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The Poetry of Dance: Roger Sinha's `Apricot Trees Exist'

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  • The Poetry of Dance: Roger Sinha's `Apricot Trees Exist'

    The Poetry of Dance: Roger Sinha's `Apricot Trees Exist'

    Maisonneuve Magazine
    October 05, 2004

    by Kena Herod

    While we tend to think of poetry and dance as separate art forms,
    throughout human history the two have been intimately linked. Even in
    today's highly specialized world, choreographers occasionally use
    poetry (and other forms of the written word) as inspiration for
    movement, or even within a performance as a complement to the
    dance. Montreal choreographer Roger Sinha, however, intertwines poetry
    and dance more than usual in `Apricot Trees Exist.' Sinha's newest
    piece is based on Inger Christensen's book-length poem, Alphabet.

    Roger Sinha, born in England to Indian and Armenian parents, began his
    dance studies at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In 1986, he made
    his professional debut in Quebec City; he continued his performing
    career in Montreal, where in 1992 he choreographed his first work, the
    acclaimed solo Burning Skin. Since then, Sinha has looked back to his
    Indian roots for choreographic material. Drawing inspiration from
    classical Indian dance and Asian music, Sinha has become renowned for
    his East-meets-West contemporary choreography. With his latest work,
    Sinha decided to challenge himself anew, feeling that he has explored
    his personal history enough for the time being. `I wanted to get out
    of myself, my preoccupations,' he says of the autobiographical
    material that infused his earlier choreography.

    Interpreting the formal constraints of Christensen's poem was Sinha's
    first challenge. The Danish poet used the alphabet (as the title
    implies) in addition to Fibonacci's number system as a basis for the
    structure of the poem. Taking up this structure, Sinha substitutes
    body parts that begin with eachletter of the alphabet and puts them in
    motion for the amount of time it takes to read the corresponding lines
    of the poem, creating an `anatomy of the alphabet' that moves through
    time.



    Benoit Leduc and Magdalena Nowecka, above, performing in "Apricot
    Trees Exist." Sinha coreographed his dancers to create an "anatomy of
    the alphabet."

    PHOTO BY ROLLINE LAPORTE

    To facilitate the Montreal audience's understanding of the poem, Sinha
    is using a new French translation in voice-overs and projections on a
    screen. But he is less concerned about the audience `getting' the
    poem=80=99s meaning (that's just icing on the cake) than that they
    appreciate the movement on stage. Non-dance elements are kept as
    simple and economical as possible, he says, in order not to detract
    attention from the choreography.

    In the past, Sinha says, `I've always avoided anything hi-tech; it
    puts me off. It's so time and money consuming.' And yet, in order to
    push himself in a new direction and take full advantage of a
    three-week residency at L=80=99Agora de la Danse, Sinha wanted to use
    more theatrical bells and whistles in tandem with choreography for
    `Apricot Trees Exist.' `Even if it doesn't work out,' he says, at
    least `I will have tried it.'

    A first, too, for him was the high level of involvement of his dancers
    in the creative process of the work. It was born partly out of
    necessity-an ankle operation left Sinha temporarily immobile. He
    appreciatively acknowledges not only the inventiveness of his dancers,
    but also their ability to work within his guidelines and understand
    his style. He notes that their efforts `took a lot of pressure off me
    to always be the center' of creation.



    Coreographer and dancer Roger Sinha, pictured above in another
    production, invited his dancers to play a part in the creative
    process, in part becausean ankle operation left him temporarily
    immobile.

    In another bid to stretch himself as an artist, Sinha decided to
    eschew the highly rhythmic Asian music he has favoured in previous
    work and hired Bertrand Chénier, who composes mainly for film, to
    write the score. Sinha callsChenier 's score `ambient' (perhaps as a
    consequence of thecomposer's experience in film, the music seems to be
    more in the background), allowing `other things to come out' of the
    dance. With a pulse-driven composition, Sinha notes, it is all too
    easy to `become a slave' to the rhythm.

    The same week as the premiere of `Apricot Trees Exist,' Sinha will
    unveil another new work, a meditation on globalization commissioned by
    the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation for its Public Policy
    Conference. Regarding boththese pieces and his work in general, Sinha
    says his motive for choreography is not just self-expression. He
    admits, `There is always that ego-aspect of the artist that wants
    =80=98my stuff' to be shown.' But, artists, he argues, should also
    take the public `away from their familiarities,' in ways that `will
    allow them to grow.' Like Christensen in Alphabet, Sinha hopes to
    clarify our vision, helping us see the world and its wonders of nature
    afresh. For him, choreography is `an opportunity you have as an
    artist, part of our responsibility that we don 't see in commercial
    art.'

    `Apricot Trees Exist' runs October 13-16 and 20=80`23 at Le Studio de
    L'Agora de la Danse.

    Kena Herod is the dance critic for Maisonneuve Magazine. The Dance
    Scene appears every other Tuesday. Posted at 00:00:00 on 10/05/04

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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