October 9, 2014 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Two of Vancouver’s hottest young dance talents shine in an evening of visceral, dynamic dance – supremely urban-cool, mesmerizing in its intensity – that was conceived especially for the National Arts Centre. Receiving its world premiere, Amber Funk Barton’s new solo, Surrender, is designed to showcase her unique style of fiercely physical hybrid movement. In Josh Martin’s jaw-dropping solo, Leftovers, he contorts his limbs from one pretzel position to another, fusing street dance, capoeira, and modern moves in an explosive exploration of muscle memory. Their dreamy duet, Hero & Heroine, balances precise physicality with sensitivity of touch as they run the entire gamut of human emotion. Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin perform in the Studio of the National Arts Centre on Thursday October 23, Friday October 24, and Saturday October 25 at 8 p.m.

 

ABOUT AMBER FUNK BARTON (THE RESPONSE.) AND JOSH MARTIN (605 COLLECTIVE)
Founded in 2008 by Amber Funk Barton, the response. is a company that challenges how contemporary dance can be made, shown, and perceived. Inspired by the physical potential and emotional make-up of the human body, Barton balances artistic resonance and physical spectacle. the response. aims to create cinematic experiences using the body to create pictures, images and shapes to evoke reaction, to tell stories.

Alberta-born Josh Martin’s dance career has led him across North America and Europe, studying and performing in many genres along the way. With an eclectic dance background, he has performed in theatres, clubs, on stages, streets, for film and television and on music videos and tours. Josh is Artistic Co-Director of 605 Collective, a collaborative group of dance artists producing new dance work through a shared creative process.
 

ABOUT SURRENDER (2014)
Surrender is an imaginative solo that portrays a tenacious fighter constantly defending herself upon a battlefield. Does true bravery mean fighting until the bitter end … or giving into one’s desires? Inspired by fencing, and the notion of acceptance and defeat, Surrender is a physically challenging yet fanciful meditation on what it means to be courageous, a celebration of the strength of the human spirit.

World premiere of an NAC co-production
Choreographed and performed by Amber Funk Barton
LIGHTING DESIGN Jason Dubois
ORIGINAL MUSIC and SOUND Marc Stewart

DURATION 15 minutes

ABOUT LEFTOVERS (2013)
Josh Martin’s solo explores the body as a memory bank, separate and secluded from the mind, where muscle tissue, tendons, bones, and organs all store their own accounts of past events, action, and trauma. The dance externalizes these moments of body recall, expanding what gets churned up in the retrieval. Leftovers perfectly replicates time-lapse and Claymation film effects through precisely controlled minuscule movements. Josh Martin says, “Through aiming to separate my head’s memory and choice from my body’s memory and choice, I hope to get closer to my choreographic desire of being on the outside looking in.”

Choreography and performance Josh Martin
LIGHTING DESIGN Won Kyoon Han
MUSIC Tracks by Lightning Bolt, Polmo Polpo

DURATION 17 minutes

 

ABOUT HERO & HEROINE (2010)
Hero & Heroine allows the performers to investigate each other and the space that surrounds them. The dancers accept and challenge the emotional and physical dynamics of a relationship between a man and woman. They experience initial curiosity, wonder, courage, and desire. They tumble and twist, at times drawing each other closer together, other times pushing further apart. They also begin to discover that their actions, whether as regular human beings or the alter ego of their dreams, have consequences.

CHOREOGRAPHY and DIRECTION Amber Funk Barton
PERFORMANCE Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin
LIGHTING DESIGN Jason Dubois
SOUND COMPOSITION and DESIGN Jacob Cino

DURATION 30 minutes

 

MASTERCLASS
NAC Dance presents a masterclass with Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin.
Saturday, October 25, 2014 from 10:30 to 12:00 a.m.
Cost: $25, payable in advance through online registration.
Rehearsal Hall B, NAC. 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (access by Stage Door)

This class is for intermediate/advanced level students and dancers (aged 14 and up).

POST-PERFORMANCE CHAT
Join us for a post-performance chat with Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin on Thursday October 23, 2014.

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES
Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin perform Surrender, Leftovers, and Hero & Heroine in the Studio of the National Arts Centre on Thursday October 23, Friday October 24, and Saturday October 25 at 8 p.m. General admission tickets in the NAC Studio are $31 for adults and $17.50 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card).

Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613 947-7000 x634, or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

Tickets are available for purchase:
in person at the NAC Box Office
at all Ticketmaster outlets *
by telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)*
online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (http://www.nac-cna.ca) *

* A service charge applies on all purchases made through Ticketmaster.