Visit to Cambodian genocide museum inspires contemporary production that shuns the 'sombre' Elizabeth Withey , The Edmonton JournalPublished: Thursday, April 10, 2008
DANCE PREVIEW
Everything Has a Face
Performance group: Bunting Dance
When: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Timms Centre, U of A
Tickets: $15-$25 plus service charges
at Tix on the Square
Heidi Bunting couldn't get the faces out of her mind.
During a trip to Cambodia in 2004, the Edmonton choreographer visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a school in Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge turned into a secret prison to confine, torture and execute thousands of Cambodians in the late 1970s.
Unidentified prisoner photos, taken during Pol Pot's brutal regime, are on display in the museum. Bunting was disturbed, yet mesmerized, by the prisoners' eyes.
"In some cases you felt defiance," she said. "In some cases you saw utter and complete madness, and in other cases, just being tuned out, comatose. That was captivating."
The architecture of the building haunted her, too.
"I was dumbfounded by the crossed signals I was receiving," she said. "A school conjures up feelings of creativity, exploration, learning, in a really open, neat way. And then a prison does just the opposite: containment, restraint, and in the horrific case of that prison, torture and death."
What Bunting saw in those eyes, and in Cambodia, moved her to create Everything Has a Face. The contemporary dance production, part of Brian Webb Dance Company's season, has its world premiere at the Timms Centre this weekend and features six young Edmonton-born dancers:
Colin Atkins, Thea Green, Walter Kubanek, Deanna Peters, Raena Waddell and Ashlea Watkin.
Bunting is quick to point out that while her creation is inspired by Cambodia's history, the show doesn't represent what happened in that country.
"I'd be ill-equipped to make a dance about that," she said. "That's a Cambodian story."
Bunting's choreography is very physical, with little unison. Using a chance methodology, she literally rolls dice to determine each dancer's sequencing order, quality of phrasing and perspective.
The result is neither linear nor narrative. Bunting likes to call it "polyattentive."
"You can see everyone is working from the same vocabulary, but none of it is occurring at the same time or in the same manner," she said. "So it's pretty busy."
Light plays an important role in this production -- again, inspired by what Bunting experienced at the genocide museum.
She was fascinated by light filtering through louvres (angled window slats), and how that light may have affected prisoners.
Did it give them a sense of time? Did it give them hope? Light and set designer David Fraser uses light and darkness to tap into these themes.
The earth tones of the costumes and the set, a simple wall of weathered window slats, offer an unadorned, minimalist visual esthetic that contrasts with the dance.
"The work is not minimalist at all. It's so rich," Bunting said. "It's layered, and I'd say there's a certain lushness."
Although Everything Has a Face is inspired by a horrific piece of history, the performance is not depressing, Bunting said.
"There's an element of containment, but I'd not say that it is sombre or disheartening," she said. "The whole piece is very beautiful."
ewithey@thejournal.canwest.com
DANCE PREVIEW
Everything Has a Face
Performance group: Bunting Dance
When: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Timms Centre, U of A
Tickets: $15-$25 plus service charges
at Tix on the Square
Heidi Bunting couldn't get the faces out of her mind.
During a trip to Cambodia in 2004, the Edmonton choreographer visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a school in Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge turned into a secret prison to confine, torture and execute thousands of Cambodians in the late 1970s.
Unidentified prisoner photos, taken during Pol Pot's brutal regime, are on display in the museum. Bunting was disturbed, yet mesmerized, by the prisoners' eyes.
"In some cases you felt defiance," she said. "In some cases you saw utter and complete madness, and in other cases, just being tuned out, comatose. That was captivating."
The architecture of the building haunted her, too.
"I was dumbfounded by the crossed signals I was receiving," she said. "A school conjures up feelings of creativity, exploration, learning, in a really open, neat way. And then a prison does just the opposite: containment, restraint, and in the horrific case of that prison, torture and death."
What Bunting saw in those eyes, and in Cambodia, moved her to create Everything Has a Face. The contemporary dance production, part of Brian Webb Dance Company's season, has its world premiere at the Timms Centre this weekend and features six young Edmonton-born dancers:
Colin Atkins, Thea Green, Walter Kubanek, Deanna Peters, Raena Waddell and Ashlea Watkin.
Bunting is quick to point out that while her creation is inspired by Cambodia's history, the show doesn't represent what happened in that country.
"I'd be ill-equipped to make a dance about that," she said. "That's a Cambodian story."
Bunting's choreography is very physical, with little unison. Using a chance methodology, she literally rolls dice to determine each dancer's sequencing order, quality of phrasing and perspective.
The result is neither linear nor narrative. Bunting likes to call it "polyattentive."
"You can see everyone is working from the same vocabulary, but none of it is occurring at the same time or in the same manner," she said. "So it's pretty busy."
Light plays an important role in this production -- again, inspired by what Bunting experienced at the genocide museum.
She was fascinated by light filtering through louvres (angled window slats), and how that light may have affected prisoners.
Did it give them a sense of time? Did it give them hope? Light and set designer David Fraser uses light and darkness to tap into these themes.
The earth tones of the costumes and the set, a simple wall of weathered window slats, offer an unadorned, minimalist visual esthetic that contrasts with the dance.
"The work is not minimalist at all. It's so rich," Bunting said. "It's layered, and I'd say there's a certain lushness."
Although Everything Has a Face is inspired by a horrific piece of history, the performance is not depressing, Bunting said.
"There's an element of containment, but I'd not say that it is sombre or disheartening," she said. "The whole piece is very beautiful."
ewithey@thejournal.canwest.com
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