2019
Scotiabank Dance Centre
Vancouver, BC

Presented by The Dance Centre as part of the 12th biennial Dance In Vancouver, AGAINST is a multi-disciplinary work that combines dance, theatre, soundscape and live-video feed and looks at our perception of ‘normal’ through the lens of three “events” (each approximately 20 minutes in length, and presented by 3 dancers in a series of solos, duets and a trio).

AGAINST uses three verbs in pursuit of this artistic inquiry – Entrap, Detach and Divide:

1. Entrap: a cinematic duet for Elissa Hanson and Arash Khakpour to music by Matthew Tomkinson. Intimacy, harmony, connection is contrasted by dysfunction, aggression, repulsion.
2. Detach: Three simultaneous solos for understudy Daria Mikhaylyuk  (original cast: Renée Sigouin), Elissa Hanson and Arash Khakpour to the soundscape by Vancouver composer Stephan Smulovitz. This segment explores further sense of loneliness, monotony and loss of control in a world increasingly dominated by technology.
3. Divide: A physically demanding trio for understudy Daria Mikhaylyuk (original cast: Renée Sigouin), Elissa Hanson and Arash Khakpour to the music of Barry Truax; explores complex group dynamics in which intricate movement patterning is broken down by video projections resulting from the prior section.

The three verbs also reflect Paras Terezakis’ own experiences:

1. Entrap: as an adopted child, feelings of rejection, confinement and lack of choices
2. Detach: as an immigrant, you are an outsider in your chosen home and now an outsider in your birthplace
3. Divide: xenophobic misconceptions and stigma of appearing ‘different’

AGAINST works as a live organism, a shape-shifter that can modulate and adjust depending on the space at play.