Hourglass comes to fruition with a full journey through Philip Glass's Piano Études, at the Chutzpah! Festival November 5 and 6
Leslie Dala is at the keyboard while eight dancers take the stage
Photo by Victoria Bell
Chutzpah! Festival presents Ne.Sans Opera and Dance’s Hourglass on November 5 and 6 at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre
YEARS IN THE MAKING, Hourglass is finally ready for its monumental live debut.
Ne.Sans Opera and Dance artistic director Idan Cohen first spoke to Stir in 2020 about working in residency at the Chutzpah! Festival to develop the work. The brainchild of the Israeli-born, Vancouver-based choreographer-director and local pianist-maestro Leslie Dala, it debuted in brief form in a livestream presentation with Ballet BC alumna Racheal Prince and Brandon Lee Alley dancing to Dala playing four of Philip Glass’s solo Piano Études. Dala’s career in music (you know him from his work with the Vancouver Bach Choir and Vancouver Opera) stoked a theme in Hourglass about spending one’s life in the arts, through disappointments, successes, and the thrill of performance. With the pandemic, that idea took on even more resonance.
Hourglass now presents all 20 of Glass’s piano studies, with a cast of eight performers of diverse ages and backgrounds—from early teens to their late 60s. There is a fully realized set design by Amir Ofek, costumes by Christine Reimer, and evocative lighting design by Victoria Bell.
And Dala, of course, plays the crystalline, minimalist pieces at the piano--no small feat, considering it took Glass from 1991 (around the time he was scoring A Brief History of Time with filmmaker Errol Morris) until 2012 just to write them. Just the chance to listen to their textures played live, in sequence, will be a treat; with Cohen's vivid movement and visual world built around them, they should be stunning.
Related Articles
