Globe and Mail, Toronto May 13, 2003

 

An ancient culture defined

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REVIEW By PAULA CITRON Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - Page R2

Canada/Indonesia Friendship Concert at du Maurier Theatre Centre in Toronto on Sunday May 11, 2003

 

To mark the anniversary of 50 years of diplomatic relations, Indonesia's consulate-general in Toronto presented a concert featuring Canadian performing groups who have been influenced by Indonesian culture. Toronto choreographer Maxine Heppner joined forces with the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan in original works, while Montreal sent its traditional gamelan orchestra, Giri Kedaton. For the Indonesians in the audience, it must have been a surreal experience to see their ancient culture interpreted by North American upstarts.

 

At the heart of the gamelan orchestra are different sizes of bronze gongs, both pot and marimba shaped, augmented by flutes, drums and cymbals. In Heppner's Nine Bronze Pieces, composed by Mark Duggan, the instruments interface with the dancers in delicate symbiosis. The score consists of nine different instrumental combinations, each one inspiring a separate dance idiom. Through a series of solos, duets and trios, the three dancers (Louis Laberge-Côté, Susan Lee and Eryn Dace Trudell) echo the various subtle shifts of sound performed by Evergreen's eight musicians as if each note were travelling directly through their bodies. Heppner is a very precise choreographer. Thus, when a dancer moves a hand, it is in response to, or initiating, a musical element. Watching the work was like seeing with the ears and hearing with the eyes. Whether the dancers were standing in one place moving the body in gentle undulations, or leaping and turning about the stage, the dance and music was in total integration.