Kinesis Dance somatheatro’s U>Waltz – Immerse yourself in a sensory journey

U>Waltz is a unique performance experience. It is a viscerally stunning piece by Paras Terezakis.

In the program of the night, Kinesis Dance somatheatro’s artistic director and choreographer Terezakis affirms: “the work is about the story of the Odyssey – more specifically in the search for Utopia. Utopia (paradise) is often symbolized by light as an unachievable ideal”. In fact, in this piece, which combines dance and physical theatre, lights become interpreters.

U>Waltz engaged the audience in a sensorial journey, starting from the beginning when a pair of sunglasses was given to the audience that was waiting in line at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Astonished, spectators entered the unusual setting. Two rows of homemade benches, made by chairs covered with a white sheet, were disposed all around the performative space. Some lights were already on; a captivating structure of light bulbs and light bulbs disposed on the floor captured the attention: the reason to wear sunglasses seemed evident.

Five incredible dancers, Arash Kahkpour, Elissa Hanson, Hyoseung Ye, Ralph Escamilla, and Renee Sigouin, entered the space through a garage shutter. Their dances – an alternation of athletic falls, waltz and disarticulation movements of the body – were reinforced by the projections created by video artist Josh Hite and the lights by James Proudfoot.

The night was extremely rich with a good balance between dance, voice, physical theatre, and other art forms. Also, both pleasant and dark moments were representing in U>Waltz because, as Terezakis says: “the insatiable desire to reach Utopia can bring out the best and the worst in people.”

It is hard to describe what happened without revealing too much. Let’s get on this journey and fully immerse yourself into U>Waltz, you won’t regret it!

U>Waltz ran from April 22 to 25 at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (6450 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby).