Acclaimed B.C. dance artist Joshua Beamish focuses on intimacy in Proximity
PuSh co-presents the choreographer-performer’s thrilling new collection of contemporary-dance works
Joshua Beamish in Ablaze Amongst the Fragments of Your Sky. Photo Cindi Wicklund
B.C. dance artist Joshua Beamish is recognized around the world as an outstanding choreographer and performer. Proximity: A collection of short works is an exciting new program that showcases his breadth and versatility.
Streaming online from February 25 to March 11 at PuSh, Proximity is part of the Dance Centre’s Global Dance Connection Series.
Beamish, founder of MOVETHECOMPANY, will present two of his own creations: the world premiere of Lost Touch, a new solo danced by Renée Sigouin (Kidd Pivot, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre) created with the support of the Dance Centre’s Artist-in-Residence Program; and Proximity, a duet he and Sigouin perform together.
Beamish will also perform two solos choreographed specifically for him: Redemption, by the internationally renowned Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, created with the support of the Dance Centre’s Artist-in-Residence Program, the Hamber Foundation, and the Samuel H Scripps Foundation; and Ablaze Amongst the Fragments of Your Sky by Ballet BC’s Kirsten Wicklund, created with the support of the Dance Centre’s Artist-in-Residence Program and the Hamber Foundation.
Proximity also includes “Falling Upward”, a short film Beamish created with dancer/filmmaker Scott Fowler and composer Stefan Nazarevich created with the support of the BC Arts Council.
“This program is a series of encounters between myself and a single dance artist,” Beamish says. “Our current restricted state has imposed a focus on intimacy. It has been refreshing to offer my full investment to one creative relationship at a time. With this project, I am returning to the stage in works by two women whom I have long admired, local emerging choreographer Kirsten Wicklund and celebrated international dancemaker Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. With the duet Proximity, originally commissioned by Fall for Dance North in Toronto, I am also performing the first work I have created for myself in five years. All five works touch on journeys through solitude, restriction, and contemplation, harnessing a reflection of our collective present, in service of investigation and growth.”
The creation of Proximity was also made possible with the support of Het Dansatelier Den Haag, Lonneke Van Leth Dans, Theater De Nieuwe Regentes and the Samuel H Scripps Foundation
Joshua Beamish founded MOVETHECOMPANY in 2005 and his works have since toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Outside of the company, he has created in collaboration with the Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Cape Town Opera, Vancouver Opera, and Compania Nacional de Danza de Mexico, among many other organizations.
This post was sponsored by PuSh Festival.