At the start Moses Znaimer took the stage. How long it will take him to mention Leonard Cohen for no reason. Turned out about twelve minutes. Thankfully, Yvonne Ng was more unpredictable and lifted everyone up gracefully. From my balcony seat it was very distracting to enjoy below me the awesome image of two hundred quasimodos twisting and miming, following her audience warm up instructions, average age sixty something. Wanted to take a picture but thought it would make trouble. I’ve taken pictures before when not supposed to. A tough call when you know it’s a once in a lifetime image and you are in the perfect position, but also more asshole points on your bubble gum hockey card profile.
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The first dancers did something with electric lead guitar blues, reminded me of Jeff Beck and I wondered what Jeff would have thought if he was also here. It tickled to follow their interpretation and I envied the opportunity to score for dance. Next person was doing Indian dance but the score was vocal sounds, perhaps her voice, cutting up the laughter or breath and creating various delays that made beautiful time signatures and the slap of her feet perfectly integrated as a kik drum would in rock. Made me think of Laurie Anderson or John Oswald. I loved the blend of modern sound with traditional dance, assumed that was part of what motivated the piece. The next person was from another planet and I felt privileged to get a free ride across the universe. Stunning and hilarious and I incorrectly thought this or that was going on only to realize that and this were going on. This happened a few times which made her work so memorable and awesome. The last piece was a group piece and it seemed both improvised and choreographed but I wouldn’t know being the untrained guy who wishes to take pictures when not allowed type I am. I couldn’t see the musicians but correctly sensed they were somewhere below playing live, all percussion and some vocal yelling or chanting. On stage maybe a dozen women and one man. That was a nice bit of oddness or maybe just another improvisational element. I wondered in the parts where everyone is doing the same thing how they decide who stands at the front and who at the back because those at the back can cheat. They can compare themselves to who they see and know they are in time, but whoever is at the front has no net, just inner time. Sometimes watching this piece or being here all night made me feel on about the first times performing in Toronto, at the Rivoli with my dancer girlfriend who was older than me and whose work I never understood. Who cares at 23. Just being on stage in front of all these Torontonians was more exciting than whether any of it made sense. While walking to the streetcar through the Blade Runner downtown Toronto I wondered what it all feels like to Claudia Moore, this Harbourfront space, this night, all her works and this city that’s grown like a 50s B movie where radiation turns a normal sized person into a giant monster. Such a good piece of luck to have worked with her last winter and spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"