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PREVIEW | Artistic Director Julia Cratchley Talks About Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night

By Anya Wassenberg on March 9, 2023

Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)
Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)

Dance comes out of the theatre, and audiences can wander about between the dancers and sets, for Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night. The immersive dance/theatre experience takes place in two stints from March 31 to April 2, and the following week from April 6 to 9.

Transcen|Dance Project was founded by Toronto-based choreographer Julia Cratchley with a mandate of blurring the lines that typically divide genres within the dance community. She also looked to change the experience of dance performance for audiences, in particular, to reach those who might not be drawn to dance shows at all as they perceive them. Dance is often viewed as a rarefied, intellectual/artistic realm, and one that many don’t see as particularly welcoming.

Audience silence is mandatory at most dance performances that take place in theatres or concert halls, no matter what the genre. It allows the dancers the space to concentrate on their art.

But…maybe that precept, too, can be stretched. That’s where Transcen|Dance Project’s immersive A Grimm Night begins.

Julia Cratchley & Transcen|Dance Project

Originally a competitive dancer from Richmond Hill, Julia’s background combines both contemporary and classical work. She trained at the Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program in Vancouver, B.C., and has returned to create works for their senior students on multiple occasions. She has trained with noted choreographers in Canada, New York, and in Europe.

Julia formed the company in 2015, and put her first work on stage at the end of that same year at the Great Hall. Her Eve Of St George adapted the story of Dracula for an immersive dance theatre performance, and was remounted for soldout shows in 2018 and 2019. A Grimm Night 2023 is the company’s fifth show.

“I had always wanted to create my own work,” she says. “Growing up, I trained more in the concert world.” It led to a change of direction. “I found that sometimes, contemporary work doesn’t always translate to everyone. I wanted to try and create work that was more available to the masses, to the general public who may not go to see dance.”

She took her inspiration from the Punch Drunk Sleep No More project and other immersive work she’d been exposed to in New York. “When I first saw it, it completely boggled my mind,” she recalls. How was it all put together? she wondered.

“It would be so great to have it in Toronto. Why don’t I just create it?” she asked herself, then pauses. “Now, making it, I realize why people don’t do it,” she laughs.

Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)
Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)

A Grimm Night

As the audience gathers under the shimmering light of a chandelier in the ballroom, the performance begins when the dancers begin to filter in.

The story is based on the centuries old fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White and Rose Red, and it eventually expands over four floors of The Great Hall. The sets are detailed, and designed to draw you into the enchanted world. Dedicated performances bring it to life.

As an audience member, you will only experience that part of the story line which you decide to follow. As you’re going up the stairs to watch Rose Red, the Prince may just be running up behind you, looking for someone to fit the glass slipper. It allows for repeat viewings without duplicating what you’ll see.

The Great Hall is the perfect venue for the performance, in all its Gothic Victorian glory. Atmospheric lighting, costumes, and available cocktails add to the experience. “It’s a beautiful venue for what we do,” Julia notes.

The very first iteration of A Grimm Night was launched in 2020, only to be shut down by the pandemic. Even for 2022, several shows were cancelled due to COVID scares. “It’s always nice to have a chance to do it a second time, and do it longer.”

“The thing I love about remounting a show is that you get to go back and do what you wanted,” she says of returning to last year’s popular story. The cast and story are largely the same, including original music composed by Owen Belton. “I think this time, we’re creating more of an experience for the viewer.”

Given the timing, the 2022 production was also somewhat cautious. The introductions were abbreviated, with no one-on-one interaction. This time around, those restrictions are lifted. A new class of ticket allows up to 15 audience members to add a pre-show event, where they get to interact with the characters. After the show, there’s a VIP gala where you can mingle with the cast, and a dance party on the second Friday of the run.

Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)
Transcen|Dance Project’s A Grimm Night (Photo: SVPhotography)

Directing the spider’s web

How do you direct such a performance, exactly?

“It’s like a spiderweb,” Julia describes. “To put it simply, it’s like a big chart in front of me where the characters are at any time. It’s all based on timing. The smallest cues in the music — those are their cues to change,” she adds. It leaves little margin for errors in timing, or interventions if lines are missed. “Once it starts, it’s in their court. It’s all timed to the soundtrack, which plays through the whole building.”

Before the very first performance, she and her team went through The Great Hall from top to bottom to chart out and time the scenes with careful precision, allowing for time to move from floor to floor. The groundwork is painstaking, but once it’s done, it all falls into place. “Once you kind of figure it out, you know that formula works.”

Still, there’s the wild card of wandering audience members getting in the way. Even the size of the audience on a given night will affect the flow of the performance. “The thing that’s fun, and the things that’s a bit crazy with these shows, is that it changes night by night.”

The trick, she says, is hiring smart artists. “They thrive on that,” Julia says. “We try to rehearse it as to the T as possible, and then when the performance starts, you roll the dice.”

At any given time, there are five scenes happening in various locations all over the building. “You would probably have to see the show three or four times to see it all,” Julia says.

The audience tends to skew away from the usual theatre-going crowd. It’s not that Julia rejects the traditions of either theatre or dance. “I think that classic theatre will always be around. I’m a part of that world as well,” she says. It’s about broadening the audience base.

“We trick people into watching contemporary dance. They suddenly come away, having watched a full dance show.”

Tickets are on sale now [HERE].

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