The Bulkley Valley Concert Association is pleased to present the fifth concert in their season, Karoshi, a dance performance by Shay Kuebler.
Kuebler is a director, choreographer and performer. His professional experience is interdisciplinary crossing the lines of tap, hip-hop and contemporary with a foundation in martial arts. He has been an independent dance artist in Vancouver and Montreal for the past eight years and his works show the search for how physical performance can be finely tuned yet demonstrate a raw quality.
Merging dance, multimedia and live Taiko drumming, karoshi translated from Japanese literally means “death from overwork.” The major medical causes of karoshi deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress. It also refers to suicides caused by over-worked induced depression. It is a yearly statistic and is completely unique to Japan.
The male dancers in this performance propel each other to feats thought impossible of the human body.
Karoshi places men in the emotional and physical situations of a society where format and protocol overweigh personal fulfillment and exploration.
Kuebler brings a unique vocabulary of contemporary and hip-hop dance combined with martial arts to turn out a high kicking, karate chopping, back flipping, sensational performance that you will not want to miss.
Exploring the idea of extreme working conditions, Kuebler takes anger management to the next level in this explosive and darkly funny program set to the tone of suffocating pressures of Japanese business in the early ‘90s.
The piece aims to physically and visually express some extreme cases of conflict caused by the juxtaposition of cultural and societal form —personal want and societal need. A number of the physical structures, in partnership with the visual imagery, create the sense of density and concentration surrounding the performers.
“In working on Karoshi, I was fascinated by the extremely honourable values like dedication, discipline and respect that I learned as a child,” said Kuebler. “When pushed, these same values could actually damage a person.”
Part b-boy, ballet and contemporary dancer and martial artist, Kuebler’s Renaissance style is hard to pigeonhole. One could define him as one of the most dynamically physical dancers on the Vancouver scene. He pushes his physical capabilities by training intensively on a daily basis.
A workshop facilitated by Kuebler is being organized in partnership with Creative Roots Dance Studio on April 18 and is open to the public and to all levels of dancers, youth and adult. The workshop takes place from 5:30 to 7 p.m., participation is by donation. Kuebler will draw from hip hop and contemporary dance forms to get people moving, exploring rhythm. He will reveal how aspects of how his research into martial arts and Taiko drumming influenced his show Karoshi. Wear comfortable clothing and come prepared to move. To register, please e-mail: bvconcertassociation@gmail.com.
Karoshi will be performed at the Della Herman Theatre on April 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Mountain Eagle Books. Please visit the Bulkey Valley Concert Association’s Facebook page to see a video of Kuebler.