On Stage

This week in dance and theatre: Concordia contemporary dance event, short dance film series, Body Slam and Wants and Needs’ 9th edition of Short n’ Sweet, plus Third Eye Ensemble remounts The Exonerated and John Logan’s Red comes to Montreal.

By MARITES CARINO
and EMILY RAINE


Kathy Dahler and Amy Sobol in Short n’ Sweet.
Photo by Celia Spenard-Ko.

In the next seven days, there’s a lot of local talent to explore on non-traditional dance stages. First up, Concordia’s department of contemporary dance is hosting a nocturnal event which features works by students in performing and visual arts. If you can’t physically be there, there’s a live stream you can watch from the comfort of your sofa wrapped up in your snuggie. Friday Nov. 23, Studio 7 (1450 Guy), 8 p.m., free

The same evening, if dance films are your poison, kick back for a night of dance shorts and, after sitting on your butt all night, get up for some getting down on the dance floor with tunes by Mark Morgenstern and DJ ibopwebop. The event will première Drawing Blank, where dance and visual arts meet with moves by Emily Honnegger, directed by Stefan Verna. Then director Natalie Galazka presents her short, Elon & Emmanuelle, inspired by the works of Bansky and featuring the co-founders of contemporary hip-hop group Tentacle Tribe. Nov. 23, Spinal Mouvement (3768 St-Laurent), 8 p.m., $5 suggested donation

Body Slam. Photo by Andréa de Keijzer.

Have you already caught wind of Body Slam? If not, think an evening mélange of more than a dozen artists taking the stage with improvised dance, music, slam poetry and more. The brainchild of b-boy Greg “Krypto” Selinger, this latest edition is booked into an intimate Park-Ex multi-purpose venue/resto. Nov. 24, Café l’Artère (7000 du Parc), 8 p.m., PWYC

You can’t beat watching contemporary dance with a G&T in hand. Don’t miss Wants & Needs’ ninth edition of Short & Sweet, where movement creators have a time limit of three minutes on stage. More than a dozen choreographers take the challenge, and if they go over the 270 seconds, it’s lights out and they get the boot. If you have contemporary dance ADD, this may be the show for you. Nov. 28, Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), 8:30 p.m. door, show at 8 p.m., $10 (MC)

THEATRE

Third Eye Ensemble’s The Exonerated

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Third Eye Ensemble is remounting its production of The Exonerated, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s screenplay about six pardoned prisoners who had been on death row. Director Kent McQuaid first staged the production over a year ago for a brief run that quickly sold out. Don’t sleep on the chance to catch this political theatre, based on the lives of actually exonerated inmates. Wed-Sun through Dec. 2, Espace 4001 (4001 Berri), 8 p.m., $15

The debut Montreal production of Red opens this week, John Logan’s every-award-winning play about abstract-expressionist (and hater of that title) Mark Rothko. The play pits the artist against his assistant, who acts as a foil for the painter’s jabs about philosophy, art and meaning, creating theatre that is as philosophical as it is poetic. Nov. 25 – Dec. 16, Segal Centre (5170 Croix-Ste-Catherine), 8 p.m., $24 and up (ER) ■

 

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