For its latest showcase presentation Toronto’s Dance Immersion is offering local audiences a work that resonates with urgent contemporary concerns.
Performed in its North American debut by Britain’s ACE Music and Dance, TEN choreographed by José Agudo speaks through the poetic language of movement to the theme of human uprooting and migration.
As Agudo explains: “I am interested in exploring the concepts of moving away and leaving, of surviving in a land without a place to go, of looking at how and why people choose previously unimagined destinies over the lives they’d always thought they’d live.”
The title TEN plays on various ideas. Given its premiere last November, the 60-minute work was commissioned as ACE’s 10th major project. Then there’s the idea of the Ten Commandments and the ancient Israelites’ escape from Egypt. More broadly, the title echoes humanity’s urge to reach for the power of 10, the universal symbol of completion.
Dance Immersion promotes and supports dance and dancers of the African diaspora. Believing strongly in the value of cultural exchange, Vivine Scarlett, the organization’s founder and curator, has always embraced a global rather than purely local vision and has developed a rich network of international contacts.
She first encountered Birmingham-based ACE (African Cultural Exchange) at a conference in Britain six years ago and was impressed by the kind of work wife-and-husband co-founders Gail and Ian Parmel were accomplishing. It was the start of a continuing conversation. Further visits cemented Scarlett’s ambition to bring the company to Toronto.
ACE was founded in 1996 and although its energetic signature style is rooted in traditional forms the company from the start has committed itself to collaboration with artists from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. But, as Gail Parmel explains, ACE is primarily a contemporary dance company that in keeping with our globalized world draws freely from sources beyond Afro-Caribbean traditions.
TEN composer, Italian-born guitarist Giuliano Modarelli, furthered his training in Western classical music and jazz by studying Indian classical music, resulting in a unique hybrid style.
Agudo, ACE’s choice of choreographer for TEN, is Spanish. He started as a flamenco dancer before exploring contemporary dance and, since 2011, has been closely associated with the company of famed British dancer/choreographer Akram Khan, known for his innovative approach to classical Indian dance.
These influences all play into the movement vocabulary of TEN although the end result is a fusion of styles typical of ACE’s approach to contemporary dance.
“We’ve always been interested in choreographers who blend styles,” says Gail Parmel. “As a company we love to move. We want to engage and TEN is a very physical, visceral work.”
“We live in a global society,” says Scarlett. “It’s so interesting to see the points of similarity and when something clicks it helps us find our common humanity. Art has always been a way of bringing together.”
Fulfilling her dream to present ACE in its North American debut comes at a moment of significant personal recognition for Scarlett. In late January, she was honoured with the Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award, given by her peers to celebrate Scarlett’s contributions to the development of dance in the province.
“I am humbled and happy to be acknowledged,” says Scarlett.
“Vivine has brought so many opportunities and experiences to the community,” says Kevin Ormsby, founder/artistic director of KasheDance. “She has been a rock, a supporter, a nurturer and an instigator of change.”
With TEN, Scarlett continues her mission to show how dance is an agent of understanding and cohesion in a socially turbulent world.
TEN is at the Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W., Feb 10 to I1; harbourfrontcentre.com or 416-973-4000.
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