Dancing on the edge in Face 2 Face

Dancing on the edge in Face 2 Face: 12 performances, 7 choreographers. 4 solo artists, 3 intimate venues, 1 week of dazzling dance!

Dance Producer Cathy Levy welcomes you to the NAC's second edition of Face 2 Face, a mini-series of contemporary dance which explodes on the Ottawa scene from February 5-8, 2014. The NAC's Face 2 Face series (which was a big success in its debut last year) brings you face to face with a potent mix of exciting solo works by four artists -- from Canada, Germany, and the UK, performing the work of seven choreographers -- who are making waves on the international scene. Provocative, engaging, bold ... Face 2 Face promises a radical departure from the everyday. NOTE: Some works feature mature themes.

The works featured in Face 2 Face are:

allege choreographed/performed by Clément Layes (Germany). In allege -- a prize-winning solo of skill, wit, daring, and intelligence -- Layes combines philosophy with Chaplinesque slapstick. He submits to self-imposed rules while talking about freedom, anxiety, habit/expectation, and the absurdity of life. He also issues lighting and music cues -- while balancing a glass of water on his head. Music by David Byrne.

Co-presented with Ottawa Dance Directive-Centre de danse contemporaine /SD10#14

ODD BOX, Ottawa Dance Directive Studio A, Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue on February 5 and 6 at 9 p.m.; February 7 at 6 p.m.; and February 8 at 4:30 p.m.

Les mêmes yeux que toi. This electrifying full-length solo is a captivating collage of superimposed realities. Created by choreographer/dancer Anne Plamondon with actress/writer/director Marie Brassard (Canada), this haunting, absorbing work tackles the difficult theme of mental illness. With compelling honesty, Plamondon confronts this plunge into madness in a performance of fierce self-abandon and touching fragility.

An NAC co-production with Agora de la danse (Montreal) and Anne Plamondon

Arts Court Theatre, 2 Daly Ave. on February 5 at 7:30 p.m; February 6 at 6 p.m.; and February 8 at 9 p.m

Rising features exciting young British-Indian Kathak dancer Aakash Odedra performing four works – one Kathak solo he choreographed for himself, and three solos created especially for him by top-ranked choreographers Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Russell Maliphant. Odedra the dancer originates an idiosyncratic new flavour of contemporary dance that is uniquely his own. Rising has been widely praised by critics, astonished at Odedra's jangling, rogue energy, his astonishing technique, and his hypnotically undulating body.

NAC Studio on February 6, 7, and 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Get a Revolver choreographed by Helena Waldman (Germany), explores the social stigma of dementia. Compelling, grotesque, and funny, Get a Revolver doesn't elicit sympathy, but hits us with our own cluelessness. Superb dancer Brit Rodemund gives a face to memory loss. With dazzling presence, dignified even while in difficulty, she retains her essential humanity. Music by Gustav Mahler, Johann Strauss, Zeitkatzer, and Nat King Cole.
Arts Court Theatre, 2 Daly Avenue, on February 7 at 9 p.m. and February 8 at 6 p.m.