South Surrey-based company Diskordanse will present Dislokation: Layer Three – described as a “mind-altering contemporary dance experience” – May 7-9 at Surrey Arts Centre.
An outgrowth of XBa Dance studio, Diskordanse brings together a diverse group of talents, including former figure skaters, ballet-trained dancers and contemporary, ballroom and Highland dancers for work that aims to strike a balance between athleticism and creativity.
Dislokation: Layer Three combines avant-garde digital-dance video with live choreography, featuring dancers Carolyn Zaruk, Amadea Hallwas, Kerri Zanussi, Skye Ferguson, Shelby Peluso and Melissa Partridge.
For Diskordanse and XBa artistic director Nela Hallwas, the company fullfils a long-standing dream – to create an opportunity for paid dance work and a chance to showcase former students and faculty of XBa on the professional stage.
Born in Yugoslavia, Hallwas grew up in Montréal, studying classical ballet at the École de Danse Lacasse-Morenoff, and receiving a degree in classical piano performance.
After receiving her BA from SFU, she pursued a career in the film industry as an editor and feature-film scriptwriter.
Following a hiatus to raise her daughter and son, she was approached by SkateCanada to develop off-ice dance training for competitive skaters in the Canadian Junior Nationals, and has extended this work to include training international and Olympic athletes.
XBa Dance, which she opened in 2001, has developed a unique film and digital video-oriented style of modern dance, which, in turn, led to the creation of Diskordance in 2011, with an avowed mandate to “break the barriers between live and digital dance.”
“My style of choreographing a piece is free, in the moment, based on the feeling, sound, emotions that surround me,” Hallwas said.
“Also the strengths and weaknesses of the dancers and the drive of the music.
“The root of Dislokation is in Pavane, a piece I created a number of years ago, where a single dancer performs a duo with her digital self. Dislokation evolved with the use of multiple dancers and having to establish a more involved, intense relationship between the now 10 dancers, live and digital.”
Although details of Layer Three are still under wraps, she promises it will “transgress the comfort level of our audiences and take the movement further out.”
For tickets ($45), call Surrey Arts Centre box office at 604-501-5566, or visit www.diskordanse.ca