ALL THE RIGHT MOVES
COVID-19 restrictions push most festival performances online
DANCING ON THE EDGE FESTIVAL SEGUES ONLINE
This year’s Dancing on the Edge (DOE) festival, like every other festival, has had to move to a mostly online format.
While that’s obviously not the best-case scenario, the good news is dance pros are generally quite comfortable with filming their work and, in this case, were excited to step up for the revised July 2-11 Vancouver fest.
“Dance artists tend to document all of their work because it is not text-based. They’re videoing all the time,” said DOE’s artistic director, Donna Spencer. “They are happy we have gone forward with this.”
While the long-running — 32 years — DOE will mostly be made up of about 25 online (some livestream) performances, there will be a handful of live events in front of very small audiences at social distances at the Firehall Arts Centre’s courtyard and in its theatre. The festival will also include online discussions and classes for anyone who just wants to dance.
Another upside to an online presence is potentially more people will see dance artists in action — a benefit Spencer says the DOE festival is embracing and hoping to build on in future.
“Anyone, anywhere can view it. It’s exciting,” said Spencer. “We are already looking at next year’s festival and that it will have a similar component, and I think that is where we’re headed. We want to move forward, if we are allowed to have a live festival next year, but to also move forward so we can have material that can be streamed beyond Vancouver.”
The festival has also created the COVID Commissions program. Commissions ranging from $5,000-$10,000 will be awarded to five artists to go toward the creation of new works for next year’s festival.
“This year is unconventional as we all know. We are having to make things in different scenarios,” said dancer/ choreographer Vanessa Goodman, who has developed Solvent, a 20-minute solo piece that includes a sound score from Loscil (Scott Morgan). The new work, according to Goodman, is focusing on ideas of shifting surfaces — both anatomically and geographically. It will be streamed July 3 and 6.
“We are trying to figure out how to make things together in these times, which feels really nice,” said Goodman, who formed her Action at a Distance dance company five years ago.
Vancouver’s Shay Kuebler and the Radical System Art dance company will be delivering their show, Momentum of Isolation (MOI), live inside the Firehall Arts Centre to an audience of 40 social-distanced people July 10, and then it will be streamed again live the next day.
“Its kind of a chain of solos and chain letter between all the performers that ties it together,” said Kuebler about the performance that will have seven dancers each doing six-minute solos. “It is very unique to each artist and they were all created in isolation.”
The word isolation is key here as it’s the driving inspirational mechanism for Kuebler’s show. He was inspired by it long before we all ended up in our houses in stretchy pants and slippers.
A few years ago he had heard the U.K. was creating a minister of loneliness job.
“It was reported that a lot of people said they felt isolated, lonely and this was leading to greater health problems,” said Kuebler. “So for me I have always tried to do works that are relevant to what is happening in the world. So this felt like something that was very prominent and was becoming more prominent as our communication is becoming more online and digital.”
Then the pandemic hit and Kuebler has a prescient production and an expanded digital language that now offers him more ways to share his and his company’s work, but like all the other dancers and dance companies in this festival COVID-19 has been a big disrupter for Kuebler. His company has tours planned for next year but no one knows what next year is going to look like. However, in the meantime, artists have to create and that, Kuebler says, is what they’re doing.
“We’re trying to find ways to keep moving forward,” said Kuebler. “Trying to find ways to put the art out there.”
Tickets for live events must be bought in advance. Online shows are free and instead people are being asked, if they can, to make a donation to the festival.
We are trying to figure out how to make things together in these times, which feels really nice.” Vanessa Goodman
Canadian “electro-funkees” Chromeo have delved into a lot of different styles over the course of the duo’s studio albums, almost always with a healthy dose of tongue-incheek lyricism.
With Chromeo’s latest EP, David (Dave 1) Macklovitch and Patrick (P-Thugg) Gemayel have targeted their electro-disco-funk directly at COVID-19. While many artists have chosen to get deep and dismayed at the present reality, this crew has dropped the closest thing to a musical cure for what ails us.
