Why Does So Much New Dance Have So Little To Do With Dance?

It’s an interesting reflection on something – either an overwhelming trend in Toronto’s contemporary dance scene or dance-curator Amelia Ehrhardt’s taste – that the choreography (so far) has been so sparse on actual “dance.” I use the term a bit loosely; I don’t mean to imply that text and pedestrian movement can’t fall under dance’s domain. But it’s surprising to see that so many young choreographers are more interested in breaking down barriers between forms than they are in finding innovations that exploit the singularity of their own.