Q Dance is back after pirouette to online

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This article was published 06/07/2021 (1623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Peter Quanz’ “experimental dance laboratory,” Q Dance, takes a quantum leap into cyberspace when it presents its 10th season exclusively online this week for the first time. It also marries two countries across the ocean, bound together by ballet and a thirst for contemporary offerings.

After a one-year absence owing to the global pandemic, the 50-minute show, which runs through Friday, features two world premières by the acclaimed Kitchener, Ont.-born choreographer and QD artistic director, as well as a guest appearance by China’s Harbin Ballet.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division alum has served as resident choreographer for the Northeast Chinese troupe since its founding in July 2019, with seven world premières of his works having been staged in the metropolis of nearly 11 million.

“It’s important to show that dance is a universal language and that in times when the world is becoming more isolated because of COVID-19, it’s even more critical to keep a cultural dialogue between countries,” Quanz say of his two home countries over the phone from Waterloo, Ont., where his partner currently resides.

The diverse program includes performances by longtime QD members and audience favourites Yosuke Mino, Alanna McAdie and Liam Caines, all of whom regularly perform with the RWB — part of a close relationship the venerable organization has with the younger troupe, founded in 2010.

Quanz also sings the praises of Winnipeg dance artist Stephanie Ballard, who serves as his artistic advisor and critical “outside eye,” show producer Carman Johnston, and former RWB wardrobe director Anne Armit, who created original costumes for all the newer works.

With tickets for the online show already snapped up in Russia, the U.K., China, Japan, South Africa, Germany, and throughout Canada and the U.S., including dance epicentre New York City, cyber-viewers around the globe will be treated to Caines in Synapse, a solo dance film he co-choreographed with Quanz that explores showing “multiple thoughts at the same time.” A series of visual effects create effective trompe l’oeil, with the lithe dancer performing in the Rachel Browne Theatre to Winnipeg songwriter Rayannah’s Chaque Fois.

Also on tap is Swirl, a duet from Mino — an original charter QD member who has now collaborated with his former RWB School chum for 22 years — and McAdie, in which the two artists’ bodies literally swirl and spin around each like kinetic sparks to Paolo Buonvino’s Skin. The work includes enthralling, sky-high lifts (captured by nifty ceiling cameras), adding to the overall kaleidoscopic ethos.

The program’s oldest work is Rail Against, another dance film choreographed by Indigenous dance artist Cameron Fraser-Monroe and filmed last summer among the leafy foliage of Assiniboine Park, directed by Philippe Larouche.

The athletically demanding work features a quartet of then-RWB Aspirants, or company apprentices. Emilie Lewis, Liam Reid, May Saito and Bryce Taylor are dressed in pedestrian T-shirts, jeans and sneakers, offering naturalistic eye candy for the senses, juxtaposed with Ben Howard’s Oats on the Water.

The lion’s share of the bill is given to Ode to Joy, featuring 300 artists onstage at the Harbin Grand Theater, including the Harbin Ballet, Harbin Symphony Orchestra led by Tang Muhai, a quartet of vocal soloists, and three local amateur choirs raising their voices in glorious song during iconic finale from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, capping the evening on an exultant note.

The soul-stirring work is especially apt for these times, Quantz says, as the world now begins to tiptoe toward a post-pandemic era.

“Ode to Joy is a reflection of the hope we need to have that we will get out of COVID-19 and that we will get back to live performance,” he says of the nearly 30-minute piece, which premièred last Christmas Day.

Asked about the differences between the rigorously trained Asian and North American troupes, he says, “The Chinese dancers have incredible technique and wonderful physiques. I’ve been encouraging them to open their hearts and let their personalities come out, and you can see that in this performance,” he says of his joyous ballet, which explodes with vibrant colour and life during its final images. “They’re all smiling and are having a wonderful time.”

Since its inception in 2010, QD has forged its reputation by presenting highly intimate shows, typically presented at Winnipeg’s Gas Station Theatre, in which audiences see classically trained ballet dancers without the chasm of a physically distancing orchestra pit.

Quanz is keenly aware that his little company enters its second decade on a global playing field, thanks to the move to cyberspace inspired by pandemic lockdowns around the world. It now feels as though that centuries-old paradigm of “bums in seats” is a relic from the pre-COVID past.

“I think what COVID-19 has shown us is that having a digital presence is essential for any new creation, so that going forward, we’re not only going to focus on what is being presented live onstage, but we’re also going to explore how each production can have a digital component,” he says when asked about QD’s next chapter.

“This is going to be the widest exposure that Q Dance has ever had, and it’s terribly exciting.

“I would like the audience to see four very different pieces, feel exhilarated by it, and for 50 minutes, just forget the challenges that COVID has given us and enjoy a night of fabulous dance.”

holly.harris@shaw.ca