Vancouver International Dance Festival presents Christopher House in New Tricks

The veteran choreographer and performer explores the queering of the body and the imagination in riveting solo

SPONSORED POST BY VIDF

New Tricks. Photo by Omer Yukseker

Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF) presents Christopher House’s New Tricks at The Annex from March 2 to 4, at 8 pm.

New Tricks is an intimate solo work created and performed by House that uses costume, disguise, ritual, and 44 years of choreographic research to explore new ways of existing in a veteran body.

Playful and personal, the piece is inspired by the ambiguity of gesture, the poetry of failure and inefficiency, the beauty of the ordinary, and a queering of both the body and the imagination. House’s 55-minute solo lives in relation to the space it’s performed in, unfolding through a series of episodes that will invite the viewer to consider the specificity of each passing moment.

House will run a soundtrack on-stage by Toronto-based electronic composer Thom Gill as he unveils his personality in a series of vignettes set to cover tunes by Canadian artists.

Born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland, House is a choreographer, performer, director, educator, and mentor. He has collaborated with many leading companies and artists including The National Ballet of Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet BC, Cirque du Soleil, Kimsooja, The Hidden Cameras, and more.

House was resident choreographer and a leading dancer with the Toronto Dance Theatre from 1979 to 2020 and spent 26 of those years as artistic director. He created over 60 works for the company, diversified its repertoire, and developed several programs in education, audience cultivation, and mentorship for young choreographers.

Created in residencies at Centre Q2, Citadel + Compagnie, and the Banff Centre, New Tricks premiered at the Ross Centre for Dance in Toronto in 2022 and was subsequently performed at the Festival of New Dance in St. John’s.

New Tricks was created with dramaturgical support from Tedd Robinson and Rosemary James, with contributions from Ame Henderson and Jordan Tannahill. Gender-bending costumes are by Sarah Doucet, and lighting is by Simon Rossiter.

Tickets and more details are at VIDF. The Annex is located adjacent to the Orpheum at 823 Seymour Street and can be reached by phone at 604-665-3035.

VIDF runs at various venues from February 27 to March 25.

Post sponsored by Vancouver International Dance Festival.