A difficult-to-translate Mongolian word, Od Sor is best describes with an image: a blasting spray of stars. Drafted before the pandemic, Misheel Ganbold’s creation was born from a need to express unease and loneliness. It is an ode to the many hours she spent contemplating the stars, making it easier for her to overcome two years of social isolation during confinements.
Did you know that singing birds can memorize a melody and repeat it while they sleep? And that, while they sleep and sing, their brain waves mirror those they have when they are awake? Similarly, could we take control of our dreams and change them? Some even say this ability can bring about change in the waken world by planting an idea or desire in the subconscious. The Songbird Dreams of Singing is a 5-minute solo showcasing a giant bird nest. The dancer is in a liminal dreaming state, exploring and showing potential for change and self-growth. The piece is an ode to the power of dreams as a source of inspiration and manifestation, and a call to dream more, free oneself from a restrictive mental process, and opening oneself to new possibilities.
Switching between dance and music throughout the play, Leah depicts the feeling of being stuck from an outsider’s point of view. From the outside looking in, it is always easier to figure out how to escape a situation and understand that the feeling of being stuck is, more often than not, an interpretation of the mind. When she reached forty, Leah started to wonder why she never combined her passions for choreography, dance, musical composition, and cello. Getting There was born from a desire to make these universes meet and move beyond limitations.
Embrasement synaptique draws its inspiration from the way neurons transmit sensory information. Choreographer Zachary Bastille embodies the electrical and unpredictable nature of nervous impulses, and the role they play in our instinctive actions and reactions. This solo explores the clash between our irrational and random urges and instincts resulting from millions of years of evolution, and our modern environments. Embrasement synaptique is an electrifying, vivid, and expressive solo, guided by the sensory and internal reactions of the body.
Where are we? Where do we come from? Where do we go? Are we really aware of our daily lives and routines? Do we realize how removed we are from nature? Do we notice joy all around us? Do we feel joy? Have we forgotten how to? Are we really conscious? We are responsible for our own life and happiness. We owe it to ourselves to be awake. Does this make you feel uncomfortable? Study this feeling. Use it as a catalyst, a source of energy. It is simpler than you think. It is simpler than our mind would like us to believe. Do not trust your mind blindly. For it is not the only tool we have to understand life. Learn to listen to your soul and feel with your body. Anima Inaspecta ... A play about a man’s journey on the unknown path to awareness.
Inner Land Mines’ choreography is inspired by the loneliness one can feel in large cosmopolitan cities, and by the violence we can observe anywhere in the world. The choreographer links land mines, the deadly legacy of war, to the potentially destructive emotions that are buried deep inside of us, drawing a parallel between the violence we observe in our external environment and the personal mines scattered within ourselves. In modern society, we are often required to live a distorted reality, while denying, consciously or not, our deepest urges, emotions, and memories. The artist compares our lives to a journey through rugged terrain until we trigger, voluntarily or not, the sensitive mechanism of the exploding device. Through exploring the dark side of individuality, Inner Land Mines uses movement to speak to the direct or indirect consequences of our trauma on our interactions with others. It also alludes to our search for balance to help us protect and maintain our relationships.
