Andrea Nann and Brendan Wyatt are both ravishingly beautiful dancers. Against a backdrop of songs and poetry by Gord Downie, their dance piece Beside Each Other is a series of refreshing and insightful snapshots of a romantic relationship.
Downie is best-known as the lead singer of the Tragically Hip. Beside Each Other is set to songs from his first two solo albums, Coke Machine Glow and Battle of the Nudes.
The heart of Beside Each Other is taken from the song Coke Machine Glow, which ends with, "Here we are in bed. Here we are beside each other after everything we've said." The couple, through thick and thin, love each other, battle each other, and even carve up a melon to feed the audience, as if we are their guests.
There is an ease and flow to their movements. Nothing jars. No matter how complicated the partnering - and there are some very difficult lifts, with Nann being thrown every which way - the two have the smoothness of liquid honey. In both the love scenes and the rough-and-tumble ones, their emotional attachment is palpable.
Downie's lyrics tend to be obscure. His simple, elliptical words are loaded with subtext.
Still, the two dancers sometimes go for the obvious. Trick Rider has Wyatt lying on the floor, his legs raised in the air; for almost the whole song, Nann is resting her stomach on his feet, delicately flying. It is an image of consummate trust.
On the other hand, the action for Insomniacs of the World, Good Night can be interpreted in many ways. Wyatt is mid-stage standing completely still, eyes closed, making repeated gestures with his hands, his own form of sign language. Nann is offstage by the projector. By pouring water on its surface, and adding in coloured ink, Wyatt becomes bathed in an abstract glow of many hues. For Nann, is it manipulation? Sympathy? A soothing balm? A nightmare?
But Nann and Wyatt have not forgotten humour. In Yer Possessed, Nann is a siren in short shorts and high heels, attempting to wrap herself around Wyatt, who keeps writing nasty notes to her with a Magic Marker on large pieces of paper. We're Hardcore is a fun-filled martial-arts battle.
Designer David Duclos has given the work dramatic lighting, while Elysha Poirier has provided the whimsical projections. Both are at hand, just below the lip of the stage, carrying out their duties. This breaks the fourth-wall dynamic, reinforcing the subtext of Beside Each Other: Art mirrors life.
Beside Each Other
- Dreamwalker Dance Company
- Choreographed and performed by Andrea Nann and Brendan Wyatt
- Music and poetry by Gord Downie
- At the Young Centre in Toronto on Thursday
Beside Each Other continues until Dec. 9.