Amplified, a mixed-bill drive-in performance by Calgary’s Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, which took place downtown January 14-23, was an effective rebuke to almost two years of COVID-related cancellations — and underscored DJD’s singular vision and nimble leadership. 

Unable to perform in their own 230-seat theatre, the company seized on a pedestrian space called the Breezeway inside the DJD Dance Centre to perform their second drive-in show. The parking lot where the audience sat in cars is across the street from their building, with the Breezeway visible through a wall of windows.

As inspiration for their pieces, each choreographer chose a colour, which was projected onto the dancers who were dressed in white, thereby blanketing the entire space — a clever use of synesthesia to heighten the experience. The music was broadcast over the radio and Kimberley Cooper, DJD’s charismatic artistic director, introduced each choreographer, who said a few words about their piece — a bit like a drive-in podcast. 

The evening was directed by Sabrina Comanescu, a company dancer who also created the confident opening and closing pieces. After almost two years of isolation, the slightly voyeuristic thrill of watching fabulous dancers groove to sublime music from the distant comfort of your car felt somehow apt. I especially enjoyed Smooth by Scott Augustine, which turned up the heat and in which Natasha Korney was a standout; the soulful swagger of Kaja Irwin’s Bass Expectations, set to Miles Davis’s Great Expectations; and Korney’s El Chale!, set to the late-50s hard bop classic Moanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers — a witty and swinging chaser to Miles’s ambient early-70s vibe.

A small tree obscured my sightlines a bit, but no matter. I was struck by the feeling of communion despite sitting alone in my car on a cold January night — and reminded of the artist’s ability to find creative solutions to even the most unyielding problems. The audience was invited into this re-invention as we improvised clapping by honking car horns and flashing headlights. 

https://danceinternational.org/calgary-jazz-in-the-breezeway-and-alberta-ballets-bowie-extravaganza/