DANCE COLLECTION DANSE

Sinbadinho and Velasquez are
used to being asked to describe
what they do – street, dance theatre,
contemporary dance … they won’t
settle on a single answer. “There
are three essentials to street dance:
artistry, athleticism and authenticity,”
says Sinbadinho. “If you have
that, I don’t care what style you
do.” They’ve mixed house, hip hop,
break, locking and popping with
contemporary, ballet and pointe.
They have a fraught relationship
with the word “inspiration”. “I think
our work comes out of who we are
and where we stand,” comments
Sinbadinho, “We talk about society,
about people.” Says Velasquez,
“About ourselves.” Sinbadinho
continues – “About today.”
Their choreography is peopled
with archetypes, whether inspired
by Akira Kurosawa’s film Seven
Samurai, the imagery of manga or
their own socio-political observations
on power, vulnerability,
the desire to be true to oneself. A
tongue-in-cheek humour is part of
it, too: Arkemy, a commentary on the
privilege of living in North America
created characters named Aidunno,
Woo Ai and Mei-B. Regardless of the
Marisa Ricci, Alyson Miller, Natasha Poon Woo, Melissa Mitro, Ashley St. John and
Margarita Soria in Apolonia Velasquez and Ofilio Sinbadinho’s Stygmata
Photo: E.S. Cheah
transformations, Sinbadinho says,
“The show is not abstract. It speaks.”
They have frequently worked
with dancers without training in
street dance: Stygmata, a commission
from Dance Ontario, was created
on five classically trained dancers.
They created Uplika for Laurence
Lemieux in a partnership between
Gadfly and Coleman Lemieux &
Compagnie and have been commissioned
by the Canadian Contemporary
Dance Theatre, MOonhORsE
Dance Theatre and Kaeja d’Dance.
Why did they turn to the stage?
“Freedom”, Velasquez says simply.
It’s an intriguing statement, when
one might think of the play and
spontaneity of battle as freedom.
But it is the answer of a choreographer,
as Sinbadinho affirms:
“Out of a whole crowd of dancers,
of movement, I might just want
that hand, with this colour, that
text, to get at something meaningful.
So people see what we see.”
Alexandra “Spicey” Landé,
founder of Montreal’s Bust A Move
competition, captures the uniqueness
of what they do. “Street
dancers,” she says, “are used to
performing to a crowd; to getting
a direct connection, reaction and
gratification from what we do.”
Gadfly, she argues, suggests “a story,
a way for elements to relate, to make
something more meaningful.” The
proposal isn’t without its detractors
– even Spicey herself. “We have
a friendly, ongoing argument about
it,” she says. “I’m more of a purist.
I love to see street dance just how
it is, with honest energy. Apolonia
and Ofilio love mixing things up;
they’re not afraid to push into less
familiar territory – even to the point
that it’s not recognizable in the end.”
Still, it’s clear that Spicey embraces
the disruption. “They have a genius
way of taking something that’s not
hip hop, adding their flavour and
turning it into something else.” The
impact on street dancers, she feels,
is significant: “They’re creating a
future for street dancers, letting
them feel free to express themselves,
to ask the question: how can I
innovate?”
“For us,” says Sinbadinho, “it
needs to draw from different
sources, perspectives, music, movement,
to be interesting. When we’re
asked, ‘What do you guys do, is it
urban?’ – we joke, ‘It’s ’aybrid. It’s
just us.’”
No. 75, Fall 2015 41