DsDanse is a troupe of youthful dancers with enough energy to power upthe house lights during their performances. See for yourself on April 15 and 16 when DsDanse performs at the Heritage Playhouse in a show called Connexions.
"They are a powerhouse," said artistic director Dominique Hutchinson. "They give all they've got."
The troupe are all teenagers, mostly young women plus one guy, most are in Grade 10 and attend Elphinstone Secondary School, except for a few who are home-schooled. When they met for a rehearsal last week, they exhibited smiles and a sense of accomplishment over a recent trip to Burnaby to dance at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
It was good to dance on a major professional stage, said one dancer, with so much more lighting and technical equipment available. Most agreed that the highlight had been to meet the other dancers and watch them perform, particularly the Burnaby group, Youth in Motion, under the direction of Heather Kirkland, who will return the visit and perform with DsDanse.
"It was good to see different styles," said another dancer, "because we're always dancing just with one another."
Their March performance at the Shadbolt Centre was not a competition. It was an organized improvisation in which the group was led by a teacher and given 15 minutes to put a dance together. It wasn't as hard as it sounds, since, as they point out, they were all speaking the same language -the language of dance. Competition is not the focus of this particular troupe and Hutchinson, along with the show's assistant director Heidi Riggs and administrator Zeta Gaudet, agree that the intent is creation, not competition.
"It's important for artists to grow," Hutchinson said.
She promotes collaboration from the group on creating dances. A few budding choreographers have been born among its ranks. In one piece, Delusion, the collaboration has spawned a dark piece in which each dancer was asked to express that moment of frustration when you just can't take it any more. The result was described as "intense" from other dancers at the Shadbolt.
"We do have more light-hearted pieces," Hutch-inson laughed.
One piece that the audience may recognize from previous shows is Loggers, performed with boots and chairs for props and set in a logging camp that holds only one party a year. It's good fun. In all, there will be eight pieces during the show from this group.
DsDanse performs with Youth In Motion at the Gibsons' Heritage Playhouse Friday, April 15, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. For those dance lovers who noticed that The Source Dance Company is appearing that same weekend, be assured that it is possible to attend both.
Tickets for Connexions are $15, available at Gaia's Fair Trade and Hallmark Cards in Gibsons.
