ProArteDanza

(Harbourfront Centre, 17 October 2009)

In large part, perceived physical beauty is the mastery of one's own body. The mastery translates into fluency in expressing emotions. What is sometimes viewed as an incorrigible physical flaw is often corrigible disengagement. For instance, an irregularly-shaped nose stands out only if it does not act in accord with other bodily members in conveying its bearer's individuality. Perceived intellectual beauty resembles physical beauty. The greatest mistake of disengagement is shyness, the wish to be absent---physically or intellectually. Presence is beauty. ProArteDanza's performance has presence.

Rena Narumi appears to be oddly proportioned until she moves. Then, she is impeccable, as her each muscle tells; she is supple, quick, precise, expressive. Anisa Tejpar treats the challenge of taming the momentum of her big body with nonchalance and earnestness. Like other female dancers in the performance, she is imperfectly built. The imperfection, if moderate, however, is an advantage for a dancer. Then, the movement speaks, not the silhouette. Johanna Bergfelt's body recites even when she (or the director---or at least the audience) wishes it to whisper. Still, each of the three dancers owns and controls her body. No muscle acts of its own accord; no movement is redundant.

Choreography, music, and dancing are excellent. In their intensity, the dances resemble martial arts and west coast swing. Instead of being trapped in bodies possessed by the choreographer's spirit, the dancers retain initiative; they act. Whenever a dancer is on stage, she plays a part, never just waits for her turn.

"Unfinished 32" captures the indispensability of communication, which in its purest form consists of generating a momentum, passing in onto others, and trusting that others will return it or pass it on. Dance, like communication, is a goal, not a means. No point is belaboured; intensity is never suggested by repetition.

"Hidden Places" celebrates the acceptance of change and transience (as opposed to change and accumulation). "Maria Celeste" is a piece about the era when good intentions imputed to a god were an excuse for his cruel acts. Dancing in "Beethoven's 9th---1st Movement" does to classical music what animation did to it in Disney's "Fantasia;" the dancing awakens one but does not halt the dream.