Attention dance fans… and all those who may enjoy watching a bunch of fit, young dancers fly around a stage for an hour and a half… (Don’t kid yourself, you know that’s you!)
Shaping Sound is coming to Toronto for one night only and it’s proving to be quite the hot ticket! For those of you not in the dance-flow know, the show was formed by a group of very talented young dancers who also happen to be childhood besties. Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Kyle Robinson and Teddy Forance are all successful choreographers and, between them, they already have quite a hefty resume – including appearances on So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars, and gigs touring and working with international stars including Usher and Lady Gaga. When it comes to dancing, these guys are the real deal, and they’re all still in their mid-twenties.
We had the chance to have a quick chat with Teddy while he was en route to the studio in LA (schmancy!), so we could fill you in a bit more about the company and what to expect from the show.
So the first cute thing of note: these guys have been legit been friends since they were embryos. Well, not quite that young, but Teddy met Kyle when they were just 10 years old… pause for an, aww. Nick and Travis were also kid buddies, and Teddy met the two of them when he was around 14. They toured together as young-uns and became solid, childhood friends.
Fast-forward a few years, and they’ve bagged themselves some awards, choreographed some divas (my words, not theirs), and solidified themselves as serious artists and businessmen. Enter Shaping Sound. The show was inspired by a quote from the classic Peter Pan film, Hook:
“You know that place between sleep and awake?
That place where you still remember dreaming?
That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.”
Whereas most dance shows are a series of disconnected pieces, Shaping Sound has a narrative. It is, in fact, a love story with the inclusion of some more surreal scenes and abstract pieces. One of Forance’s favourite scenes has the makings of an old-fashioned “speak-easy” with the set, the music and the moves all emulating an illicit and sexy, old-skool vibe.
So how do four red-blooded “brothers” work together on such an intense project? Forance credits some of it to the reality show that chronicled the forming of The Shaping Sound Company, called All the Right Moves. He insists that through the process of that show, they were all able to become very connected and maintain an open-mindedness, which was crucial to the creative process. They hammered out final creative decisions by holing themselves up for two weeks. They would discuss at length each day ideas and visions, rehearsal technique and characters. And apparently it worked. Shaping Sound sold out in Los Angeles and San Francisco and it looks like the same may happen in our own fair city of Toronto.
So dance your li’l butt down to the box office and snap up some tix. You know you’ll love it.
Shaping Sound goes down at 8pm on Saturday, June 15th at The Royal Alexandra Theatre. Get your tickets here.
