Toronto Review: 'af' at Berkeley Street Theatre
Dave Rabjohn, Associate Toronto Critic
Red Sky Performance is an award winning company of contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada. A recent production, ‘af’ , conceived and directed by Sandra Laronde, is now playing with astonishing brilliance at Canadian Stage in Toronto. The production blends contemporary dance, physical storytelling and powerfully rhythmic music to tell the story of the seven fire prophecies of the Anishinaabe. The range of emotions is immense as the production moves through pain, fear, joy, celebration, and introspection. The heart of this inspired story is the five brilliant dancers.
It is the artistic and physical magnificence of these dancers that elevates the searing indigenous story of a circle of life and the call of respect for the earth. It opens with a birth motif magically created by choreographer Thomas Fonua. Writhing bodies then move through darkness and shadow in an almost amoebic crawl. Pain, fear and loss are represented by various duets or foursomes dancing through some seemingly impossible physicality. Tension rises and falls until there is a breathtaking unification near the end with a human tower that both reaches for the promise of the heavens and connects at the same time with the earth.
Stunning visuals are rooted in the acrobatic flexibility of the performers. Many moments of amazing solo work contrasts with moments of exhilarating intertwining of duets and groups. Other highlights include amazing choreography of group facial work and solo work that requires staccato movement reminiscent of bodies out of human control. This extraordinary athleticism is then enhanced with jarring music and lighting.
Composers Eliot Britton and Rick Sacks combine to create a rhythmic and powerful earthy background to the story. It is performed with a sultry combination of drum and timpani, vocalisms from Jenifer Brousseau and other haunting recorded vocals. Sounds range from a pounding percussion of terror to more soft ethereal effects. An extremely creative moment came from percussionist Joyce To as she softly circled the surface of the bass drum with her palmed hand creating an effect of exhaling breath.
Lighting by designer Chris Malkowski punctuates even further the journey through joy and sorrow. The extreme use of silhouette offered dark visions of fear and malice. Pin spots often amplified soft or tortured facial expressions. The use of a strobe light near the end seemed unnecessary as the athleticism of the dancers were all that was needed to convey the maelstrom of the scene. Other highlights in Ms. Laronde’s soundscape were some particularly eerie mechanical birds, beach sounds and hair raising screeches.
Again, Sandra Laronde’s vision was brilliantly conceived and then beautifully enacted. The work of the dancers was nothing short of a marathon of physical durability mixed with the informing emotions. This was a colourful chimerical voyage toward edifying humanity’s role in the world.
Running time: approximately 55 minutes with no intermission.
Photo of Marrin Jessom, Eddie Elliott, Miyeko Ferguson, Michael Rourke by Dahlia Katz
‘af’ conception: Sandra Laronde
Produced by Red Sky Performance Production and Canadian Stage.
Performers: Eddie Elliott, Miyeko Ferguson, Marrin Jessome, Connor Mitton, and Michael Rourke.
Musicians: Rick Sacks, Joyce To, Jenifer Brousseau.
Production: Director – Sandra Laronde, Choreographer-Thomas Fonua, Lighting-Chris Malkowski.
Runs through March 1, 2020 at Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street
Tickets – canadianstage.com or call (416) 368-3110