Connection Dance Works prepare for upcoming technical residency at Saint John’s Imperial Theatre.
The members of Connection Dance Works are one step closer to completing their latest work. The group recently wrapped up a two-part summer residency with choreographer Darryl Tracy furthering the development of the piece, With Far Arms, initially conceived during a 2011 artist residency.
It’s been five years since the group first explored the ideas behind the performance but Tracy’s creative vision has remained true its original idea, expanding and contracting, with designers involved through each step of the development process helping to create a unique performance that when completed, will debut on the Imperial Theatre stage.
“In the creation, I felt it necessary to involve a design team,” said Tracy. “Skip forward to 2016 and I am revisiting the work with Chris Giles of Fredericton in video design and Toronto lighting designer Michelle Ramsey. My aesthetic has developed and one dancer has changed. I want to respond to this time lapse and development authentically. It has been very exciting integrating design from bare bones as opposed to an afterthought as it informs the work and process.”
The residency concluded with a final evening rehearsal at Theatre New Brunswicks’s Open Space Theatre where several of the work’s physical and visual elements were combined, performed and documented.
“A lot of the movements are in place but Darryl has taken them and expanded and manipulated things further,” said CDW’s Joanna Bryson. “This was the last stage in our two-part summer residency funded by ArtsNB. In September we’ll move into the Imperial Theatre for a technical residency.”
The upcoming technical residency will allow the artists time to work with the crew at The Imperial, exploring many of the design elements that contribute to the overall work and getting a feel for how the piece will work within the space.
“That week is really focused on tech so we’ll be working all that out during the day and probably rehearse later on in the evenings,” said Bryson.
Connection Dance Works will present a glimpse of their latest creation with a work-in-progress performance following the coming tech week. Information on this sneak-peek performance will be posted to the group’s Facebook page in the coming weeks.
“The team at Connection Dance Works have been instrumental in the process of searching while maintaining a strong passion for community development in the journey,” said Tracy. “Kind of win-win situation as an artist.”
Consider supporting the further development of this work by contributing to CDW’s campaign via Ingiegogo.
