Well, so, that dance performance was a little underwhelming. Christina Petrowska Quilico, mind you, was amazing. Such nimble fingers keeping even time over very long stretches of very fast arpeggios. And it was cool to see how she reads the sheet music for each composition out of a giant book that holds about eight regular-sized pages on one two-page spread. I guess it would be virtually impossible for anyone to follow along carefully enough to turn the pages at the right time.
However, she didn't play the entire cycle, as I'd been led to believe. It was actually just a selection of the pieces — fewer than half — totalling a little over an hour. And the dance itself was not exactly anything to write home about. Three or maybe four of the dancers were quite good, while the remaining six or seven just seemed to be filling out the numbers.
The choreography was so unimaginative that it felt like a distraction, and I often found myself closing my eyes. The lighting and set were minimal to the extent that there often wasn't room for the dancers, who spent a lot of time either jogging around or wandering aimlessly in the half shadows until it was time for them to do something again. As for their costumes, Amber described them as "Zellers sleepwear,"which seemed generous.
We both still enjoyed the performance, mostly for the music. But it was an expensive outing, and I know from Seth that the Toronto Dance Theatre were an expensive company to bring in, so I guess I expected more. When it was over, they received no standing ovation, which in Halifax is equivalent to being booed.
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