What we are saying
Inspired by the Occupy movements, the Torontonian Ame Henderson and her collaborators clear the way for a new territory in dance, reinventing ways for people to be together. An avant-garde, subversive piece.
The rendezvous takes place in a neutral space, a site for all sorts of possibilities. No stage, no fourth wall. Artists and audience are one and the same. No one knows exactly what will happen; the senses are on alert. First one voice breaks the silence, followed by several others. The choral conversation of what we are saying becomes a remarkable dance of words. It’s all in the telling, for in this improbable experience of speaking as though dancing, with everyone talking at once, what is conveyed is the hope of finding unison in a shared discourse, the desire to invent a new way of being together. With you.
After earning acclaim at the FTA for her /Dance/Songs/ (2009), the Torontonian Ame Henderson and her collaborators rejuvenate choreography and the role of the spectator in this piece, which follows in the wake of relay. An experience in conversation with Occupy and other recent social movements, the performance pursues the challenging goal of accomplishing united action without a leader.
PRODUCED BY PUBLIC RECORDINGS
CONCEIVED BY AME HENDERSON
CO-CREATED AND PERFORMED BY FRANK COX-O’CONNELL + KATIE EWALD + MAIRÉAD FILGATE + SHERRI HAY + AME HENDERSON + BRENDAN JENSEN + ALEXANDER MACSWEEN + BOJANA STANCIC + STEPHEN THOMPSON
SET DESIGN SHERRI HAY + BOJANA STANCIC
SOUND DESIGN ALEXANDER MACSWEEN
PHOTO LIAM MALONEY
COPRODUCTION FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES + DANCE4 (NOTTINGHAM) + HARBOURFRONT CENTRE (TORONTO)
IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE POWER PLANT (TORONTO)
CREATIVE RESIDENCIES DANCE4 + OBORO + GALLERY TPW (TORONTO)
WRITTEN BY FABIENNE CABADO
TRANSLATED BY NEIL KROETSCH
PREMIERED AT POWER PLANT, HARBOURFRONT CENTRE, TORONTO, MAY 22, 2013
AME HENDERSON (TORONTO)
PUBLIC RECORDINGS
Nonconformist Experimentation
A choreographer and performer who grew up on Vancouver Island, Ame Henderson studied at Concordia University in Montreal before moving to Toronto in 2003 where she founded Public Recordings. Using research and spontaneous improvisation as her basic artistic tools, she pursues an interest in intimacy and the limits of the body in a process of co-creation, working with artists from various cultures and disciplines. Seeking a balance between conventional form and openness, and between the known and the unknown, she creates choreographic structures where performers are able to allow inherent movements to freely take shape in response to clear intentions. Her works are atypical, often presented in non-traditional spaces. They are characterized by the performers’ naturalistic style and their intense commitment to both the movement and the moment.
