Canadian Premiere of SOUNDspace Comes to the Vancouver Playhouse Next Month

DanceHouse, in partnership with Vancouver Tap Dance Society, will present the Canadian premiere of Dorrance Dance’s SOUNDspace, on stage April 19 and 20, 2024 at 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Choreographed by Dorrance Dance Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance, the full-length performance is a high-spirited exploration of the relationship between sound and movement – from the hypnotic slide of socks, and slap of bare feet, to the percussive roar of fast-tapping heels – further enriched by a bass-forward original musical score by Musical Director Gregory Richardson and body percussion score by Leonardo Sandoval.  
 

“DanceHouse’s debut of Dorrance Dance in 2018 was met with uproarious applause from our audiences, and we couldn’t be more thrilled for this vivacious American dance company to return with the Canadian premiere of their unconventional and bracing work, SOUNDspace,” says Jim Smith, Artistic and Executive Director of DanceHouse. “Originally choreographed for New York City’s St. Mark’s Church – a historical space that does not allow the use of tap’s metal-tipped shoes on its gleaming wood floors – Dorrance capitalized on those limitations to create a wildly innovative new work, where percussive rhythms shine bright through the mesmerizing use of bare and socked feet, wooden platforms, and the slaps, snaps, and slides of hands on the body.”

Making “full use of tone, timbre, volume, tempo, and of course, rhythm, constructing patterns that lock together thrillingly,” (The New York Times) SOUNDspace has since been adapted for numerous stages across the U.S., exploring the myriad sounds and textures of the feet through a fluid transition of rotating formations from solos up to full-company ensembles featuring all eight dancers.

Channeling great tap masters of the past, the members of the company pay homage to the rich lineage and history of the genre, which developed in the early 19th century by enslaved peoples as a way to express themselves and retain their cultural identities when use of their traditional percussive instruments were banned. Dorrance’s choreography, with additional choreography by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie and Byron Tittle, includes solo improvisations by the dancers throughout the hour-long work.

The New York City-based Dorrance Dance was founded in 2011 by Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance and has performed commissioned works at the Guggenheim, New York City Center, Joyce Theater, and Jacob’s Pillow, among many others. Dorrance has performed in the iconic STOMP, Manhattan Tap, JazzTap Ensemble, and Rumba Tap. She has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and most recently made her Broadway choreographic debut with James Lapine’s Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater in 2021.
 

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