Artists of Belle Spirale Dance Projects seek resilience in the face of uncertainty with UNIVERSUS
Presented by VIDF with New Works and the Chutzpah! Festival, double bill premieres works by Alexis Fletcher and Fernando Hernando Magadan
Marisa Gold (left) and the artists of Belle Spirale Dance Projects in UNIVERSUS. Photo by Michael Slobodian
Vancouver International Dance Festival presents Belle Spirale Dance Projects’ UNIVERSUS at the Vancouver Playhouse on March 21 and 22 at 8 pm, in partnership with New Works and the Chutzpah! Festival
HOW DO YOU find resilience in an increasingly turbulent world? That’s the inquiry at the forefront of Belle Spirale Dance Projects’s Everything and Nothing.
Choreographed by the company’s co-artistic director Alexis Fletcher, the work draws on the spoken-word poetry of Belle Spirale dancer and multidisciplinary artist Marisa Gold. Intergenerational wisdom and ancestral energy are prominent threads in Gold’s words, which address what it’s like to be uncertain about or fearful of the future while cultivating hope and wonder in everyday life.
That poetry provides a framework for Fletcher’s choreography in Everything and Nothing to explore more abstract concepts of meaning and existence. Speaking to Stir by phone before the piece’s premiere, she shares that it was inspired by her own internal dialogue as of late.
“I’ve always been a really optimistic person, and I’ve always had this really deep faith that things were going to work out, both for the planet and for us as a species,” Fletcher says. “And like many of us, that belief is just being shaken to the core right now in ways that I have never experienced in my lifetime yet. The climate change, the pandemic, the wars, the move towards authoritarianism in some places in the world—I guess maybe it’s getting older and seeing the world through the lens of a person at this stage in my life, but I just feel so shaken.”
Everything and Nothing will be shown alongside STATERA, a newly commissioned piece by Spanish choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan, as part of the Vancouver International Dance Festival double bill UNIVERSUS on March 21 and 22. The offsite event will be presented at the Vancouver Playhouse in partnership with New Works and the Chutzpah! Festival.
“When Fernando and I started to talk about these shared themes that we were both going to be working with in very different ways for UNIVERSUS…I started to be like, ‘Okay, what is the place that art actually has in these really big conversations?’” Fletcher says. “‘What do I do with this feeling of having so much trepidation about the future in a way that I never have before, and what does this feeling of losing faith mean inside of my arts practice?’”
Fletcher began conceptualizing Everything and Nothing through a commission by local movement company EDAM’s choreographic series that featured three dancers, one of whom was Gold. Belle Spirale has worked closely with Gold over the years on projects like The Dance Deck, the company’s annual arts showcase held in the East Van backyard of Fletcher and Sylvain Senez, her co-artistic director and life partner. After its EDAM development phase, Everything and Nothing soon grew in size to feature Gold and Fletcher performing alongside fellow Vancouver-based dancers Ariana Barr, Juan Duarte, Will Jessup, Sophia Makarenko, Brenna Metzmeier, and Justin Rapaport.
Brenna Metzmeier in UNIVERSUS. Photo by Michael Slobodian
STATERA, Latin for “balance”, is Hernando Magadan’s first Canadian commission outside Ballet BC; he just premiered a new work with the company as part of its ZENITH program. STATERA features an original score by Ben Waters and the same troupe of dancers as Everything and Nothing. While both pieces address the fear of extinction and seek guidance in the cosmos, Fletcher’s choreography and Gold’s poetry often reference the past, whereas Hernando Magadan’s work is more future-oriented.
“We’re both looking at this sense of uncertainty that neither Fernando nor myself has felt in this way before,” Fletcher says. “We’re looking specifically at that in relation to the climate-change aspect of what’s happening in the world right now. But of course, that is informed by all of the other major world events—coming out of the pandemic as artists, all of that stuff. So I would say there is this sense of how, for the first time, extinction is on the table. What does that even mean? We don’t know. That feels so huge in relation to our one little life that we’re living on the planet, but it’s there. It’s this dark cloud in the future.”
Everything and Nothing is a recipient of Dance Victoria’s Chrystal Dance Prize, which supports new dance creations. Each performer in the piece represents a specific energy or archetype that helps progress the storyline. For instance, there’s a tender, angelic presence; a fiery figure that ignites action; and a person who’s stuck in limbo, unsure of how to move forward. Gold acts as a soulful guide for the dancers throughout, paving the way for moments of connection.
Everything and Nothing features scenic design and film projections by Senez, along with lighting design by frequent Belle Spirale collaborator Victoria Bell. Hanging from the rafters is an array of lush green plants and a single light bulb, prompting larger reflections on themes of growth, fragility, and invention. A warm glow is cast over the stage for most of the piece, giving the environment a tender, nourishing feel.
That positive energy is what Fletcher wants audience members to grasp. Amid all the climate stressors and chaos in the world, she says it can be hard to find hope; but UNIVERSUS acts as a conversation-opener for viewers to foster strength and resilience together.
“What I think the arts can do right now really well is create, hopefully, just these moments of connection,” the choreographer says. “And maybe a little bit of a heart opening—a feeling that there’s a sense of beauty we want to search for in the world.” 
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