Dances for a Small Stage 32, Oct. 20 to 23, 8 p.m. at The Anza Club, 3 West 8th Ave., Vancouver. Tickets: $20 (show only); $45 (dinner, dessert and show); $30 (show and dessert), available online at smallstage32.eventbrite.ca or at the door (cash only).
Next week, some of the biggest names in the local dance world will take to one of the smallest stages imaginable.
Vancouver's Anza Club is hosting the 32nd instalment of Dances for a Small Stage Oct. 20 to 23. The always-popular contemporary dance series, produced by MovEnt, will showcase a selection of original shorts all performed on a tiny 10-by-13-foot stage.
First time small-stager Heather Myers is choreographing and dancing in a seven-minute contemporary piece entitled "Threshold" that she created in collaboration with actress and dancer Agnes Tong.
"We've had equal input in movements and in any dialogue, so we both speak a little bit, we both move a little bit, we both do a little bit of both," she says.
Their piece blurs the line between dance and theatre, combining elements of both art forms.
"It's quite abstract. It's not necessarily a narrative. I would describe it more as a poem on the subject matter that we were kind of working off of," Myers says.
Myers and Tong formed a creative partnership over the summer during a series of artistic labs facilitated by Small Stage at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. MovEnt artistic producer Julie-anne Saroyan matched different teams to a room or a space inside the Shadbolt as inspiration for a dance. The room assigned to Myers and Tong contained a simple lightbulb on a stand, several large black boxes and some chairs.
"It was a very dark, stark space, so that was our inspiration for the piece," Myers says. "We took our inspiration off of what was provided."
The pair have since reconfigured their Shadbolt performance for a much smaller stage - a challenging process, but Myers never felt constrained by the miniature dance space.
"Creatively it's not limiting, actually. It's just simply a different parameter that you're working with, because you're always working with a certain size of stage, whether that's big or small, and I think there's just as many things you can do, it's just that you might not be able to travel your steps as much or something like that."
One of the biggest challenges, she says, was figuring out how to give multiple dimensions to her work without relying on physical space.
"I think what you do just needs to be relative and relevant to the space that you have to work with."
Originally from Calgary, Myers trained professionally as a classical artist and went on to dance with Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theatre, and as a contemporary freelance artist. She moved to Vancouver a year ago and joins a diverse cast at this edition of Dances for a Small Stage.
Ballet B.C. dancer Andrew Bartee (formerly of Pacific Northwest Ballet) will be performing a piece choreographed by fellow Ballet B.C. dancer Kirsten Wicklund. Next week's four-show run will also feature new works from Scheherazaad Cooper paired with Dayna Szyndrowski, and Burgundy Brixx joined by Judith Garay. Merging music and movement, Vanessa Goodman and Karissa Barry will perform a new work featuring an original ambient soundscape from composer Loscil. And dancer Caroline Liffmann will bridge acts one and two with an immersive and interactive performance.
"While upholding the cabaret performance style Vancouverites adore - punchy, five-to sevenminute original dance works with big impact on a small stage - we're daring our artists to boldly step beyond their creative confines, by collaborating with other choreographers and musicians outside their own artistic discipline," Saroyan said in a press release. "Energized by our new digs at The Anza Club - which will bring audiences even closer to our revered artists - our performers will showcase such diverse styles as Odissi Indian dance, flamenco, Eurostyled contemporary, and so much more in an all-out celebration of dance in its many forms."
Myers is hesitant to reveal too much about "Threshold," but says she is excited to present the piece in the intimate Anza Club setting.
"I hope that it's thought provoking," she adds.
