Bridging the Gap with Allison Vicente. By Sylvia Burtenshaw

Vicente (2017), taken by Tyler Pengelly

Dancer Allison Vicente had an interesting introduction to dance; not classically trained during her childhood, Vicente describes a high school misunderstanding: “I started my first day of high school thinking I was registered, but when I went to pick up my timetable I wasn’t, so I quickly had to re-enroll in my courses and unfortunately — or fortunately — my original choice of Drama wasn’t available so I had to take Dance and that was the start of my passion for it!” Applying to SFU (on a whim!) came with some challenges which Vicente now feels she has overcome: “1st year was nerve-wracking. I was the only one not trained, and [my peers’] legs went so high up, they knew what a ‘pas de boureé’ is. In 3rd year, I am comfortable. Now I feel like I’m on the same page.”

When asked about her background, she explains that she was born and raised in Vancouver, her family coming from the Philippines. She tries to put into words that her cultural circumstances don’t directly inform her practise, however she finds she is driven to “want to be someone who breaks through, who represents her family.” Vicente’s drive to break through takes shape in her post-graduation plans (become a professional dancer, create works with choreographers, choreograph and create independently) organized around a single goal: “to bridge the gap of accessibility, to bridge the gap between the public and those who associate themselves with art.”

On giving advice, Vicente states: “Dance is anything and everything, pedestrian movement is dance, looking at the audience is dance.” It’s with a laugh that she acknowledges this is where “the gap” can expand, but she illustrates with a hand gesture over her face, recreating a moment of inspiration sparked by the pedestrian — “I was fixing my hair before a class and I was standing in a wide stance. As I was tying my hair I realized that the position itself looked really cool and thought, ‘what if I were to cover my eyes?’”

Vicente demonstrating hand motif choreography

For sources of inspiration outside of hair styling she had to shout out Anya Saugstad, Noam Gagnon, and Yossi and Oded from Israel, professionals she had the personal experience of working with. Given the time spent working alongside these mentors, her years at SFU and the high school dance class that started it all, she summarizes for me what she has found to be integral to work as an artist: “Inspiration, and to be open minded. You need to allow the world to constantly hold your interest.”