The Cultch and New Works present Ghost – from Tentacle Tribe

The Cultch and New Works presents

GHOST

Tentacle Tribe (Montréal) / Presented with New Works

Renowned Montréal’s dance troupe bring their innovative street dance style to Vancouver!

The Cultch, in partnership with New Works (Vancouver), is thrilled to present Ghost, from Tentacle Tribe (Montréal), at the Historic Theatre, February 12-15, 2020.

The free-spirited Montréal choreographers of Tentacle Tribe—Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund—combine elements of contemporary dance, street dance and martial arts in a physical score that echoes the subtle pulse of respiration. Inhalations and exhalations sculpt the gestures and movements of six of Montréal’s best street dancers. The interconnected bodies of the renowned dance troupe form striking human structures that shift, alter, and evolve in synergy with the music. The invigorating power of the breath and its circulation in the organism is embodied and magnified by the energetic, almost architectural dance.

“The title Ghost alludes to a formless state of being, but can also refer to blockages or traumas, as one faces their ghosts,” say choreographers Lê Phan and Höglund. “Dancers, and also other artists, often talk about being in the zone, connecting or catching the ghost. This state transcends verbal communication but is felt and used as a channel for creativity.”

Tentacle Tribe was founded in 2012 when dancers and choreographers, Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund, who had worked together through the year, formalized their vision to create a company with a unique contemporary style.Seven years later, they have produced four full-length shows, including the award-winning Threesixnine, and a series of shorter works. Ghost, their exploration of breath, is their latest spectacle; combining mindboggling technical feats, and dreamlike sequences, it is a welcome breath of air.

WHEN: February 12-15

Showtimes:
Feb 12, 7:30PM: Opening
Feb 13–15, 7:30PM

Post-show Artist Talkback: Feb 13

Extra performance added! Feb 15 at 2 pm.

WHERE: Historic Theatre, 1895 Venables St

TICKETS: Tickets from $26. Single tickets on sale now through The Cultch’s Box Office: 604-251-1363 or tickets.thecultch.com.

“Ghost is a show steeped in poetry… that dazzles. With sliding hand games, hoods, jets of light, balloons, remarkable group figures and a delirious imagination, their universe of street, pulsations and dreams, on a hypnotizing score, creates the spell.”— Odile Tremblay for Le Devoir

Choreography: Emmanuelle Lê Phan & Elon Höglund

Dancers: Emmanuelle Lê Phan, Elon Höglund, Victoria Mackenzie, Mecdy Jean-Pierre, Erika Nguyen, Rahime Gay-Labbé

Musical composition: Samuel Nadaï

Costumes: Rosalie Lemay

Lighting design and technical direction: Benoît Larivière

Rehearsal director, external eye: Helen Simard

Masterclass with Tentacle Tribe
Monday, February 10, 2020 | 6:30 – 9:00 p.m
SFU GCA, 149 W. Hastings Street, Vancouver

More info at newworks.ca
Made possible with the support of SFU School for the Contemporary Arts

ABOUT TENTACLE TRIBE:

Approaching choreography through a wide variety of movement philosophies, Montreal-based dance duo Tentacle Tribe concocts uncommon dance works with a contemporary approach. This Canadian-Swedish creative alliance experiments with intricate partnering, refined musicality and a saturated dose of physical choreography.  Although the two performers have worked together since 2005, it wasn’t until 2012 that Tentacle Tribe was formed when they performed their first official collaboration choreographed for the Cirque Du Soleil stage in Quebec City.

Their first full–length piece, Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid, was sought after and performed 80 times in more than 45 international cities. They followed with Fractals of You, a voyage through consciousness using video mapping projections imagined by artist Gene Pendon. In 2016, the company expanded and transposed their duet research onto group pieces such as Origami Mami, a female trio that toured Hip Hop festivals internationally and Threesixnine, a sextet prized for “Best Choreographic work of 2017-2018” by the CALQ.  They followed with Ghost, a physical score that echoes the pulse of respiration.  Their choreography was adapted into award–winning dance film Vanishing Points(2014) directed by Marites Carino, which has been screened at more than 50 festivals internationally.

Tentacle Tribe’s work goes beyond the stage and screen. The York University Dance Department and the Arizona State University Urban Dance Program invited the duo as resident guest artists to lecture, teach workshops, and set pieces on department students. The company has also been commissioned to create a work for Vancouver’s OURO Collective, Norway’s Urban Moves Festival, the 100 LUX Festival and Stockholm’s DOCH (Dance and Circus University program).

www.tentacletribe.com

ABOUT NEW WORKS:

New Works is a Vancouver-based non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, advancement and management of dance and its related art forms. New Works provides ongoing support to dance artists in BC and aims to cultivate audiences by hosting and promoting diverse and accessible performance experiences.

New Works is devoted to amplifying dance practices that reflect and represent our evolving communities. We continually work to remove barriers that inhibit artists and audiences alike. We support artists by fostering and providing presentation opportunities at various stages in their careers, and at the same time, finding meaningful ways to connect artists and audiences, through workshops, outreach, and conversation.

www.newworks.ca

ABOUT THE CULTCH:

Since 1973, The Cultch (formally the Vancouver East Cultural Centre) has been one of Vancouver’s most diverse and innovative arts and cultural hubs. The organization operates three theatrical venues, a gallery, and various ancillary spaces in the heart of East Vancouver. The Cultch offers dynamic contemporary programming in theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts, bringing world-class cultural presentations to thousands of citizens each year through its own programming and through providing rental opportunities for community users. Our purpose is to provide a venue for performance that serves a diverse and engaged public and provides space for artistic experimentation and development, building an audience for local companies and presenting cutting-edge national and international work.

Media release and image provided by Lisa Mennell, The Cultch. Feature image photo credit: Vanessa Fortin.

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