Moving with the times

A young contemporary dance company from Canada brings Ian McEwan's dramatic novel 'Atonement' to the Bangkok stage

In five short years, Move Dance Company has emerged as one of western Canada's most prolific troupes. At home, the company was recently presented by the Made in BC: Dance On Tour Programme, and also received the distinction of a commission from the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC, as well as the only choreographic residency ever awarded to a Western Canadian by the Djerassi Program in San Francisco.

Soon the troupe of graceful and artistic entertainers will be on the move again, coming for a one-night spectacular on October 10 as part pf Bangkok's 13th International Festival of Dance & Music at the Thailand Cultural Centre.

Founded in 2005 by current artistic director Josh Beamish, the company has performed across North America. Last October, the company was selected by curators Cirque du Soleil for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai and performed at the closing gala of the Canadian Pavilion.

Beamish began dancing under the direction of his mother Loretta Lachner in Edmonton, Alberta and continued his training in Kelowna, British Columbia. After moving to Vancouver, he became an assistant choreographer and a dancer for various feature films and television shows. His works have been performed by Toronto Dance Theatre, Halifax Dance and numerous other companies.

He's the 2009 recipient of a City of Vancouver Mayor's Arts Award, and a 2008 Globe and Mail Dance Award. He also choreographed the 2011 International Children's Winter Games Opening Ceremonies event and premiered his latest creation, "Allemande", at Joyce SoHo in New York.

The Canadian's signature style is the visceral physicality he brings to his dance works as well as an ability to make his dancers switch between classical and contemporary movements almost imperceptibly.

At the Thailand Cultural Centre, they will perform three of Beamish's greatest works. One such highlight will be the world premiere of "Atonement", in which he will also perform.

Inspired by both the Ian McEwan novel and the Academy Award-winning 2007 film directed by Joe Wright, "Atonement" combines intricate balletic movements and an abstract narrative to evoke symbols and imagery from the original source material. The work requires 21 dancers to pose consistent shifts in the perception of what is true, as it challenges audiences to solve the complex narrative puzzle it presents. The work revolves around the rivalry of two sisters who are torn apart by a simple lie that forever alters the course of their lives. Consequently, the younger sister spends her adulthood seeking atonement for the strife she brought upon her sister and her sister's lover, when she was just a young girl.

As "Atonement" begins in an Upper Class pre-World War II British home, ballet is a natural part of the mood, structure and formalism of this social sector. As the story and the family unit within it begin to unravel, the work takes on a more free exploration of abstract movement. The purity of classical ballet represents the innocence of the young people before the war begins to warp them.

To show off the troupe's mastery of many different styles, "The Red Nocturnal", originally created for Ballet Kelowna in 2008 as a work for six dancers, is a passionate contemporary tango ballet set to the music of American composer Glover Gill. For this festival, they have evolved the piece into an abstract work for 18 dancers who connect and disconnect through relentless physicality, sensuous phrasing, romantically tragic pas de deux and a razor-sharp precision of movement.

"Les Oiseaux" ("The Birds"), a short work for 23 dancers, was commissioned by the University of Missouri. This collage of classical ballets consists of birds and princes meeting in a forest. Juxtaposing the stories of "Swan Lake" and "Firebird" with visual imagery from the romantic ballets "Giselle" and "Les Sylphides", "Les Oiseaux" presents modern audiences with a barefoot, contemporary ballet on fast forward. The musical accompaniment is provided by a dramatic score from Slovenian composer Borut Krzisnik and a jazz rendition of the Swan Lake theme, as an ode to the important role that jazz music has played in the cultural history of the state of Missouri.

All in all, Move Dance Company, supported by Embassy of Canada and Canadoil Group, promises another night of splendid entertainment to savour at Bangkok's 13th International Festival of Dance & Music.

Tickets cost from Bt700 to Bt2,200 at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com or call the hotline at (02) 262 3191.

The festival is sponsored by Bangkok Bank, Beiersdorf, B. Grimm, Canadoil Group, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Nation Group, SCG, Thai Airways International, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Toyota Motor Thailand.