A still of a dance performance in which a group of around 14 people are pictured on a stage lit in blue light against a black backdrop. Seven people are sitting on stools whose legs are lit bright yellow "glow" tape, five with their backs to the viewer, one looking straight on, and one barely visible behind a group of seven standing dancers. The standing dancers are all wearing red jumpsuits with yellow "glow" highlights at ankles and on shoulders or backs. Their bodies appear fuzzy from their movement when the photo was taken. Several have arms in the air and all but one has their back to the viewer. Of the seated dancers, their clothing alternates between red and white/blue grey, as lit by the blue lights. Reflections of the colours can be seen on the shiny dance floor, creating an ethereal sense to the image.
Translations (2019)
Translations is an immersive performance for small audiences created by All Bodies Dance Project in collaboration with VocalEye and Naomi Brand with artistic consultants from members of the blind community. Translations explores the tools of live description applied to contemporary dance in order to create a performance designed specifically for the "non-visual senses."
The piece investigates the act of "audiencing" by asking questions about how spectators take in movement. What if sight isn't the intended way to experience a dance piece? How else can dance be accessed and who else can be included?
The performance makes dance accessible for blind and partially sighted audiences. During Translations, sighted audience members are invited to experience the dance with their eyes closed, not as a way to replicate the experience of blindness, but rather as an opportunity to focus on the information about the moving body being delivered through other senses such as the sound of the dance, the feeling of the air moving, and the images drawn in ones imagination from the description.
In this way, Translations asks audiences to consider their own perceptions and the ways that they typically access art and the world around them.
Translations was created with support from the Canada Council for the Arts - New Chapter Initiative, the BC Arts Council, The Dance Centre and Boca del Lupo.
Collaborators:
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Bryna Andressen
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Robert Azevedo
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Carolina Bergonzoni
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Naomi Brand
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Romham Gallacher
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Steph Kirkland
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Sarah Lapp-Bourne
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Peggy Leung
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Cheyenne Seary
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Rianne Svelnis
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Christine Taylor
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Harmanie Rose
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Danielle Wensley
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Adam Grant Warren
Artistic Consultants:
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Amy Amantea
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Cathy Browne
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Carmen Papalia
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Collin van Uchelin
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