"Timeless" - An Interview with Dark Dance Company Director Lineen Doung
Dark Dance Company, a Toronto-based dance company, is holding their annual production this week. Here is an interview with the director, Lineen Doung, to give you the deets on the production and what the company is all about!
1. Hi Lineen! Tell us a little bit about your dance background. How did you get into dance?
I started dancing when I was 19 years old in highschool where they first started to offer dance as an extra elective. From there it was a hobby and then in my first year of University at McMaster, I joined a dance company called UDC. This is where I choreographed my first official routine, became the artistic director, and did many competitions where we placed top 3; OUCH, Humber Hype, Terpsichore, Bust A Move, and much more. In my third year at McMaster – I joined a company called VIBE and was immediately placed into the PROFESSIONAL team where we did many performances and competitions together. We did many festivals, Rogers Cup performances etc. In that same year, I started going to drop in classes with Lenny Len, Danny Davalos, Mark Samuels and Kojo Tuch Mayne. After a couple of months, I started going to Luther Browns’ class and instantly fell in love with the class and had him become a mentor of mine – he is still currently one of my mentors. After a couple of years of training and performing, I decided to start my own dance company with a group of friends that was going to be for performances in partnership with Rosh Amendra (Gold Medal Olympics) of ABS Break Crew, he was doing performances and contracted me to help him with entertainment and dancers. From there we did many corporate events, weddings and live shows as a combination of acrobatics and hip-hop. That is when DARK was formed and was called Dance and Rhythm Konnexxionz, it continued to keep its name for the next 7 years and has been growing as an official business since 2013. Within the years of growing DARK I began teaching up North and providing the dancers there with hip hop education and exposure to the industry in hopes to bridge the gap there. I have done many showcases, workshops and performances in Orillia, Barrie, Wasaga, Midland, Aurora, Newmarket and much more. I have been a featured dancer in many music videos such as Shawn Mendes, Lights, The General, Kreesha Turner, Trish and much more. I have worked with reputable choreographers such as Luther Brown, Tre Armstrong, Leon Blackwood, Shavar Blackwood, Shameka Blake, Addy Chan, and much more. Dance has become part of my life and it is the reason I live today, the reason I push and the reason I stay motivated to continue.
2. Why did you start Dark Dance Company?
I started DARK Dance because I felt that the industry at the time needed a company to help dancers grow and become professionals. The initial spark was from the partnership with ABS Break Crew, but has now grown to become so much more. It started out as a professional company, and is now a training base for many dancers across Ontario!
3. What’s the meaning behind the name ‘Dark Dance’?
The meaning behind DARK (Dance and Rhythm Konnexxionz) is to help dancers hear the rhythm they are dancing to. To provide them the right exposure with the right teachers for different styles of dance. DARK is an outlet for dancers to come out and dance without being judged, without being left in the back, this company is a family of dancers that thrive to be better for each other and themselves.
4. With so many dance training programs and companies out there, what is the purpose of Dark Dance Company? What makes Dark unique?
The biggest part of DARK that has made it unique is its constant family environment. An environment that was created to help push and continue to help dancers grow with the support of not only staff and faculty but from the students and members of the company as well. We are told we are a one of a kind by every teacher that passes through our company and we are constantly getting positive feedback from guest teachers. As the director, I am always troubleshooting ways to make it better and constantly trying to bring in consistence with some fresh change. We also teach more than dance, we try to teach more than just what happens in the classroom or the rehearsal space, we try to mentally prepare and mature the minds of all our members.
5. As you were saying, at Dark, you really try to teach your students not only about dance, but also the value of support systems and balance as a dancer. Why are these messages important for you to get across?
These messages are very important to me because as dancers, we don’t get much support from our friends and family other than a “good job” or a “that’s so cool”. We need more than that from each other and especially the sense of belonging in a group with common likes. Dance brings us together and the support that we need to motivate ourselves is very high. The importance of the support systems is to create a family orientation to allow everyone in the company to know that we will be there for them no matter what, we will do what we can in our power to help in any way we can - something that I never had and want to provide to the dancers and members of this company. It’s something that we all want but it’s also something that we don’t know how to give or understand how important it is. This helps growth be much more productive because everything becomes easier to absorb mentally. We also like to apply this to everyone’s daily lives. Everything we teach and preach we try to make the members understand that it’s everywhere, not just in the dance part of their lives.
6. Describe what a normal day at Dark looks like!
A day in DARK is typically 1 hour of stretch/condition/meditate, 1 to 1.5 hours of guest teacher, and then a 1.5 to 2-hour intensive with the program supervisor; Lineen Doung (me) or Allison Bradley. Our programs are three hours with Hollywood Jade or Derick Robinson.
7. We’re very excited about Dark’s upcoming show “Timeless”! Tell us about the concept and narrative behind this production.
The Director of the company derived the concept – Lineen Doung (me)! Miggy Esteban, our script writer and story developer, has created a story that will leave you feeling shivers. It is about a society of immortals that were deemed the privilege of not fearing time. It was meaningless to them as they would only fear death through violence and starvation. However, they were met with a problem of overpopulation – they came up with a plan to control that. Come out to the show to find out how!
8. “Timeless” has such a powerful message. What can audiences expect from this dystopian dance production?
The audience can expect everything they would see and love on television; drama, love story, plots and plot twists, surprises and on the side some dancing just like they would see in musicals! On top of that, an uncomfortable feeling every time they want to check out the time.
9. And finally, what is the one thing you hope all dancers who come to Dark will take away from the program?
The one thing I would like all dancers and members of DARK to take away from the program is the compilation of lessons we try to teach; self-motivation, a support system, knowing they have a family here, applied critical thinking, mentors that will help them in anything they need (not just dance related) and all the tools necessary to take on anything they need to.
Keep up DARK on their website, Facebook, and Instagram.
And don't forget to catch their production "Timeless", coming to Daniels Spectrum Theatre in Toronto August 24 and 25! (You may even catch some PG Mag members in the show!)
