Words in Motion: An Evening of New Dance Works Inspired by Acclaimed Texts

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in partnership with The Dance Centre, presents Words in Motion, March 18 & 19, 7:30pm, in the Telus Studio Theatre. This innovative series explores the power of words in performance – both as an agent of change, and as a means of igniting important dialogue. Vancouver-based authors Carmen Aguirre, Aislinn Hunter, and Nancy Lee pair with diverse choreographers, Anusha Fernando, Olivia C. Davies, and Paraskevas Terezakis, to interpret three renowned texts into original works.
 
“Words in Motion is the newest edition to the Beyond Words series, which invites masters of various artistic disciplines to re-envision narratives as performance,” says Wendy Atkinson, Programming Manager at the Chan Centre. “Since launching in 2012, the project has featured such esteemed artists as Tanya Tagaq, Shane Koyczan and Ivan Coyote. For this ambitious presentation, we introduced a trifecta of literary heavyweights to choreographic visionaries, each with their own unique approach to interpretation. The resulting co-creations will shine a new light onto the writers’ stories, while unraveling different layers of meaning and inspiring discussion.”
 
The choreographers for Words in Motion were selected from a long list of candidates after The Dance Centre’s spring 2015 call for applications. The Chan Centre then approached the authors, whose texts were nominated to complement the particular style of each choreographer. The following provocative new works represent the outcome of these collaborations:
 
The World Before Us
Bharata Natyam, a 2000-year-old dance tradition, attempts to embody the spiritual through physical expression. Anusha Fernando, Artistic Director of Shakti Dance Society, and long-time practitioner of the Indian classical style, is a fitting interpreter of Aislinn Hunter’s evocative novel, The World Before Us. The 2014 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize-winning book follows a young archivist grappling with a tragic disappearance by immersing herself in a centuries-old missing person’s case. Through flowing sculptural poses, and intricate hand gestures, Fernando will explore Hunter’s study on the corporeal and metaphysical, and the fluid state between past and present.  
 
Open Fire
Olivia C. Davies’ Aboriginal dance works, which investigate the body’s ability to translate narrative, have been performed at Dancing on the Edge, Nuit Blanche, and Talking Stick festivals. ForCarmen Aguirre’s short story, “Open Fire”, Davies will portray a victim’s struggle to reconcile the memory of her mother’s murder by Argentina’s former dictatorship. Aguirre’s first book, Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter (2012), which recalls her experiences as a member of the Chilean resistance, won CBC Canada Reads 2012 and became a number one national bestseller. An avid actor and playwright, Aguirre is the latest author to team up with Davies, who often engages in avant-garde collaborations integrating movement, poetry, and multimedia.

Styrofoam Artifacts
Greek-Canadian Paraskevas Terezakis “explores the visceral and emotional landscape of the human condition” in his potent choreography. This rawness, which underlines the style of Terezakis’ own company, Kinesis Dance somatheatro, matches the poignancy of Dead Girls, Nancy Lee’s literary debut. Hailed as “a masterwork of revelation” (The Globe & Mail, 2002), the morbid and moving collection of short fiction examines lives ruled by desperation. Balancing emotive Mediterranean influences with subtle modern technique, Terezakis will lay bare Lee’s harsh yet delicate prose.