Edgy sur glace
Publié par Laura Beeston
** Désolé, seulement disponible en anglais. **
“There is a completely unpredictable element on ice. There are other people skating, little kids sliding, someone could fall, could crash, anything can happen—who knows what could happen? And there’s a nervousness about this unknown element, but that’s part of the thrill, isn’t it? Otherwise, you would just go and see a movie…”
Singles, doubles and families skated around the ice at the Arena St-Louis on Saturday afternoon, suddenly and unknowingly participating in Slippery—the Edgy Women Festival’s first performance of the season.
Created by choreographer Karen Sherman during her 10-day residency in Montreal, Slippery is a group feature on skates, in public and with the community, intent on pushing the boundaries between performance art and sport, participation and portrayal.
Creating what Sherman described as “visceral empathy” with the audience, Slippery is a physical commentary about the representation of women’s hockey, roller derby and female-driven sport on ice—specifically exploring relationships between femininity and athleticism through non-traditional dance form.
As a dancer and composer who doesn’t skate herself, Slippery was influenced by a piece Sherman did a couple of years back that involved roller skates and was performed in a theatre.
“[Slippery] is an inverse of that project,” she explained to Edgy. “Before, it was hockey and roller derby vernacular in the theatre, and this was theatre in the hockey arena.”
Initially interested in “the big patterns” the ice time provided, Sherman said she was unexpectedly challenged by the Slippery project due to the scale of it. Though she anticipated more bodies to lace-up, she explained “it was almost more interesting to work with the smaller things we could do [on ice]. It became less spectacle-oriented, and becomes these much smaller moments.”
When asked about this piece and it’s place in the Edgy lineup, Sherman encouraged people to discover it for themselves and join the live experience.
“It’s about being in the same room as it’s happening and there’s only one way to do that,” she said. “Be there. Just be there. That is why I work in this particular field. There are a lot of other things I could do in my life, but the shared experience in real time, in one world is just thrilling for me. That’s why I do this.”
<< The next (and final) presentation of Slippery takes place Sunday, March 20 at 3 p.m. at the Arena Père-Marquette (1600 Drucourt). Cover is FREE, with open skating from 2 – 4 p.m. >>
Great article Laura! The MAKING OF of Slippery will be screened at EDGY BOUM at midnight in the cinema lounge - I know I can’t wait!