Live at the 'Bolt: Dances for a Small Stage, Sept. 23-24, 7 to 10 p.m. at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Tickets: $15, visit www. shadboltcentre.com. Info: www.movent.ca.
KARISSA Barry remembers what it was like to take her first ballet class at age seven.
"I was like, 'This feels really awkward but I like it,'" the Vancouver dancer laughs. "I'm pointing my toe and I have no idea what's going on."
Having caught the bug, Barry continued with her studies, moving into additional genres like modern, tap, jazz and hip hop and as an adult, has turned her love for the art into a successful career as an in-demand freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher working primarily in the contemporary genre.
"I feel like I didn't really have a choice, that the passion and the drive took over," she says.
An Edmonton, Alta., native, Barry has called Montreal and Vancouver home in recent years, dancing locally with Wen Wei Dance as well as MovEnt, with whom she's set to take the stage at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts next week, Sept. 23-24. Barry is among the featured performers at Dances for a Small Stage, her third appearance with the unique performance series, seeing a diverse array of artists perform new contemporary works on a 10-by-13-foot stage. Her previous two appearances saw her perform solos created by others, though this time around, she's choreographed a solo for herself, something she rarely does.
"I usually choreograph on groups or more than one person," says Barry. "And I usually don't involve myself in my own choreography so this has been a good experience just to try it out and see how it translates."
While there's added pressure coinciding with performing one's own work, Dances for a Small Stage is typically presented in a more intimate and therefore comfortable setting than some of the bigger and more expensive venues in the city.
"It's a little bit more laid back," says Barry. "It's open and it's friendly. . . . There's a little bit of room to have play instead of perfection and that really, actually, I find, works better for the performers when they have less pressure
as opposed to having this bar that you think you need to hit. You'll still hit the bar, it's just in a different way. You might even surpass it because you're allowing yourself to go somewhere without the pressure."
For this round of Dances for a Small Stage, each choreographer was asked to create something based on a story, literal or abstract, though their work needed to have a beginning, middle and an end.
"I chose to create this creature character and I kind of have a narrator in the piece, which is my own voice, over top of the music," says Barry. "I go through an evolution from creature to human person and there's sort of like an evolution, de-evolution thing that happens along the way."
"I watched different videos of different animals and how they moved so that I could create different ways of transporting myself in the space in a more primal way so it looks inhuman," she adds.
When asked whether her piece is autobiographically rooted, Barry says it has more of an alter-ego sort of feel. Untitled at the moment, the work is six minutes in duration.
Having attended a show rehearsal, Barry was impressed by the diverse line-up, drawing on everything from ballet to musical theatre, and is sure it will please everyone. Other artists featured include Cori Caulfield, Jonathan Ryder, Cory Philley, Leon Feizo-Gas, Robert Mitchell, Kathryn Crawford, Lena Fitzner, Caroline Liffmann, Caitlin Griffin and Deanna Overland.
Barry has a packed fall ahead of her. She's staying busy with teaching engagements, having worked with dancers at all levels, from beginners to professionals. For example, she was called upon to teach the members of Bend Sinister a group dance, in addition to being a featured choreographer and dancer, in their "Time Breaks Down" video. She's taught youth at the North Shore's Vanleena Dance Academy and this week has been working with members of the professional community through The Training Society of Vancouver, supported by The Dance Centre. She also teaches at Modus Operandi.
Barry has a number of upcoming performances scheduled as well, including heading to China in December with Wen Wei Dance and she'll take the stage with the company at Dance in Vancouver at The Dance Centre Nov. 23-26.
The performance showcases excerpts of works by local companies, including 605 Collective, plastic orchid factory, MACHiNENOiSY, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre and Shay Kuebler.
Info: www.thedancecentre.ca.
