The Dance Centre presents
the Global Dance Connections series
Shay Kuebler: KAROSHI (Premiere)
Thursday-Saturday December 6-8, 8pm
Post-show artist talkback December 7
Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $30/$22 students, seniors: Tickets Tonight: 604.684.2787 www.ticketstonight.ca
Info and series subscriptions: 604 606 6400 www.thedancecentre.ca
The Japanese phenomenon of karoshi – ‘death by overwork’ – and the clash between extreme societal pressure and personal need inspire a new work by Vancouver dancer/choreographer Shay Kuebler. Combining physically explosive choreography for an all-male ensemble, live taiko drumming and video, KAROSHI promises to be a visceral theatrical experience, full of maniacal energy and black humour. Kuebler is known as one of Vancouver’s most dynamic performers, with an inimitable style that blends martial arts, hip hop and contemporary dance.
KAROSHI is his first full-length piece, developed after showing an excerpt of at Dance In Vancouver last year.
Kuebler’s extensive study of karate and martial arts nurtured a lifelong fascination with Japanese culture, and he spent time researching material in Japan. “The ‘salaryman’ culture epitomized, to me, how the density and direction of life can force you to lose track of yourself,” explains Kuebler. “When society is rigid, and the focus on one aspect is unwavering, the neglected portions of self will eventually rise up with as much force as the amount of time it has been repressed.” Kuebler joins a cast of four male dancers—Scott Augustine, Hayden Fong, Nicholas Lydiate and Manuel Sorge—and Uzume Taiko’s Jason Overy. Josh Hite has created the video projections, and Craig Alfredson will use the real-time media manipulation Isadora software to enable live interaction between lights, sound and drumming.
Shay Kuebler began his performing career at the age of five with Stage Polaris Theatre Academy in Edmonton, Alberta. He soon after commenced his eight-year study in Shito-Ryu karate that would lead to his training in dance. With knowledge of many artistic forms, he has performed across the world, from contemporary dance in Brazil, to tapping and hoofing in Lebanon. He has traveled to Salvador, Brazil, to train in the Angola and Regional forms of capoeira; and Tokyo, Japan where he studied dance, music, theatre and martial arts. Shay has performed for numerous companies across Canada as well as created and directed a number of works as a solo artist, as co-artistic director of The 605 Collective, and as a collaborator/co-creator for specific works. He was the recipient of the 2008 Holy Body Tattoo emerging artist award and, as a winner of the inaugural Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Choreographic Competition, had the honor to choreograph an original work on the company under the mentorship of Gradimir Pankov. www.shaykuebler.tumblr.com
