Thank you to to the 2018 Vancouver International Dance Festival, for inviting our student writers out to this 3-week festival of culturally diverse contemporary dance. You can see the full calendar of VIDF Events here.
On Friday, March 23rd Lola Lince’s Experimental Dance Company presented Studies and Fragments on Dreams. Lola Lince intended the project to be a reflection and investigation on our motives for dreaming. The show was broken into three fragments, each of which encouraged the audience to deeply explore the motivation behind their dreams.
Fragment I: Pilgrimage with Bells
Choreography: Natsu Nakajima
Performer: Lola Lince
As the lights dim to signal the beginning of the show, the audience’s attention is drawn to a dancer who is curled up on the floor of the stage. In complete silence, and with her eyes closed, the dancer begins to move. Slow and hesitant steps carry her slowly across the floor. As time progresses, the dancer transitions between her cautious movements and quick, aggressive steps.
Slow and hesitant steps carry her slowly across the floor
The dancer tells the tale of a sleepwalker who urging her dreams to last just a little bit longer. She is fights with her subconscious over where her dreams can take her and how long they can last. Natsu Nakajima’s choreography and Lola Lince’s performance encourages the audience to reflect on how their conscious may affect their dreams.
Fragment II: The Rainmaker
Choreography & Performer: Lola Lince
A darkly dressed figure takes the audience on a journey. At the beginning of the dance, the shadow is surrounded by fire which it eventually learns to manipulate. However, as the story progresses, the shadow losses control of the fire and begins to fight for its mere existence.
A story of conflict and aggression that hides in the shadows of our consciousness
During this segment, the audience explores the darker side of dreams. Lince’s dramatic and unnatural movements paint a story of the conflict and aggression that hides in the shadows of our consciousness. Only in dreams can our shadows overpower our blazing souls to achieve their desires.
Fragment III: The Flight
Choreography & Performer: Lola Lince
In the third segment, the lights brighten to reveal a sleeping dancer dressed in a ragged, yet alluring, gown. As the performance progresses, the audience realizes that the dancer is being haunted by the undead. Her dreams are being influenced by the people in her past that are no longer living. The ghosts of her past drag her along on a journey that she is not ready for and she constantly struggles to escape their wrath.
In dreams, the dead have the same power as the living
Lola Lince’s performance in this segment tells the audience that, in dreams, the dead have the same power as the living. They have influences on our subconsciousness and have the ability to drag us through our past fears. To conquer our past, we need to come to terms with these influences and give them the respect that they deserve so that they can remain to rule their world while we live in ours.
Stephanie grew up in a small town and has enjoyed adjusting to life in Vancouver. She like to keep an open mind and learn about other people’s lives. When Stephanie is procrastinating from her studying she can be found falling at ice rinks or attempting to ride tandem bicycles at Stanley Park.
