Leslie Dala and Idan Cohen's richly collaborative Hourglass to kick off VIDF, March 4 to 6

Dala was inspired to create an interdisciplinary work by Phillip Glass’s Piano Études i

POST SPONSORED BY VIDF

Photo by Flick Harrison

Co-creators Idan Cohen and Leslie Dala bring a vast depth of experience to the dance work Hourglass, reminding us of why artists are beacons in dark times.

When Hourglass kicks off the Vancouver International Dance Festival from March 4 to 6, Dala performs Philip Glass’s Piano Études in the livestreamed performance.

Dala, conductor with the Vancouver Opera, was inspired by listening to those minimalistic studies one afternoon. He was struck with the desire to perform it as part of an interdisciplinary performance marking both Glass’s 85th birthday and his own 50th.

That’s when he thought of Israeli-trained, Vancouver-based choreographer Cohen, artistic director of Ne Sans Opera & Dance—a company that has been opening a new world of collaborations with singers, dancers, musicians, and designers here since 2017.

What happened next is what Dala describes as one of those “unexpected, unimaginable creative happenings”: he walked out of his apartment in Yaletown… and ran into Cohen. He asked him “Do you like Philip Glass?”, and the rest is history. Or history in the making.

The collaboration has resulted in Hourglass , starring Dala alongside dancers Racheal Prince and Brandon Lee Alley. It’s the first segment in a project that’s planned to grow into covering all 20 Études, performed by multiple performers from diverse ages and cultures.

Dala and Cohen’s approach is inspired by the repetition and looping in the music, where ideas seem to morph within an infinite sense of time. Cohen uses an empty chair as a motif in the work as a reflection of time and absence; of ongoing time, of longing and missing an absent loved one.

When asked if the idea of livestreaming Hourglass poses challenges, Cohen’s playfulness shines through. “I never say no to these types of opportunities,” he says. “I would never learn if I didn’t just jump in. It’s an opportunity to explore, to research and refine.” 

“It’s an opportunity to watch something intimate in an intimate way—at home, yet closer to the dancers than you’d otherwise ever get to be,” he adds.

Hourglass livestreams March 4th and 5th at 8pm and March 6th at 4pm. Find more information here.

This post was sponsored by VIDF.