Love Me Do

On Wednesday, I went down to the Harbourfront to see a dance program celebrating Kaeja d'Dance's 25th anniversary: both the company and the marriage of Allen and Karen Kaeja. For the occasion, two world premieres were presented tonight: .0 by Allen for Karen, and Taxi! by Karen for Allen.

.0 started with Karen and the other dancers trapped by spotlights. Circumscribed by their zone of light, they twitched and spin, reaching into the darkness. Eventually, they made their way out and came together. The dancers switched back and forth between periods of manic dancing including acrobatic Kaeja Elevations and profound lethargy, where they needed other dancers to hold them up. A long middle section involved improvisation, where each dancer would call out 0, minus 1, 4, and so on. Each number corresponded to a segment in a choreographic sequence. Upon hearing a number, the dancers would reset and start their movement from that segment.

Taxi! was more concerned with couples, although sometimes that may involve 3 or 4 people. It explored different stages of coupledom from the initial meeting on to the final breakdown. More a theatre performance than dance, especially as the dancers spoke and shouted about sexual fantasies, past experiences, or embarrassing secrets. This often generated knowing laughter from the audience. Allen played up his "decrepitude" as compared to the dancer's younger, lither bodies.

The pieces shared some common elements. Notable in both was a switch from a sparse soundscapes to pounding electronic music. In .0, it was used to show off exuberance: coordinated dancing and  showy lifts; perhaps the world's most athletic dance club. In Taxi!, guys thrusted and girls bumped, a scene you might encounter during any week-end, though perhaps not with the same level of desperation. I liked both pieces, but a collaborative ensemble piece pulling in elements from both might have worked better.