I Remember…

Firehall Arts Centre to January 18, 2025
Tickets from $25 at 604-689-0926 or www.firehallartscentre.ca

Posted January 16, 2025

I don’t know a lot about dance but I’m beginning to know a lot about aging – a lot of it not much fun. So I was curious about I Remember…, a solo show by dancer/choreographer Joe Laughlin who, at 64, says in the program notes, “I’ve been dancing for over 40 years and I still love to dance even though my physical ability is on the decline and I am working with an ever diminishing capacity.”

While I Remember… doesn’t fire on all cylinders, there are moments of such beauty and, yes, profundity, that I was deeply moved. James Proudfoot’s lighting is exquisite: from the side, from above, shadowy at times, brightly lit on Laughlin on occasion.

In 1995 Laughlin founded JOE INK, a dance company with a reputation for versatility – possibly because Laughlin had been a gymnast. His dancing and his choreography are muscular, visceral, raw and, above all, passionate.

And that might be the major strength of I Remember…: passion. His overwhelming joy in the body, in music, in movement, is infectious. And in a time of unrest and anxiety, to see someone so completely in love with dance or life – or anything – is a gift.

He celebrates and pays homage to a couple of mentors – Earl Kraul and Lola MacLaughlin – who encouraged him when he himself came late to dance in his 20s. At this point in the show,  I Remember… really starts to take off.

His back to us and in silhouette, Laughlin views a large black and white video of Kraul as a young dancer: it’s stunning. Beginning with a wide angle, the camera moves in on Kraul’s face with increasing graininess until all we see is a full screen of the dancer’s eyes. With music by Mozart and that almost excruciatingly beautiful body, I was completely hooked. Similarly, Laughlin views a full, b/w screen of Lola MacLaughlin, a dancer/choreographer who, in collaboration with Jennifer Mascall  and Ahmed Hassan, went on to co-found  Vancouver’s much-celebrated EDAM Dance in 1982.

I Remember… then features a 15-minute colour video of Laughlin working with Moving Into Dance, a South African dance company based in Johannesburg. The only Caucasian involved in this collaboration, Laughlin stood back and took stock of the dancer’s own dance traditions before working on what became an exciting fusion of style. Interesting as it was – and exhilarating as the dancing was – fifteen minutes was about all the video could sustain before Laughlin moved into what could be called a “River of Life” meditation and then, for my money, the show stopper: Laughlin, once again in silhouette, quietly and with limited movement, watching his own younger self in a black and white video. Body beautiful. Strong. Confident. Profound. How often do we get to see ourselves once again as young and beautiful and, given the opportunity, how many of us would have the courage to stand in front of that film footage and share the moment with an audience? The best part, of course, is that Laughlin is not experiencing self-pity but awe and amazement and gratitude for what is past and what is still possible: he’s still dancing, revelling in his body, in movement, in the music, in dance.

That joy, he suggests, is still available to each of us. Not necessarily as dancers – but sometimes just by being alive. For me, it’s a bright full moon. A one-of-a-kind sunset. The fragrance of winter-flowering shrubs or watching a toddler in a tutu dancing to the Nutcracker Suite.

Or maybe doing a little dance in the kitchen while the kettle boils. Our cup runneth over.