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Fantasy design by Myles Laphen

 

brief encountersThe Tomorrow Collective
Brief Encounters 17

Dates and Venue 31 August – 2 September 2011, 8pm (doors open at 7:15pm) | Performance Works 1218 Cartwright Street

Reviewer Ed Farolan

When you come to see these encounters which are always jam-packed, you start getting a feeling that this is not one of those shows that come and go, a passing fancy, so to speak. And again you wonder why you have another jam-packed crowd on opening night which means this must be another hit. And indeed this was, as it has always been in the past.

In Brief Encounters 17, the 12 artists performing are: landscape architect Pawel Gradowski, musician Paul Bray, flamenco dancer Rosario Ancer, fantasy stylist Myles Laphen, visual artist Meghan Currie, puppet theatre artist Maggie Winston, spoken word artist Prevail, contemporary dance artist Julia Carr, contemporary dance artist Josh Martin, singer/songwriter Dominique Fricot, theatre artist Anita Rochonilm, and video artist Jeff Carter. Guest programmers who were resdponsible to pair off hese artists were Laura Barron and Josh McNorton.

The opening night audience wowed at these artists who had rwo weeks to prepare their 15-minute shows. I particularly liked legendary Rosario Ancer's performance. Sheo was not in her regular flamenco costume. This, I felt, was the best performance, thanks to Myles Laphen's creative costumes, as he is best known to be a fantasy stylist.

Ancer was dressed in a costume that vaguely reminded me of a cross between a swan and a burlesque dancer, with her white costume and a boa around her neck. I was impressed by Laphen's flamenco dancing, perhaps lessons he learned from Ancer during their two-week rehearsals. He was dressed in black and looked like a black crow, with his crow-like beak sticking out of a birdlike mask he designed, as he danced flamenco steps and strides with Ancer.

The Tomorrow Collective continues with its series in April for its 18th creation. The company was formed by dance artists Mara Branscombe, Katy Harris-McLeod and Jennifer McLeish-Lewis, and is now run by Mara and Katy.  Together they continue their work which is to produce, promote, create and perform new dance and multidisciplinary work.

© 2011 Ed Farolan