Vancouver’s version of the City Pages, the Georgia Straight, published a great article/interview earlier this year with Kidd Pivot mastermind (and Vancouver native) Crystal Pite. She explains that for Dark Matters (opening Thursday at the Walker) she “drew on the ideas of the kuroko stage hands and the Bunraku puppeteers of old Japanese theatre. ‘They’re these anonymous black-clad characters that move puppets,’ she explains. ‘You see them there as an audience but you kind of block them out so you can enjoy the magic.'”
Here’s a trailer for Dark Matters (with footage of these anonymous black-clad characters):
Go here for a great video of Crystal Pite talking about the work that would become Dark Matters while it was still in-creation at the Nederland Dans Theater. The video features additional footage of these shadow characters, which might remind Walker dance-goers of John Jasperse’s variation on that theme here in May. Crystal Pite in the Vancouver Sun says, “a shadow does not walk, it slides silently with us in perfect unison, dimensionally translated, effortless and benign.”
With its hieratic movements reminiscent of fencing or a sort of gothic breakdance, its puppetry narrative, and striking score throughout, Dark Matters promises to be a relentless journey into the heart of modern macabre, and a chance to see one of the more versatile choreographers working today; Crystal Pite somehow made time to also choreograph a ballet for 38 dancers during the creation of Dark Matters (!)
Highly anticipated.
FYI: Crystal Pite’s company is called Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM because it has been the resident company at Frankfurt cultural center Künstlerhaus Mousonturm since spring 2010. Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot is based jointly in Vancouver and Frankfurt.
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