Decidedly Jazz Danceworks is closing its season with a two-part performance that also marks an important anniversary for the Calgary company, which is celebrating ten years since DJD moved into its purpose-built home in the Beltline.<\/p>\n
Artistic Director Kimberley Cooper says it\u2019s hard to believe how quickly a decade has gone by.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years already. I can\u2019t believe it. And I can. Every time I give a tour to somebody, I feel that rush of newness again,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really transformed our lives. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DJD Dance Centre spans 107,000 square feet and includes seven studios, a 230 seat theatre, and spaces designed specifically for jazz dance and live music. The $26 million building gave the company something it never had before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so different to think back to how it was before when we were renting a space, and we had so much less control over it,\u201d Cooper says.<\/p>\n
She points to the ability to rehearse and present work in the same space as a major shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re able to do here, what we\u2019re able to do in terms of supporting other artists in terms of making shows and putting them in, like rehearsing them in the place that they\u2019re going to be performed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Operating costs, she adds, are no higher than DJD\u2019s previous patchwork of rented spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the fact that it costs the same to run this building as it did to rent a space that was like, puny, you know, is um, yeah, it\u2019s changed everything,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cIt\u2019s really what a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The anniversary is being marked with a true double bill.<\/p>\n
Act one, Carne Vale, is a new work by longtime DJD dancer Sabrina\u00a0Naz Com\u0103nescu, heavily inspired by Caribbean culture. Cooper describes it as \u201ca carnivalesque ride of a soul\u2019s journey after death.\u201d<\/p>\n
The piece is performed with live original music by a five-piece band led by Calgary trombonist Carsten Rubeling.<\/p>\n
Act two, Between the Bandstand and the Dancefloor, is Cooper\u2019s own new creation, focusing on the relationship between musicians and dancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of about the conversation between the dance floor and the bandstand,\u201d she says, describing it as an exploration of \u201cthe intimate relationship between music and dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Live music is a long-standing DJD tradition; however, the last production, for budgetary reasons, relied on recorded tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a different experience,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cI always want to have the band because that energy and that conversation are so vital.\u201d<\/p>\n
With musicians returning to the room, she says the shift is immediately noticeable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so wonderful to hear them play,\u201d she says. \u201cIt makes the music come to life differently. And it\u2019s always just so much joy in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matters of Rhythm and Harmony is on stage through May 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Decidedly Jazz Danceworks is closing its season with a two-part performance that also marks an important anniversary for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-624788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}