Bye bye ballet

>> Classically trained dancer Kirsten Pollard's new Incarnation

by MARITES CARINO

When you've been trapped in the shackles of ballet most of your life, escaping to the world of contemporary dance can be liberating. And that's how it was for former hardcore ballet dancer Kirsten Pollard.

"In the ballet world, there was no freedom," she says. "In the modern world, you can express yourself as an individual. I think the biggest thing is that it's the first time I've been asked who I am as a dancer, as opposed to 'Do this!'"

You can witness Pollard's transformation in Incarnation, a sextet by Montreal choreographer Helene Blackburn. The work opened during the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse last fall and is making its second run this week at Usine C.

Pollard opens the piece in silence. Her head is shaved and she's alone at centrestage--swivelling, undulating and twisting her long limbs as though there are rippling waves flowing through her body and liquifying her bones. The effect is total fluidity, but Pollard tells me that her biggest challenge in modern dance is to be loose and in control simultaneously.

After having danced ballet for most of her 24 years, training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and dancing with the Jorgen and Boston ballets, Pollard decided it was time for a change. A year and a half ago, she came to Montreal to visit her boyfriend Marq Frerichs, a dancer with Blackburn's company Cas Public. The timing of her visit was fortuitous as one of the dancers was injured and Pollard was there to fill the gap. And now she's in her third season with the company, and having more fun than she did in her tutu and pointe shoes. "It's no one's concocted image of me dancing. It's me dancing. It's just me," she adds.

She also sees a lot of her beau at work and at play. What's it like dancing with her chum of three years? "Some days I think I'm really lucky. But if something goes wrong with another partner, it's okay. But with [Marq] if something goes wrong, it's like, 'Oh god!'" she lets out an exasperated sigh. "It's not easy. We try to leave work at the workplace."

There is a lot of partnering in Incarnation, but this duo is the one that stands out because of their fluidity. "Throughout this sextet, there is a recurrent theme where the males initiate the female movement," Pollard explains. "You give yourself to the male and let them lead you."

"We have higher expectations of each other as dance partners. So it brings it to a different level because you know each other so intimately."

Drumroll, please
For the shortest month of the year, February boasts a remarkable assortment of shows. If you're a fan of dance and American composer Steve Reich's pulsating piece for percussion, Drumming, you're in luck. This week, O Vertigo is on stage along with the Societe de musique contemporaine du Quebec. They team up for Ginette Laurin's latest work, La Vie qui bat. That's at Centre Pierre-Peladeau, Feb. 17-19, 8 p.m., $18-32.

Danse-Cite also has something on the go this week, with one dancer in four solos under the title of Projet Kovacs. Liza Kovacs is in the spotlight, bringing to life works created by local choreographers Helene Blackburn, Benoit Lachambre, Jose Navas and Dominique Porte. At L'Agora de la danse, Feb. 17-19 & 24-26 at 8 p.m., plus Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12-20.

And last but not least, for those of you in Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal withdrawal, the company is finally putting on a new program called A fleur de peau/With Soul. One of the highlights will be a solo performed by the company's artistic director Louis Robitaille. A fleur de peau/With Soul starts a three-week run next Thursday, Feb. 24 to Mar. 11 at Espace Go, 8:30 p.m., $25. :

Pollard's Incarnation runs at Usine C, Feb. 22-26, 8 p.m., $18-22.