Movement meets multi-laser projections as Eric Cheung premieres Contra at Scotiabank Dance Centre, November 28 and 29
New production comes as a result of the street dancer’s Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award win earlier this year
Contra. Photo by Aidan Chin
The Dance Centre presents Eric Cheung’s Contra at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 28 and 29 at 8 pm
THIS SPRING, STREET DANCE artist Eric Cheung earned The Dance Centre’s biennial Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award. In the months since, he’s used the $5,000 prize money to fund his first full-length production, Contra—and the result pushes dance into truly innovative territory.
Cheung has paired choreography with multi-laser projections and a sound-resonant water installation to explore the opposing extremes of human identity (check out the trailer below for an idea of what that looks like). The piece will now have its world premiere at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 28 and 29. It stars Cheung, who specializes in popping, alongside ballet-contemporary dancer Kinui Oiwa and hip-hop dancer Tegvaran Sooch, a skilled krumper. The trio’s diverse movement backgrounds allow for lots of contrast as the piece unfolds.
“I’m quite interested in installations or experiences that can redefine what we think dance is supposed to be,” Cheung told Stir when we spoke to him for our annual Fall Arts Guide. He created Contra with the help of laser-projection programming expert Sean Gregor; creative technologist Cristian Gonzalez, who worked on the piece’s interactive systems; and Jack Chipman, who served as lighting designer and technical director. It’s all connected to a score by composer Matthew Tomkinson, who layers shifting noises with precise low frequencies.
Cheung’s fascination with redefining dance extends beyond Contra. Among his other recent stage works is the group piece Flux, which focuses on how people can adapt to ever-changing realities. His multidisciplinary endeavours range from the interactive audiovisual installation Everlasting, which explores the cyclical nature of life, to the movement installation ARRAY, which features laser tracking of dancers projected onto 96 panels.
Primarily self-taught, Cheung grew up in Calgary and moved to the West Coast after winning the now-defunct Vancouver Street Dance Festival in 2018. He has been training and performing here with OURO Collective ever since.
“Dance was the only thing in my life that I could attach myself to without rules,” Cheung said of his upbringing. Contra proves that even now, as an established artist, he’s only continuing to honour his brand of unrestrained innovation. 
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