Mascall Dance with Veda Hille and her Band – Traces of E. Carr

Jennifer Mascall, an icon of the Canadian dance scene over three decades, will bring her company’s multi-media performance, Traces of E. Carr, to Market Hall on Feb. 21 and 22.

The show includes elements of dance, song, narrated text, and projected imagery inspired by the life and times of celebrated West Coast artist, Emily Carr. The musical score was composed by Vancouver singer-songwriter Veda Hille and is performed live by Hille and her band.

The combination of live dance and live music is an exceptional experience that should not be missed, said Peterborough New Dance artistic producer Bill Kimball. “You don’t often get a live band on-stage performing the music for a dance piece,” Kimball said. “It’s quite rare that a contemporary dance company can travel that way.”

Traces of E. Carr is based on the life, art and writings of Canadian artist Emily Carr. Using the artist’s vivid journals as the starting point, the performance delves deep into the recesses of her eccentric life and explores the personal drive and perseverance that informed her powerful art.

Mascall’s fast-moving, visceral choreography, performed by three dancers, is accompanied by a biographical narration read by director Penelope Stella and a rock/pop musical score composed by Hille.

“This is a performance that has a lot to say not only about one of Canada’s most important artists, but also about the creativity and the dreams that exist in all of us,” said Kimball.

Mascall is described as “a maverick pioneer of contemporary dance in Canada since the late ’70s” by Max Wyman in the Canadian Encyclopedia. One of the earliest graduates from York University’s dance program, Mascall broke away from the mainstream dance community in Toronto and Montreal and joined Vancouver collective Experimental Dance and Music, then established her own company, Mascall Dance.

Mascall’s previous appearances in Peterborough include a solo performance at Wenjack Theatre in 1983 and a performance with Mascall Dance at Market Hall in the mid-1990s. Mascall now focuses mainly on choreography for her small company.

Hille has also appeared in Peterborough in the past, performing with her band several times at the Gordon Best Theatre. She is a successful recording artist, with a discography of more than a dozen CDs since her first cassette, “Songs about People and Buildings,” was released in 1992. Hille was commissioned to write the musical score for Traces of E. Carr in 1998, and based all the lyrics on Carr’s journals, letters and published writing.

Peterborough New Dance presents a public talk with
JENNIFER MASCALL – Artistic Director, Mascall Dance, Vancouver
THE DEATH OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE
Talk / Video / Discussion
Tuesday, February 19, 7:30pm
Traill College Senior Common Room, Scott House
310 London St, Peterborough
Free, refreshments served.

Has contemporary dance outlived its function as a way to provoke people into thinking about movement and performance in new and different ways? This is just one of the provoking issues about art Jennifer raises as she shows excerpts of her work and talks about a lifetime of making, watching and thinking about dance at the turn of the century.

Jennifer Mascall has been called “a maverick pioneer of contemporary dance in Canada since the late ’70s” (Max Wyman, the Canadian Encyclopedia). One of the earliest graduates from York University’s dance program, in the early 80’s Mascall moved away from the mainstream dance communities in Toronto and Montreal and became a co-founder of the groundbreaking Vancouver collective Experimental Dance and Music (EDAM), before establishing her own company, Mascall Dance.

Mascall Dance is performing Jennifer’s full length dance work Traces of E. Carr at the Market Hall Feb 21 & 22 at 8pm. Call 742-7469 for tickets.

Downloadable photos for the press…

Talk / Video / Discussion:
The Death of Contemporary Dance