ROCKING THE BOAT
CELEBRATING QUEER CONTENT IN CANADIAN CONCERT DANCE
ALVIN
ERASGA TOLENTINO
Born in Manila, Philippines, Alvin Erasga Tolentino was 12 years old when he moved to Canada with his family in the early 1980s. He is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Co. ERASGA, a Vancouver-based contemporary dance company founded in 2000. Committed to multimedia-driven collaborations with Canadian and international artists, Tolentino’s creations frequently address aspects of gender and sexuality but also ethnicity in a global world. Increasingly, his work along these lines has reflected his personal experience of life as a gay man and a Canadian with strong Filipino roots. An advocate for increased opportunities for diverse artists, Tolentino’s extensive community work and many partnerships has earned him a Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award in dance.
Photo Credit (above): Alvin Erasga Tolentino by Tarig Adam
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SWAN DIVA
Swan Diva was inspired by the legendary dancer Anna Pavlova in her role in Michel Fokine’s The Dying Swan. But Alvin Tolentino takes the motif in an entirely different direction using musical selections from Spain and Mexico that emphasize the celebration of self. This work was his first attempt at portraying himself in dance as a gay man of colour. Tolentino describes the result as “a movement conversation that defines and defies identity as imposed by race, gender and sexuality.” For the last section of the dance, he dons a pair of large metallic wings symbolic of his journey towards self-acceptance as he assumes the role of the “living swan”.
Swan Diva (1998)
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- Choreographer and Performer: Alvin Erasga Tolentino
- Music: Anna Gabriel, Marchita El Alma, Lhasa Peces, Rafael Hernanadez “Silencio”: Ibrahim Ferrer & Omara Portuondo
- Costume Design: Alvin Erasga Tolentino
- Sculptor: Claire Murgatroyd
- Installation Video: Eileen Kage
- Lighting: Shane Drouker
EXpose
EXpose resulted from the coming together of two choreographers from different cultures with a shared desire to explore what it means to be gay today. Filipino-Canadian Alvin Tolentino and Uruguayan Martin Inthamoussú use dance, film and the spoken word to ruminate on the struggle, coming out and acceptance of oneself. At times humorous, a video segment shows Inthamoussú playing himself as a young man interacting with his mother as performed by Tolentino. The hour-long work culminates in positive resolve as the two performers methodically clothe themselves in business suits, finishing off the look with a pair of high heels.
EXpose (2011)
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- Produced by: Co. ERASGA
- Choreography & Performance: Alvin Erasga Tolentino and Martin Inthamoussú
- Original score: Marc Stewart
- Lighting Design: Phil Birkby
- Costuming: Alvin Erasga Tolentino
- Video Production: Eric Miguel
- Rehearsal Director: Susan Elliott
Martin Inthamoussú is a performer, director and choreographer from Uruguay. The Theatre Studies graduate from the University of Manchester, U.K. has garnered many awards as a choreographer and his work has been shown in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Spain, Holland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Canada and England. A founding member of the artists’ collective COMPLOT, Contemporary Performing Arts Company, he is also a frequent instructor at universities and private institutions across the globe. Inthamoussú has published articles in several Latin America and Caribbean publications and his first book, "Autopsia, reflections on the body" was published in Uruguay in 2011.
