DanceHouse Presents Montreal's RUBBERBAND

By: Feb. 13, 2020
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DanceHouse Presents Montreal's RUBBERBAND

DanceHouse presents the Vancouver premiere of RUBBERBAND's inventive work Ever So Slightly, on stage March 20 & 21, 2020 at 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Choreographed by RUBBERBAND's Artistic Director and Choreographer Victor Quijada, Ever So Slightly explores humanity's instinctive behavioural reflexes developed in response to life's daily aggressions, and our urgent desire for resistance from these constraints. The company's first major work to feature its entire 10-member company of artists, the high-voltage choreography is accompanied by a live electronic soundscape from accomplished composer and DJ Jasper Gahunia and award-winning violinist William Lamoureux.

"We are thrilled to welcome RUBBERBAND to the DanceHouse stage for the very first time," says Jim Smith, Artistic and Executive Director of DanceHouse."Quijada's signature movement vocabulary - informed by his hip-hop, contemporary, and classical training - results in a perfect fusion of spontaneity and refinement, boldness and grace. Over the past 17 years with RUBBERBAND, Quijada has developed a unique and dynamic aesthetic that has shattered choreographic stereotypes. We are delighted to share his distinctive vision with Vancouver audiences."

Ever So Slightly, which premiered in December 2018 at Montreal's Théâtre Maisonneuve, is Quijada's meditation on the momentum of change - the many elements that lead to change, and the breaking point that makes either positive or negative shifts possible. Hailed by Le Devoir as "brilliantly rendered," the work was recognized as a finalist at the prestigious Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal in 2019.

The performance begins with the company's dancers lying face down on an unadorned black set. As tension mounts, movement slowly ripples through the pack as the dancers bubble up, one at a time, in a reflexive chain reaction. Audiences will witness the fearless ensemble's chaotic anxiety and destructive outrage, as they revolt against the imprisonment of their own rote behaviours. Through innovative partnering, staccato flashes of fiery red and stark white lighting, and explosive, urgent movement, the dancers fight their own instincts, stripping away their constraining boiler suit uniforms on the path towards emotional freedom and transformative enlightenment.

Ever So Slightly features an original soundtrack composed and performed live on stage by Gahunia, RUBBERBAND's longtime collaborative partner, an established TV and film composer, and resident DJ for hip-hop artist K-OS. Joining Gahunia on stage is virtuoso violinist William Lamoureux. The duo imbues the work with a pulsing soundscape: an eclectic mix of esoteric electronica, breakbeats, and vintage sampling. Gahunia and Lamoureux are fixtures of the set, performing from risers constructed on the right side of the stage.

Quijada grew up performing in hip-hop clubs of his native Los Angeles and later embarked on a professional dance career with acclaimed companies Twyla Tharp Dance, Ballet Tech, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. In 2002, he founded RUBBERBAND as a vehicle to fuse the form and rigour of contemporary and classical ballet with the ideology and movement vocabulary of hip-hop culture. Since then, Quijada has created 14 touring works for RUBBERBAND and developed the RUBBERBAND Method - a professional training program that prepares dancers for the choreographic requirements of the company. He has choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and also worked as a choreographer, director, and dramaturge for award-winning films and music videos. In 2006, he collaborated with internationally acclaimed choreographer Crystal Pite on Kidd Pivot's Lost Action. Quijada is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Cultural Diversity Award at the 2017 Prix de la Danse de Montréal, and the Princess Grace Award (2010) and Works in Progress Residency Award (2016) from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, among others.

Praised by The Guardian as a company whose "style is vividly and intelligently rooted," RUBBERBAND's singular dance practice has won over audiences and critics since its inception. In its first year, both Tender Loving Care and Hasta La Proxima were named in Le Devoir's pick of the five best dance productions of the year. In 2004, the company completed a residency at Montreal cultural centre, Usine C, which resulted in Slicing Static, named the best dance production of the year by Montreal cultural weekly, Hour (now Cult MTL). RUBBERBAND represented Canada at Expo 2005 in Japan, solidifying the company's international acclaim. Today, the company tours intensively in Quebec and Canada, as well as throughout Europe, Mexico, and the U.S. RUBBERBAND most recently toured B.C. with its retrospective Vic's Mix in the fall of 2019.

For tickets and further information, visit: dancehouse.ca



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