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On April 2nd, I went to The School of Toronto Dance Theatre for Acceleration 2011, the dance program for their graduating class. Unlike previous shows which often had too many dancers, the evening focused on smaller groups: duets, quintets, etc.

First was an excerpt from A Choreographic Offering, a 1964 piece by Jose Limon. Comprising of all-female dancers split into a duet and a quintet dancing to Bach's Musical Offering, the women were all soft movements and spins. Next up was Christopher House's Colder Ink (1994) with music by Tim Brady (Dead of Winter). The quartet did not interact much in the piece and concentrated on their own difficult choreography, some of which resembles yogic poses. Before the intermission was a new piece by Susanna Hood entitled Then it seemed beautiful containment. The dancers were playing with words, singing, humming, and fighting each other for nourishment. Sometimes it looked as if they were ready to literally consume each other.

After the mission, the first dance was also a new work from Lucy Rupert called rough magic. The dancers followed each other, mimicking moves, interrupting other ones, and falling asleep. The repeating fragmentary sequences envisage a flickering dreamscape. Finally, 2 dancers presented Boys With Be Men (1985) by Conrad Alexandrowicz. Laughing, taunting, daring each other, the man-boys showed comically how gendered roles (macho, boys don't cry, competitive) in most cultures (dancers also spoke to each other in different languages) can ultimately be limiting.

I liked the first dance and elements of the other pieces: the technical difficulty in Colder Ink, the humour in containment. However, there is a dance style to this school, seen in previous shows, and most evident in Ink (House is closely associated with the school) and containment and magic (which were choreographed with input from the students), which I don't really enjoy. The dancers do not often interact and are usually engaged in their own, individual movements. What I can say? I like choreography with some synchronous sequences (i.e., the typical music video) and interactions between dancers. So as amusing as Boys was, given the dearth of pas de deux between 2 men in both classical and contemporary dance, I was expecting more physicality (for example, unlike a male-female duet, both partners can participate in lifts) and yes, healthy aggression/athleticism. Instead, I got a disappointing pantomime.