Odissi Mixes With Flamenco In Dancer Scheherazaad Cooper’s Unique Fusion Mix At Dances For A Small Stage 32

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Scheherazaad Cooper’s current collaboration with the flamenco artist Dayna Szyndrowski will be showcased at Dances for a Small Stage 32, which runs at the Anza Club, October 20-23, 2015 at 8pm.

By R. Paul Dhillon

VANCOUVER – Scheherazaad Cooper, an accomplished Canadian Odissi classical Indian dancer and actor with widespread performance experience, is bringing a unqiue fusion of Flamenco and the Indian classical dance form for a special performance at the Dances for a Small Stage 32.

A product of a mix marriage – her mother is Sindi Indian – Cooper has studied Odissi since the age of 3, combining it with her love for dance whether it be ballet or other forms.

“For me the performance is a reflection of the way we live in our multicultural society and in this piece which is a collaboration with a flamenco dancer, we’ve tried to use culturally specific rhythm which manifests itself in dance,” Cooper told the LINK in an interview.

While maintaining her classical dance practice, Cooper also participates in creative collaborations experimenting with and training in other performance modes. Her current collaboration with the flamenco artist Dayna Szyndrowski will be showcased at Dances for a Small Stage 32, which runs at the Anza Club, October 20-23, 2015 at 8pm.

Cooper is currently the Artistic Director of the Interregnum 5 Dance Collective whose latest work, BackStories, in collaboration with Beautiful Confusion Productions, has been housed in London, UK, Prague & Ostrava, Czech Republic, and Vancouver, Canada. She holds a PhD in Sociology and Performance from Goldsmiths, University of London and is a member of the Sociology of Theatre and Performance Research Group.

She  is currently lecturing in Dance Aesthetics at Simon Fraser University.

Keeping true to the “anything-goes” performance style Vancouverites adore, the 32nd instalment will see artists engage in genre-crossing collaborations, featuring such diverse disciplines as Odissi Indian dance, flamenco, Euro-styled contemporary, and so much more.

Audiences will see works from new Small Stage artists Heather Myers (formerly of Nederlands Dans Theater) and local contemporary dance artist-actor Agnes Tong, alongside Ballet BC dancers Kirsten Wicklund and Andrew Bartee.

Also performing original works are returning favourites Dayna Szyndrowski, Vanessa Goodman, Scheherazaad Cooper, Burgundy Brixx, Judith Garay, Karissa Barry, and Caroline Liffmann, with musical accompaniment by soundscape Composer Losil.