Carnal Knowledge
Angus Balbernie on Direction, Dance Ecology & Studio 303
“People ask me to describe my work and, wickedly, I tend to just write what I want for fun—you’re allowed to at my age. When I write about my workshops and pieces, I’m a bit naughty,” says Angus Balbernie.
That’s how Balbernie—an award-winning, international choreography director extraordinaire—described his upcoming work Compasses, Felons and Carnal Knowledge.
“[The audience] is always looking for interesting, different narratives in all these dance blurbs and write ups—but the truth is, if you want to learn about something, you should go to a book, you don’t go to a dance.
“I prefer dance to be ambiguous and abstract in that sense. You let your own perceptual system work it out. You trust your own gut, not the write up.”
The articulate Balbernie, who had no trouble speaking at length about his upcoming performance work in collaboration with local dance legend Guillaume Chouinard and Studio 303, explained that performance is “a shortcut through language,” while simultaneously acknowledging the textuality of his practice.
Returning to Studio 303 after nearly a decade, Balbernie admitted that he and Chouinard, who collaborated in Montreal extensively 22-odd years ago, don’t remember anything about the duet they did back then, and are starting from scratch.
“This is how I love to work,” he mused. “I don’t really ever have any pre-conceptions about making work as a director; you start with the people. An idea comes up, about art, about life, and you just take a walk—but this is going to be about two people being lost, and finding themselves again.”
Paired with a live musician, the duet will encompass elements of theatre, dance and interaction with the physical space. “We’ll get the compass out, get the map, put it in the studio and start,” he said.
Balbernie—who taught contact improvisation and release techniques for nearly 30 years—explained his “active thinking” about choreography has been inspired by a “failed PhD” in the social and environmental sciences.
He asserted that “There are no good books on choreography […] but if you read a good book on anything else—let’s say architecture—and you cross out the word ‘architecture,’ you’ll have a perfect guide [to choreography].”
Drawing influences from academia—namely ecology, anthropology and urban studies—Balbernie explained this is the basis of what he believes choreography should be, or “the objective shaping of tuned space.”
“It’s kind of denying the body as a unit of performance making,” he admitted, “but I have a fascination with space and how you use it choreographically and physically. There is an equal agreement between both the body and the spaces—it’s how you work with both, really.”
Ecology seems a fitting theme for his oeuvre, as it will be aired and paired with work by local artists Kira Kircsch and Kelly Keenan, who are presenting a work entitled Useless Creatures that explores displaced species, disturbed ecosystems and physical survival attempts.
The ‘science’ of dance direction is what he will also explore in his Studio 303 intensive professional workshop 10 Ways to Work With a Sleeping Animal, taking place Oct. 17 to 21.
Open to “all interested in moving, making work and finding clarity in directing,” the workshop promises an intensive study on the direction of dance as “another language.”
“Directing is not choreography,” he explained. “Often it’s working with people to make decisions about movement, to become editors of movement. There’s a break between being the choreographer, and having the discipline to edit your work.”
Compasses, Felons and Carnal Knowledge, with Guillaume Chouinard, and Useless Creatures, featuring Kira Kirsch and Kelly Keenan, will be performed Oct. 22 and 23 at Studio 303 (372 Ste. Catherine St. W.). Tickets are $15.00 regular, and $12.00 for students. For more information, check out studio303.ca
