Performing artists nimbly switch disciplines in brain-testing experiment
On stage am a
Feb. 21-March 4 | Vancity Culture Lab Tickets and info: $23, at thecultch.com
In am a, a theatre director and a choreographer work together to explore neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to, and capacity for, change. And what better way to demonstrate this than by taking on each other’s disciplines?
“It’s about identity and how we can change aspects of ourselves and habits and behaviours by changing our brain,” theatre director Mindy Parfitt said.
“Part of the way we show that is by Amber (Funk Barton) and I doing things we don’t normally do. So Amber’s speaking, and I am dancing.”
For the upcoming production, Parfitt and dancer/choreographer Barton have created a piece that includes dance, text, and personal stories. Am a also features a large video component by Cande Andrade, and an original score by sound designer Antoine Bédard.
The two previously worked together on a 2014 show called This Stays in the Room.
“From that experience we realized we quite enjoy working together,” Barton said. “We were still interested in seeing how we could marry the artistic mediums of dance and theatre.”
Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of am a is the integration of science into the performance. Parfitt and Barton have tried integrating their research into neuroplasticity in different ways, at one point using straight text. But this didn’t achieve the desired affect.
“During development, it’s landed more in the image world than the real science world, partly because we found the real science part became isolating,” Parfitt said.
“The point was to draw people into the piece, as opposed to moving them into their heads. So we created images and metaphors to talk about the process of neuroplasticity.”
In the process both performers venture far from their comfort zones.
“I feel like we trade spectrums,” said Barton, who is also artistic director of local dance company the response.
“I’m not used to speaking in public at all, and then on top of that, I’m sharing personal stories. For me, it’s a whole different experience and process of expression. It’s the opposite for Mindy. She’s going through a physical transformation and understanding the strength and the power and the capability of her body.”
In fact, am a marks the first time Parfitt, the former co-artistic director of theatre company Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, is performing in 11 years.
Initially, she wanted Barton to teach her something “that was really hard, that I had to struggle and to muscle my way through it. I realized that’s a very familiar experience for me. The way I would face a challenge is to dig in and muscle through it. ‘I’m going to figure this out, I’m going to go for it and do it.’”
For the piece Parfitt is learning classical ballet, something she had never studied before.
“I felt that what was appropriate for this piece was to do something where I was constantly trying to embrace something very feminine and very light, and beautiful in the way that classical ballet is beautiful,” she said.
Parfitt and Barton have already learned from the collaboration. Now, it’s the audience’s turn.
“One of the things that I think that I’ve learned is to ask for help,” Parfitt said. “It’s taught me that I don’t have to be able to do it all myself. That’s been part of my habit of behaviour — feeling like I have to know it all, that I have to know what I’m doing all the time. It’s very freeing to ask for help.”
“I feel empowered by this work,” Barton said. “Through most of my training, and the way I am as a person, it’s natural for me to be quiet all the time. But I’m slowly trying to speak up for myself more and stand up for myself more, and just be a little more feisty.
“In small doses though,” she added. “It’s not by any means a radical transformation. But there’s a little stirring, a fire that’s been lit.”