Under the Bridge Performances for Winterruption.

This past Friday I was walking down to the island and happened to see the three sets of ten-minute performances created for the Winterruption Festival. This was the first time I had seen this event, and while it’s always nice to see public art being performed for the public, I didn’t especially find any of them innovative (except for the last piece). The first performance was titled Aeriosa: Cold Hands Warm Heart Too. This piece was choreographed by Julia Taffe and involved four women using ropes and harnesses to create what could be called an aerial dance to the sounds of classical music. It was entertaining to watch these performers use the ropes to gracefully twist, turn, and stretch. However, this aerial stunt work evoked more of a Cirque du Soleil theme that has been done so many times before. I felt it was unoriginal and not quite as dazzling as they set it out to be.

The next performance was Firebelly: Two Lights. Again this piece was more circus act then artistic expression, although it was also combined with a type of dance. Two women in red costumes entered the stage from opposite sides and lit some flammable swords. They then ran at each other and staged a mock fight with their flaming weapons. After this first act they switched their swords with chains, which had two flammable balls on each end. They then swung them around on stage to create a type of light show with the fire.

The Only Animal-Hot Jazz with Flaming Instruments was the title of the last performance. This was the section of the show that I thought was the most unexpected and creative. Two men in costume stood on stage, one with a Trumpet, the other with a French horn, and began to play familiar jazz tunes. However, as they played, fire would blow out of their horns in between beats, turning it into a combined music and pyrotechnics display. They performed songs like Fever and the theme to The Pink Panther (my favorite). You could tell both musicians were devoting much concentration into the music as they blew and flamed together in melody.

Overall, it was entertaining to watch, but nothing particularly groundbreaking. It might have been nice if multiple performers had been involved instead of just pairs. If they ever decide to make changes to the performances in the future, it would be interesting to see what they would be.

http://www.granvilleisland.com/directory/under-bridge