Part of Dance Victoria’s Dance Days 2019
Admission by donation. Seating is limited in this intimate space. Reservations required. Please call 250-891-2837 or email concussiondance@gmail.com
Pre-show Touch Tour begins at 1:15 pm. Running time approximately 1 hour followed by an artist-led discussion.
Described by Rick Waines
When a set piece came crashing down on Victoria-based dance artist and choreographer Stacey Horton’s head during a rehearsal a few years ago, little did she know the injury would not only have a profound effect on her entire life, but also become the basis for her next creative work.
Inspired and informed by Horton’s personal experience, Concussion uses dance, music and voice to evoke the disorienting, frightening experience of coping with multiple concussions. Ping pong balls scatter around the stage, representing disparate memories, and anyone whose life has been touched by concussion—or indeed by brain conditions such as dementia, stroke, or traumatic brain injuries—will relate to this nuanced, at times humorous, and always-honest tale of memory, loss, trauma, making connections, and accepting change.
After making its workshop debut in 2017 in Dance Victoria’s Studios, Concussion then travelled to Berlin in the summer of 2018, thanks to funding from Dance Victoria’s Chrystal Dance Prize. It was there that she worked with renowned German dramaturge Gabi Beier before performing the piece at Berlin’s ada studio. Horton has also performed Concussion at the Cultch in Vancouver for the BC Brain Injury Association.
While Horton conceived of, choreographed and performs Concussion, her creative team is rounded out by other well-known BC artists such as sound designer David Parfit (who provides live soundscapes for the performance), Dora-nominated costume and set designer Catherine Hahn, Governor General Award-winning writer and dramaturg Kevin Kerr and dancer and choreographer Lori Hamar providing movement direction.
