605 Collective
Hero & Heroine/Audible

Dates and Venue 3 - 13 November 2010, 8pm | Historic Theatre, The Cultch, 1895 Venables St.

Performers Amber Funk Barton, Josh Martin, Lisa Gelley, Maiko Miyauchi, Scott Augustine & Shay Kuebler

Reviewer John Jane


Hero & Heroine is a gorgeously symmetrical epic dance work created by the immensely talented Amber Funk Barton. A man and a woman who aspire to be champions awaken from slumber to the strains of what sounds like an out-of-tune accordion – in fact, it’s the experimental music of Icelandic techno musical group, Mum (pron: Moom).

The dancers (Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin), dressed in identical light and dark grey clothing, analyze and challenge each other while coming to terms with the landscape. The dancers run the entire gamut of human emotion – initial curiousity, wonder, courage and desire. They tumble and twist, at times drawing each other closer together, other times pushing further apart. Barton’s vocabulary demands decisive movement and intimate sensitivity that creates a sensuous choreographic framework.

The second presentation, Audible, is an original highly detailed choreography by Josh Martin and Shay Kuebler. Since its premiere at the Dancing on the Edge Festival in 2009, The 605 Collective (its name taken from the apartment number of their studio) has taken this extremely physical dance work to many parts of Canada.

Audible is all about good and bad connections. Set to Daedelus’s hypnotic industrial score, the dancers’ movements initially appear random and esoteric, but with closer observation the dance syntax is precisely timed and controlled. The choreography is essentially non-linear, but with some specifically linear elements that challenge the audience to define the dance form.

The five members (Three men and two women) of the group take roughly equal responsibility for the execution of the dance vocabulary, with each dancer relying on their own individual strengths. All performers are athletic and highly talented, with each bringing a separate and distinct dimension to the production.

© 2010 John Jane