By Savina Rueffer 

With live dance performances now back after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to gather an audience for a performance.

Many people have been waiting for the moment they could start attending live performances again. There is also a large group of people who have never been to a live performance who may now be interested. The pandemic taught us not to take anything for granted and to experience as much as possible when we can. Now that venues have reopened, people are excited to try new things. This opens up new doors for the dance community to share the joy of dance with new people.

Harbourfront Centre in Toronto is a cultural hub that presents a variety of dance performances. Nathalie Bonjour is the performing arts director at Harbourfront Centre, responsible for supervising many of the programs they run, including the contemporary dance series, Torque.

I spoke with Nathalie about Torque and contemporary dance. We discussed what new audiences could expect when attending a contemporary dance performance and how to attract new people to contemporary dance.

What Is Contemporary Dance?

Before discussing what attracts people to contemporary dance, it’s important to understand what contemporary dance is.

Nathalie explained that contemporary dance is a controversial term in the dance world. In simple terms, it means dance done today. With this level of understanding, a lot can fall under contemporary dance. Many cultural dance traditions and genres can influence chorographers in creating a contemporary dance piece. To Nathalie and Harbourfront Centre, however, contemporary dance means dance reflecting today’s world and pushing the boundaries of the art form.

“I try to find pieces that are really sort of singular aesthetically that people are going to be remembering,” said Nathalie about the contemporary dances they include in Torque.

Why Do Fans of Other Forms of Dance Hesitate With Attending a Contemporary Dance Performance?

One struggle contemporary dance has had, especially in smaller cities, is attracting audiences to come see the performances. Even fans of dance performances occasionally hesitate to see contemporary performances because of their abstract nature.

“We live in a world, in North America at least, that is dominated by the mind,” Nathalie said. “We want to understand things and contemporary dance does not necessarily follow a storyline like theatre or ballet would. I think it’s more like visual arts in that sense. You may or may not have an understanding or education in contemporary dance, but you can still appreciate the dance on an emotional level.”

In other words, a contemporary dance show isn’t a performance with a solid storyline. This makes it different from other dance performances, but not in a negative way. It just means that how an audience experiences the performance differs.

Check out the following article about how to understand contemporary dance shows if you’re trying to find a new way to approach a performance as an audience member.

What Would You Say to Someone Considering Attending Their First Contemporary Dance Performance?

Dance, as Nathalie stated in our interview, is an emotional experience, not an intellectual one. By letting go of the idea that you must seek a message inside the performance, and instead just enjoying what the dancers are presenting, you may have a better experience.

After living in the pandemic for years, public safety protocols and lockdowns have awoken a desire, in many of us, to try something new. For some, this could be finally seeing a live dance performance. Keeping in mind that the goal of a performance is to immerse you in the visuals, the sound, the lighting, and the atmosphere, not finding a hidden message, is important.

While you are watching, let yourself be free to feel and react to the performance without any goal. Then, once you finish watching, talk about it with someone.

Whether you hated it or loved it, part of contemporary dance is expressing what you felt and sharing that with other people. The true goal of the performers is to create something you haven’t seen before that starts discussion, regardless of whether that discussion is positive or negative.

L-E-V: Combining the heart and the mind

A group called L-E-V from Israel did the first performance in the Torque series. In Hebrew, lev means heart, but not just like the heart in our body. Instead, the word is more a combination of the heart and the mind.

In a review about the piece, Deirdre Kelly said, “The Brutal Journey of the Heart is propelled by a hybrid movement vocabulary made up of elements of ballet, modern dance, nightclub vernaculars like voguing and Gaga, a popular constant motion-dance language which originated in Israel and is now practiced around the world. The dancers undulate and ripple like reeds in the wind. They arch their backs, roll their hips, sickle their arms, grab and cover their mouths and throats as they move synchronistically to an electronic beat. The perpetual motion of the ensemble simulates the relentless drive of a beating heart, while breakout solo performances represent moments of personal heartbreak, the love lost.”

L-E-V’s Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of The Heart was the perfect piece for a first-time audience member, because it represents how contemporary dance is meant to be viewed, combining the heart and mind into one.

“I think if you let your heart be touched and all your senses be immersed in the piece,” Nathalie said, “it might make you think of something or let go of something.”

How Could a Company Attract More Audiences to Contemporary Dance?

In Nathalie’s opinion, the key to attracting more people to contemporary dance shows is keeping the obstacles low. She stated that, this year, Harbourfront Centre changed their price structure to a pay-what-you-wish system to eliminate financial barriers.

She also said that they often do a Q&A after the second performance, where the audience can chat with the artists to get more information. This sort of outreach and advertising can be incredibly important in drawing in audiences.

Time to Try Something New?

Now is the time to experience something you have never tried before. Regardless of whether you are a long-time fan of dance or have never seen a performance before, contemporary dance provides something new.

This year’s Torque mini-season includes four very different performances that will present you with something unique and fresh. You don’t even need to worry about whether you will “understand the performance,” as the goal is not to understand, but to feel. Being able to let go and just feel without thinking can be something very freeing, especially with many of us having spent so long worrying about the pandemic.

If you’re looking to try something you haven’t experienced and support the arts, consider trying out a contemporary dance show!