Even if you have to crank up Cabin Fever in, well, your cabin-or-whatever-space, the two have nailed it with this five song/five instrumental release of their “corona jams.”
Weird times often result in great art. While that might be a stretch to describe Quarantine Casanova, it certainly is the right sound at the right time.
Here are five things to know about the EP.
1 CLOROX WIPE
Some write songs about being an object of desire’s angel baby, or space cowboy or bad boy. Not Chromeo. They figure that the thing to be wanted by the partner of their dreams is to be a Clorox wipe. “I would have a purpose / I’ll be at your service / Let me wipe your surface / Cause that don’t make me nervous ... I’m not trying to be your man / I’m just your disinfectant.” There is linguistic genius at work here right along the hilarious mid-’80s, synth-pop arrangement.
2 6 FEET AWAY
Honestly, aren’t you surprised nobody has written a tender love song about loving “from six feet away?” It’s ridiculous and when the song mentions leaving flowers and chocolate (that the neighbour steals) at the door — classic. While the music can be formulaic, the bass on this one is crazy funky.
3 ’RONI GOT ME STRESSED OUT
Yes, it’s ridiculous. But the topics touched upon in this
insanely hooky song aren’t that far away from what’s really going on with so many people. That the plea to get some help and take care of your mental health may be delivered in a lighthearted way doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the subject matter. And if it gets people sharing and talking about their stress, all the better.
4 CABIN FEVER
Kicking it old school with slap bass, electric piano and jazzy snare and hi-hat grooves, this song stands out from the others by being more neo-soul than a dance track. Declaring two months is too long to be stuck in a room right before the laid-back keyboard solo, it appears that some CBD is keeping the tempo cool. Also, the line about talking to Siri but she won’t talk back is pretty spot on. Anyone else changing the accent setting to make it like there are a variety of different people answering your inane questions about takeout orders?
5 INSTRUMENTALS
As noted before, the music is well done and having instrumental versions of all the songs means you can cut loose with your own lyrics for home-based karaoke challenges or the like. You can really appreciate how tight the orchestration is on ’Roni Got Me Stressed Out without the lyrics.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK JJ WILDE RUTHLESS | BLACK BOX/BMG
With her single The Rush making history as the first song from a female artist to hit No. 1 on all three Canadian rock charts and holding the spot for three weeks, rocker Wilde is on her way. Her album is loud with the kind of big, familiar hooks that were called alt-rock in the olden days.
Favouring stripped-down blues structures with big oohooh-ooh choruses and handclaps, songs such as Wired, Home and Knees are amped-up rockers. She can get more ethereal on songs such as Gave It All or the piano ballad Funeral for a Lover, which provides a vocal range other than howl.
EMILY BEST
A STORM CAME THROUGH | EMILY BEST MUSIC
This lovely collection of quite jazzy, orchestral folk/ pop from Vancouver-based songwriter Best ranges from the melodic and moody opener Bridges and Cars to the bluesy Freight Train and classic-rock leaning title track. With its star-studded cast of backing musicians, such as guitarist/composer Tony Wilson, Paul Rigby (Neko Case), Stephen Lyons (Fond of Tigers) and Joshua Zubot (Patrick Watson), there is never a note out of place. Lush and soulful, this is an artist who could be as comfortable on a folk festival stage as a jazz gig.
NOBLE SON
LIFE ISN’T FUN | NOBLESON.CA
This nine track release is, at times, as odd as the apparent cover photo which shows the artist in long underwear, reading a newspaper, smoking and sipping coffee on a dining chair in the middle of a park, or something. In other words, it’s a bit odd. But the chorus that kicks in on the opener Sleepin’ is as good example of classic Laurel Canyon-era country pop as you’ll hear this year.
Songs such as Love Love Love and Sad, Dumb, Lovesick Young Kid sound like exactly what the titles proclaim, with a somewhat disarming honesty, while Ruin My Life is an odd bit of aspirational balladry hoping someone as yet unmet will come to do exactly what the title requests.
A genuinely unique voice and some great production make this well worth searching out.