Anatomica at the NAC

Last week I had the great privilege of attending the performance of Andre Gingras' Anatomica by Dance Works Rotterdam at the National Arts Centre Theatre. The piece reminded me of two things: the contemporaneous reflection of human relationships that emanate from the Dutch dans theater scene, and secondly, the lack (or my ignorance) of a dance theatre scene here in Ottawa. There is contemporary dance and classical dance, but no dance theatre. I was thirsty and drank in the incredible social commentary about love, sex and relationships of Anatomica's first half.

The piece opened with with the dancers dancing as though they were in a club or in a strip club. It was sexual and reminded me of the mating dances I have seen in documentaries. Then they would stop, point at an audience member on which the spotlight was shining as though to say, "Dance, now you're the performer. Perform for us." The day after Valentine's Day, it was a reminder of the performing we do for each other, the vulnerability we have at the risk of performing and feeling rejected and the expectations that are dashed if we do not perform well - however you take that to mean :)

I also found poignant the performing we do for each other on the Internet, specifically on internet dating sites (of which I actually have no experience) and sexting. In this collection of short scenes, the dancer opened her laptop and proceeded to pose and type and flirt with her partner, who was situated offstage and only represented by a voice. The voice asked personal questions about what she likes to do and asked her to touch herself, take of her shirt, etc. The dancer obliged. But then the voice asked her, "Is your daddy proud of you?" The dancer was immediately offended, hid in shame from the computer and then gingerly shut the top of her lap top. The impact was like a mack truck on the audience. There was a collective tension in the air at her sense of hurt and shame and betrayal. She had trusted her partner, she had received his/her approval, and in one foul swoop, the partner had inflicted shame without really knowing the ramifications of what he/she was doing. This is the human condition of our contemporary society. We please and hurt each other instantly without the personal realtime connection to how our comments are absorbed and processed. For this to be represented in dance reached all of us. Prior to this, there had been grumblings in the audience, "what are they doing? Is this dance? This is what the NAC makes us pay for?" I heard of one family leaving close to the beginning with their children, which is too bad, because this is a way for their kids, in my opinion, for them to make sense of the world they live in. Sexting is part of their kids' lives now and there's no turning back and I truly think protecting children is futile - except if it's from adult predation. Child pornography is a scourge and we need to deal with it, but I think that's a separate conversation.

The second half of Anatomica was somewhat less compelling. The show opened with a photographer walking in the audience: he was performer and watcher as he took polaroids of audience members. Then, he gradually made his way onstage only to find a clone of himself with the same wig and camera. I understood that we perform for each other with this belief that we are all individuals, but we are not. Our identities are shaped by our desires to conform or not conform to society. We are an aggregate. We can be understood empirically and predictably.

After this portion, I found the dance less engaging although it was beautiful to watch, full of levels, kicks, jumps, and tumbles down a mattress or teetering at the top of a precipice and choosing to jump or not to jump.

In my own mind, I chose to jump. Andre Gingras and Dance Works Rotterdam and others (Natasha Royka, Natasha Bakht, Le Groupe Dance Lab and Lainie Towell) have inspired me to build and appreciate my dance vocabulary. The culmination of this is that I decided to found my own Dance Theatre company, unleash the dance vocabulary and ideas I have had building and have repressed and denied for the last 5 years. Art that inspires appreciation and reflection is wonderful; but art that inspires further creation is an art in itself.

I am so grateful to the NAC and Cathy Levy for bringing contemporaneous, moving (no pun intended!), cutting edge dance theatre to Ottawa. If you have the opportunity, check out Andre Gingras and Dance Works Rotterdam. You won't be disappointed.