Sidra Bell Dance New York and Gallim Dance -- Chutzpah! Festival

Sidra Bell Dance New York and Gallim Dance companies are a definite must-see show in the 2010 Chutzpah Festival lineup. The show opened with Bell’s four-part Anthology set with a low-lit stage and two powerfully robust dancers perched on chairs. Futuristic music accompanies staccato movements performed in tandem call-and-response sequences in Entropy. The duet morphs seamlessly into your hands which captures the magnetic essence of turbulent relationships in beautiful choreographic entanglements and is overtaken by two women in black tutus in Savage Birds. Anthology finishes on a strong note with the solo Overtures, a heart-wrenching portrayal of a woman in the midst of a breakdown. Dancer Troy Ogilvie vacillates between chaos and control with frantic hummingbird-like gestures that become more tender as a result of exhaustion, first holding up a finger in objection to something, and the next moment keeling over and fanning herself as if the wind has been knocked out of her.

Gallim Dance’s I Can See Myself In Your Pupil is a Rubik’s Cube of barely contained frenzy with movement so complex it physically outwits the audience. Dancers burst in and out of the wings and it is like flipping the page of a gripping book. Except choreographer Andrea Miller forces you to forget what came before because what comes after usurps your imagination. Her dancers move as if on impulse with impeccable timing and using the full repertoire of their bodies, including their voices and melodramatic acting in lip-syncing. The eclectic music ranges from after-hours club tracks to a spinning silent record player to classical opera.

The wild smorgasbord of physicality is so radical that watching it becomes like a fantastical dream and leaves you constantly questioning what surprises she will present to you. A solo performer in neon pink tights dances in spotlight to Puccini. Dancers gyrating as if having a seizure in a line that moves like a conveyor belt to Middle Eastern gypsy music in retro surfer outfits. Dancers in peasant-inspired garb push the envelope of expression to a song in which a Latin woman hoarsely screams about the urgency of democracy. A woman moves as if made of rubber, attempting to gain control of her limbs and makes herself sit up after shunting across the floor on her elbows to match the statuesque posture of her immobile partner.

Miller delivers a jungle gym for your mind. The dexterity of her ideas combined with the limitless and malleable energy of very accomplished dancers makes for an ovation-worthy experience. The section that seems to encapsulate the intense intimacy of the piece’s title is a duet that conveys the struggle for air in stifling relationships. The female dancer runs at the male one and up his stomach, pushing him backward as she leaps away. He lithely catches her as she writhes and continues to pursue her, she responding to his efforts only when he falls down enough times or when his strength tames her. A combination of outrageous and soft, grotesque and demure, Miller has earned her title as last year’s Dance Magazine’s “25 to watch” as well as the 2009 Princess Grace award.

The Chutzpah! Festival runs until Apr. 8 in various venues throughout Vancouver. For more information, visit www.chutzpahfestival.com.