MANITOWANING—It’s no accident that award-winning playwright Jennifer Dallas entitled her latest modern dance/clown theatre performance ‘Kittly Bender.’ Melding clown theatre with modern dance could definitely be described as akin to “running across thin ice” (as the term is defined), but Ms. Dallas’s brings her audience to shore with a confidence that belies any that there was ever any danger of slipping below the surface.
Ms. Dallas received the 2017 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Female Performance and was a nominee in both the choreography and production categories. The awards cited her “daring” work in blending the two art forms and if there was ever any doubt about how she pulled that off, dropping into catch a performance of ‘Kittly Bender’ at the Debajehmujig Storytellers Larry E. Lewis Centre will quickly put that to rest.
‘Kittly Bender’ deftly explores society’s loss of connection to the earth and the seductive/destructive love affair we have developed with the manufactured world.
Performance and directed by John Porter.
photo by Melanie Gordon
Utilizing the traditionally counterpoised clown memes of comedy and tragedy, Ms. Dallas has created a story through movement that, like both clown theatre and modern dance, transcends dialogue to deliver its message.
“I wanted to get away from the abstract when telling a story,” said Ms. Dallas when asked why she decided to enter the world of clown theatre. By melding the forms of clown theatre and modern dance, Ms. Dallas has succeeded in outstanding fashion.
“I was approached by Jennifer to direct the piece,” recalled John Turner of the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance (MCCP), previously known as The Clown Farm. Mr. Turner, who founded the MCCP, is probably most familiar to people as one half of the famed clown duo Mump and Smoot, is an accomplished globe-trotting director and producer when not in front of the footlights himself. “It is really cool that this was created right here on Manitoulin Island.”
Mr. Turner noted that when he and his clown partner were writing their own works they typically retreated into the bush to find their muse. There is something magical to be mined in that isolation, or perhaps it is just the lack of distractions, he admits.
The July 28 production of ‘Kittly Bender’ at Debajehmujig brought together a perfect collaboration of light, sound and movement to establish Ms. Dallas and her troupe as consummate storytellers. While the work retains some aspects of the abstract that Ms. Dallas said she was seeking to eschew, the story is unmistakable, so…mission accomplished.
Ms. Dallas established Kęmi Contemporary Dance Projects (Kęmi) in 2008 and she serves as the company’s artistic director. According to the company’s website, “Kęmi is dedicated to social and artistic interface across perceived borders and views the creative process as a profoundly collaborative and intimate one. Vulnerabilty and generosity are prized qualities throughout Kęmi’s collaborations in art as well as in society. To this end the company fosters exploration and education between artists as well as providing learning and discovery avenues for the general public.”
Ms. Dallas has travelled and worked extensively in Africa, Asia and Europe. While Ms. Dallas performs the central role in ‘Kittly Bender,’ she is most ably supported by the work of Emma Kerson, a Toronto-based dancer and choreographer in her own right. Ms. Kerson packs a walloping dollop of humour into her supporting role. Her incredible ability to move across the stage in a toe-cramping pose while bearing aloft a large rock is nothing short of awe-inspiring, but her poise and understated expression spoke volumes sans words.
It would be remiss to overlook the lighting of Oz Weaver which helped set the mood throughout the production, never overstated but always appropriate, his work complements the production without ever threatening to overwhelm what is taking place on the stage. The same can be said of the production’s sound designed by the JUNO nominated John MacLean (of CBC Studios fame).
Developed over the past two years at MCCP, ‘Kittly Bender’ proves that when it comes to inspiring world-class art and theatre, Manitoulin Island has a seat at the front of the class. If you love theatre and dance, or just want to explore what a world class production brings to the stage, drop in to the Larry E. Lewis Centre for the Thursday, August 3, 4 and 5 performances, doors open at 6:30, 7 pm curtain. A matinee takes place today, Wednesday, August 2. Admission is a $10 (minimum) donation.
