Thursday, February 14, 2013

Thoenn Glove, top & Yeva Glover

Those who might be reading this may perhaps be wondering what to do on a Thursday night. They might be lucky enough to know that Vancouver, every once in a while, gives us gems but like the best are usually hidden from view. One of Vancouver’s gems is Dances for a Small Stage. That in some ways this gem is still hidden to some is beyond my understanding.

You are in an intimate place, The Legion on the Drive at 2205 Commercial sitting at a table sipping a martini or a beer. Dancers, female one, male ones, dance for you on a small stage. These dancers are the best our city has and the approach encouraged by curator Julie-ann Saroyan and her guest co-curator, that compact and agile dancer Karissa Barry, is an avant-garde approach. If you are elitist this is for you. If you are not just go with the attitude that it is not important to understand anything or “get” anything. The deal is to watch beautiful dancers dance.

But then there are two dancers in particular that I had to see yesterday as I will be in Austin, Texas by the end of the day today. I witnessed a dress rehearsal and the two sisters, Yeva and Thoenn Glover in all-white outfits and blonde wigs performed just for me, sort of as the tech crew was there and so was Julie-ann and the composer Mac Hunter in charge of the Glover’s music for their piece called Tandem.

I will not try to explain what I saw but I will point out that the piece is very good (how these two communicate!) and for reasons that I will keep behind a curtain, Tandem is an especially good name.

Besides the Glover Sisters, there are others on the roster: Karissa Barry, Alison Denham & Billy Marchenski, Arash Khakpour, Meagan O’Shea from Toronto, Donald Sales/Project 20,
Dayna Syndrowki and Clare Twiddy.

I have never seen Ballet BC’s Donald Sales dance on his own outside the Ballet BC envelope. Sales is a strong and muscular dancer with American football in his background. But the delightful paradox of Sales is that he is also one of the most elegant male dancers in town. I have written about Alison Denham’s abs here.

Because the Legion is licensed you must be 19 or older to be admitted. Perhaps some day soon those in charge of promoting and nurturing culture in our city might find a way of reprising Dances for the Small Stage in schools and other places. The show is on tonight, plus on the 15, and the 16th. Tickets are $20, cash at the door. Doors open at 7pm and show is at 8 pm. The Legion is at 2205 Commercial Drive.