We’re nearing the end of the first week in-residence with our mentor Gabbi Beir at Dance Victoria with the Lola Projectand what a week it has been! We’ve had a lot of laughs and dancedour butts off and things are starting to come together.
This week started with an showing and structured feedback session between us and the other Lola collective facilitated by our mentor and one of Berlin’s finest Dramaturges; Gabbi Beir. It was a great opportunity to show what we had been working on prior to our residency and receive feedback. This is a very different way of working for the company as we have never work shopped or previewed our pieces before they hit the stage! It has been an amazing treat to have a dance home for the company, even if it is only for two weeks! The amount of work wehave been able to accomplish with solid seven hour studio days is remarkable!
Our piece is a lot about social anxiety, ‘the grind’, and the cut-throat and EXHAUSTING race to get ahead. On Wednesday we worked on press releases, which includes naming a piece, which sometimes feel like a nearly impossible task, and with us around it doesn’t get any easier! We always start with serious suggestions such as Grind but quickly turn to titles such as Come At Me Bro and Do You Even Lift Brah? Apparently the competitive nature of this dance has brought out our inner thugness! Wonder what name we actually settled on? Take a guess and then we’ll see you Saturday at the showing!
Working in the studio with our Artistic Director, Dyana Sonik-Henderson, and having Gabbi observing is very interesting and a totally new experience. We work differently, the longer we’re together the less real language we use it’s a lot more Hee, Hoo, Saahhhh, He, Ha, Ha, Ta, Cha, Tick Tick sounds instead. The thing about Dyana is that she has a certain unique way of settling choreography on us. Most of the time we have little to no idea of the themes that are percolating in her head. Rarely do we start with music or themusic we’re actually going to use. We start with lots of movement and the other things; character and rhythm, are layered on top (or underneath, depending on how you see it). It’s like a SEVEN layer dip that would not be the same without each interdependent ingredient. Only Dyana starts with the cheese and olives andadds the guac and beans later.
Our bodies our sore and our heads are swimming in new steps and sequences – but we couldn’t be happier! Pretty sure our bodies are looking forward to long hot bath and a two-day nap!
Contact:brokenrhythmsvictoria@gmail.com to register
(Advance registration recommended)
Instructor: Dyana Sonik-Henderson
Come out and celebrate Dance Days by attending Victoria’s RhythmicalContemporary open level workshop on February 1st. This style was born and developed in Victoria and is used by Victoria dance company Broken Rhythms. Its influences include Jazz, Contemporary and Hip Hop with inspiration from animalistic movement and musical interpretation.
For Victoria dancers looking for a challenging, technique based, and positive energy class, come join Modern Level 3 at Raino Dance downtown Victoria (715 Yates St).
These classes are only for adults and provide a nurturing and supporting dance community to push boundaries and interpretation of what Modern dance is and what it can be.
Building on training received in England, Toronto, Italy, and Calgary and of course Victoria, my classes draw inspiration from music, natural body movement patterns, and have been found to contain many animal elements as descriptive terms.
Find the level, class, and style for you. Check out the possibilities at
On Thursday August 21st Broken Rhythms is unveiling its newest work, SEVEN, a fifty-minute intimate visual experience that deals with the SEVEN stages of grief—both the ugliness and the beauty. This show explores the universality of grief and how it can be paralyzing, shocking and ultimately freeing.
We also continue to tell stories using Rhythmical Contemporary, a unique style of dance exclusively developed by Broken Rhythms, which brings animalistic qualities into movement and highlights the importance of music in storytelling.
Broken Rhythms is a Victoria based company under the artistic direction of Dyana Sonik-Henderson and has recently been in residency at Dance Victoria to complete work for their upcoming show at the Victoria Fringe Festival.
The company has also been selected to participate in Dance Victoria’s 2015 LOLA Projects working with Berlin-based dramaturge and production manager, Gabi Beier of ada studios.
Shows: Metro Theatre Thur 21 – 7:45pm Sat 23 – 3:00pm Mon 25 – 7:00pm Fri 29 – 7:15pm Sat 30 – 6:45pm Sun 31 – 5:30pm Tickets at http://www.ticketrocket.org or at the door Don’t forget your Fringe button!!!
Broken Rhythms is creating new work for the upcoming 2014 Fringe festival and is looking to add one to two dancers.
Deadline March 7th -send any previous performance experience or resume along with video link of your dancing.
For more Information, contact brokenrhythmsvictoria@gmail.com
Broken Rhythms Bio
Broken Rhythms is a Victoria-based dance company under the artistic direction of Dyana Sonik-Henderson. Broken Rhythms was founded in 2011 to accommodate the innovative style rhythmical contemporary, which combines jazz, contemporary, Hip Hop, and animalistic influences. It premiered to a sold out show run of Spark as part of the Intrepid You Show and went on to success with its 2012 Fringe run winning Pick of the Fringe. In 2013, Grim captured three Pick of the Fringe awards.
Broken Rhythms’ goal is to give Victoria dancers a platform to perform and work in a supportive environment. Rehearsals will take place March –August with shows August 21-31 2014.
When: Feb 1, 2015 @ 11:00-12:30
Broken Rhythms 