Feats Festival of Dance showcases Origins

Feats Festival of Dance turns 13 this year. Alberta Dance Alliance executive director Bobbi Westman is always looking to freshen up perspectives and “see the work differently.”

This year, Edmonton’s most inclusive dance festival looks at dance’s roots. Titled Origins, the festival brings together 62 dancers in 15 creations from various disciplines.

“We’re looking at dance from a cultural perspective or from the environment a dancer grows up in,” said Westman.

Mainstage productions take place at the Westbury Theatre in the ATB Financial Arts Barns. A youth stage is set up at the Sugar Swing Ballroom for a heritage production and a Tap Jam will be organized at Emily Murphy Park.

The first mainstage show, Shifting of Origins on July 8, is a shared evening of dance artists presenting cultural perspectives. St. Albert tapper Paige Tirs choreographed Tip Tap Toe, a love story spoken entirely through tap.

“It’s a world ruled by tap dance,” said Tirs. “It’s not traditional tap, but a more contemporary style that has electronic music.”

Director Will Cramer is a jazz musician and he’s incorporated various jazz idioms into the choreography, added Westman.

“This is a tap dance created from the perspective of musical theatre. You don’t see big production numbers, but you have a series of quirky pieces going on. It’s also only 22 minutes and the full version will be presented at the Edmonton Fringe Festival,” Westman explained.

Stephanie Lilley of the contemporary dance troupe Viva Dance is also on board as well as the long-standing Orchesis Dance from the University of Alberta.

A second St. Albert tapper, Jenna Werhun has also choreographed Time Passes, a work structured closely with music.

“Jenna’s piece is very interesting. She’s very young, but she’s certainly up and coming. She has a great passion for music and felt it was important to get a degree in music and rhythm. She has a deep understanding of how music relates to dance and her work focuses on that.”

On Thursday, Origins presents Perana, a Sanskrit word meaning inspiration. Perana is the study of Indian classical temple dance, our version of ballet. Gupta’s Dance Ensemble also offers a peek at Katakali, a form of traditional dance.

“You see the different styles. Both tell stories based in nature or a god or myth as well as love and loss. But they are very different in terms of regalia as well as hand gestures and eye gestures.”

And the mainstage dance on Friday is Toy Guns Theatre’s showcase of Who am I, a contemporary view of the complex connections we have with each other and how they change at different stages in our lives.

Soulcentric Performing Arts commands the Festival Youth Stage today with two performances of Once Upon a Season at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Geared to very young children, the heritage themed dance introduces a farm setting with assorted barnyard animals.

“It’s a gentle way to introduce children to performance. It’s an education piece about Alberta’s heritage and they use seven different animals to tell stories of the seasons.”

In a mass invitation, urban dance artist Kathleen Hughes will light up the groove at Emily Murphy Park on July 11 with Tap Jam.

“This festival offers greater diversity where people can bring traditional, historical or contemporary dance. It’s also a place where dancers can explore and experience with each other.”

A full schedule of events is available at abdancealliance.ab.ca.