Garay's dancers express exhuberance
lindsay nielsen, arts editor

Dancers Dancing is a repertory company that enables audiences to be exposed to the work of more than one choreographer in an evening. artistic director, Judith Garay, who is also a faculty member in Contemporary Arts at SFU, believes that her work, Reckless Cascade, will create a kinesthetic response in the audience. "For me, that is the primary communication medium," says Garay. "You're sitting in your seat, but you're also moving because the dancers are physicalizing so intensely that they make you move with them."

Danced by Desirée Dunbar to a commissioned score by Sue McGowan, Reckless Cascade is an excerpt from a piece called Whirlpools. Garay says that this segment is about a woman in her '20s, and the movement is "inspired by the sense of optimism, the endless energy...and the ability to be reckless when you're young."

Garay's other piece, Entangled Extensions is danced by the full company to the commissioned score of Patrick Pennefather. Garay says that the piece "is quite a journey, it deals with different kinds of imagery, it's often not completely realistic, and has images that are other-than-life." Garay has used costumes which extend and restrict the body, as well as join dancers together. "This use of costume provides insight into ways that we relate to each other, as well as ways of seeing things that wouldn't happen without the costumes," says Garay.

A Farewell to Music, choreographed to Mozart by Anthony Morgan, was commissioned for the 2000 Artspring Mozart Festival. Garay says that the piece is inspired by the music. Mozart wrote his adagio from the Clarinet Concerto in A major near the end of his life. "Mozart knows that he isn't going to live, so there is a lot of looking backward in the piece. That is reflected in the choreography. It has a dreamlike quality that is very beautiful," says Garay.

The Three Graces, eh? , choreographed by Santa Aloi, also a faculty member at SFU, is a physical trio which "is quite funny and tongue-in-cheek," says Garay. She states that "the music is also very accessible. I think that it's quite easy for many people to relate to." The piece is danced by a trio dressed in business suits and it explores contemporary notions of femininity. It is also a reference to Botticelli's Three Graces.

Dancers Dancing will also be performing at the Firehall Arts Centre, September 21-23 at 8 p.m. Call 689-0926 for more info.

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