CanAsian International Dance Festival, Program B

Reviewed by Paula Citron

CanAsian International Dance Festival, Program B
Choreography by Bageshree Vaze (Tarana), and Peter Chin (Sriwijaya) and (Olden New Golden Blue)
Performed by Vaze, Chin, and artists from Cambodia
Fleck Dance Theatre
Feb. 24 and 26, 2011

The second program of the CanAsian International Dance Festival presented works influenced by India and South-East Asia.

Bageshree Vaze is both a gifted choreographer and a singer/arranger. Her latest CD Tarana is a selection of music adapted to accompany kathak dance. Vaze created three expressive works set to selections from the album.

Peter Chin presented two dances, a solo for himself, and a provocative work for five dancers from Cambodia.

Chin’s eye-catching solo, Sriwijaya, was an imagining of what a temple dance must have looked like in the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Sumatra.

The intriguing quintet Olden New Golden Blue was performed by the Cambodians, and was about their dilemma at being caught between contemporary and traditional influences. The savage Pol Pot regime almost eradicated the ancient Khmer tradition, so pressure was on these young people of today, to stay strictly with the old.

CanAsian International Dance Festival continues at the Fleck Dance Theatre. Program A repeats tonight. Program B runs Saturday.