As World Stage artistic director Tina Rasmussen explains in the video above, vox:lumen began as a casual conversation between herself, colleague Lynanne Sparrow and choreographer William Yong, of Zata Omm Dance Projects. But that conversation turned into something history-making: the first Canadian dance/theatre experiment in staging sustainability at this scale. Yong had been ruminating on the ways dance, technology, energy supplies and the future intersect, and now Harbourfront Centre is proud to host the Canadian premiere of the result, vox:lumen.
“I just went looking for advice,” Yong told the Toronto Star. “I couldn’t believe it when Tina said she wanted to present the work as part of World Stage. Without that I could not have fulfilled this dream.”
The show is entirely illuminated by energy from the dancers, renewable sources and the audience: an ambitious undertaking, for sure. Yong encourages the audience to come down at least an hour before the show for an Energy Fair, helping to generate more power for the performance. Yong and his four fellow dancers will be joined on stage by a human-powered generator, and they will also work with energy sourced during daylight from solar panels outside the venue.
What does a show powered by sustainability look like? Come and find out at vox:lumen, running March 4-7 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Click here to purchase tickets, or call our box office at 416-973-4000.
