Rhythm makers

>> Dance makes its own beat in ’08

MODERN MOVES: Peggy Baker

by MARITES CARINO

As usual, January is bursting with dance, so let’s leap right in. LifeLines kicks off the winter season at Agora de la Danse where Gioconda Barbuto and Emily Molnar take the choreographic reins in a duo that digs into the past and brings it up to speed in the present with the help of photographer-videographer Michael Slobodian, Jan. 16–19. That same weekend, head over to the Belgo building on Jan. 19 for the first Vernissage-danse of 2008 at Studio 303 (372 Ste-Catherine W., #303). This edition in the lively series revolves around the theme “Nu” for a stripped down evening of shorts by five different artists.

For the past five years, choreographer Hélène Blackburn has been concentrating on creating works for youth, but she switches gears in a new piece for adults called Suites cruelles. The work for 10 dancers premieres at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau and features two on-stage pianists who perform music by Canadian composer Ana Sokolovic, Jan. 24–26.

Look out for a Canadian premiere by Belgian contemporary dance maker Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, who returns to Montreal at month’s end at Usine C with a groundbreaking work she created in 1982 called Fase, four movements to the music of Steve Reich. Shortly after its creation, De Keersmaeker founded her renowned company Rosas.

To finish up the month, local choreographer Mélanie Demers comes out with her new work Sauver sa peau, a duet with choreographer and dancer Laïla Diallo which questions the identity that exists beneath the skin, Jan. 31–Feb. 2, at Tangente.

The Montreal High Lights Festival is a great winter source for dance. From Feb. 21–March 2, the city’s cultural winter carnival takes over the city. The opening act, the Eva Yerbabuena Ballet Flamenco, features a dozen dancers and musicians from Spain in a show called Santo y Seña. At another one-night show, Feb. 29, local choreographer Margie Gillis presents M.Body.7/M.Corps.7 with a slew of guest dancers, notably Gioconda Barbuto and Anik Bissonnette.

Peggy Baker brings on more modern dance Feb. 20–23 in a mixed program that includes both her past and present works. Grab the fest details and info about dance events during Nuit Blance at montrealhighlights.com.

Here’s a must—at the tail end of March, check out the work of artists in residence Anne Plamondon and Victor Quijada of Rubberbandance. Their style, which incorporates elements of hip hop, classical ballet and modern dance, will be popping at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts, March 26–29.

In her most recent work, L’Écurie, Manon Oligny looks at the female identity with Putain author Nelly Arcan in a duet for dancers Anne Le Beau et Mathilde Monnard. It premieres at the Société des arts technologiques, April 16–19. The same weekend, over at the MAI, local Hinda Essadiqi presents L’absence-La ausencia. Closing the month of April, Ottawa-based choreographer Tedd Robinson stops in with Redd, the concluding chapter of a trilogy of solos he’s created since 1996. Now in his 50s, Robinson looks at reading, dreaming and dying in this personal piece that runs April 23–26 at Agora de la Danse.

There’s a trio of choreographers from abroad to look out for in the coming months. From Spain, Nacho Duato’s massive troupe of 30 dancers, known as the Compaña Nacional de Danza, returns March 6–8 at Place des Arts with a triple-program that includes Duato’s older works Castrati, Txalaparta and White Darkness. Although it’s only the Madrid-based company’s third time to the city, Montrealers are familiar with Duato’s works as seen in the repertoire of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal.

Another big name from away who also has links to Les Grands is Ohad Naharin. The Israeli contemporary dance choreographer presents a world premiere of his new pièce-en-pointe that was created for Les Grands dancers. The evening’s program also includes the return of two short works: Arbos, set to the music of Arvo Pärt and Kaamos. Catch the show April 3–12 at Place des Arts.

Start saving up. The last time we saw the Belgian company Ultima Vez, known for its driving works filled with risk and conflict, was with its in-your-face performance of Blush back in 2004. This April, Wim Vandekeybus’s company returns with Spiegel, a best-of retrospective of sorts that celebrates the company’s two decades of existence, and excerpts pieces such as the celebrated What the Body Does Not Remember, the first work produced by the troupe in 1987. FYI, Vandekeybus, also a director, photographer and actor, steps into the spotlight in this performance April 24–26 at Place des Arts.