Shannon Litzenberger is reclaiming the darkness of nighttime in her multi-media dance theatre performance World After Dark at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) Saturday, Nov. 16.
Growing up on the prairies of Saskatchewan, Litzenberger said she developed a SA国际影视传媒渓ong loveSA国际影视传媒� of the night sky, but after living under the bright lights of Toronto for several decades, she said her access to the wonders of the nighttime sky has become very challenging.
SA国际影视传媒淎nd it's interesting because over the past year, there have been a lot of phenomena in the sky, like lots of Northern lights activity this year, and we just don't see it in the city.
And so for me to go to the North in particular, I feel like this work will resonate because it's already part of the lived experience of the people there,SA国际影视传媒� Litzenberger said of her upcoming performance in Yellowknife.
The idea of delving into the world of darkness manifested when she was visiting Grasslands National Park in her home province over a decade ago while researching the relationship between body and landscape, she said.
Depths of darkness
SA国际影视传媒淎nd when I was there, I realized that I was also in the middle of one of Canada's last remaining dark sky preserves. So this is an area that is designated by the Royal Astronomical Society, where there is an absence of interference of artificial light. And it's like a special place where you get a very incredible view of the night sky,SA国际影视传媒� Litzenberger said.
SA国际影视传媒淎nd I became just so enchanted by the night, I would spend my time trying to capture the stars, trying to figure out how to use my camera to capture what I was seeing, with the feeling of seeing more layers into the universe than I had ever seen before.SA国际影视传媒�
After her experience with the cosmic realm that EarthSA国际影视传媒檚 darkness reveals, she said upon returning to Toronto, she started reading a book from her collection called Acquainted With the Night by Christopher Dewdney.
SA国际影视传媒淚t's a beautiful book that kind of explores both the scientific and poetic aspects of night. It journeys us from sunset to sunrise, and each chapter is an hour of the night. So it's very episodic in a way, like it explores the history of children's bedtime stories and the phenomena of sunset, and Jung in Dream Theory.
SA国际影视传媒淭hese were the seeds of inspiration, where I just felt so compelled to continue and start creating a work about night,SA国际影视传媒� Litzenberger said.
Personification
Beginning the task of turning the exploration of night into a multi-media, multi-sensory production started by exploring elements of the book as movement, leading to the creation of two central figures SA国际影视传媒� a male and female.
SA国际影视传媒淎nd the female figure is the personification of night. One of the things I was really interested in is, what is night a metaphor for? So not just the actual night, but what does night mean in our culture?SA国际影视传媒� she said.
While pondering that question, Litzenberger said she considered how night is a metaphor for the feminine and different ways of being that are associated culturally with female polarity.
SA国际影视传媒淪o, you know, intuition, mystery, care, the sensory and the sensual SA国际影视传媒� these were elements that I really wanted to bring into the work. And so these two central figures of night as a woman, and then the male character is sort of the character that represents us, like our society and our relationship to night and the metaphors of night,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
In the performance, the male character is played by Louis Laberge-Cote, the protagonist who, in the beginning, is portrayed as a dominating corporate boss. With each scene, she said there a transformation towards his reconnection with the night SA国际影视传媒� the feminine SA国际影视传媒� played by Linnea Swan.
Accompanied by an ensemble of dancers, Litzenberger said the performance has what she would call a SA国际影视传媒済entle poetic narrative,SA国际影视传媒� where language plays a role because of its connection to the book. Imagery of nature and city lights, as well as the abstract, add to the overall sense of flow that arises from moments within the scenes.
With advances in the technology used in the performance from when it was first developed, Litzenberger said it now creates a SA国际影视传媒渟ynergy between the movement and the visual elements.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淭his is a really exciting moment for me as a choreographer, a director, to be able to take my work to new audiences,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Connection to nighttime
Marie Coderre, executive and artistic director at NACC, said the show is very symbolic in nature and SA国际影视传媒渁bsolutely breathtaking.SA国际影视传媒�
Exploring what the different dimensions of night can be and how night is perceived while awake or sleeping is a very interesting concept, she said.
SA国际影视传媒淭here is an aspect that is very modern, but also revealing a lot of ancient, ancient stories and perspectives of what night can be,SA国际影视传媒� Coderre said.
She added that the audience will no doubt feel the connection to darkness, especially during the long winter nights that define the North.
SA国际影视传媒淭here's nothing as pure and untouched and rough than a sky in the North during wintertime. It's just breathtaking,SA国际影视传媒� Coderre said, adding the show will also explore the concept of the different vibes people can have in darkness, such as becoming creative.
SA国际影视传媒淪o the show will investigate a little bit the different facets or different dimensions.SA国际影视传媒�
