Click on current projects.