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Photo by David Cooper

Martial Arts+Comics, For Shay Kuebler’s New Work

Radical System Art’s Artistic Director, Shay Kuebler, explores the glorification of violence in media culture for his new work, Glory. The piece includes a versatile performance language of martial arts, street dance, and contemporary choreography, while integrating film clips, gaming battles, and even lighting tricks. We spoke to Shay about the inspiration for the work.…

Brian Solomon’s Re-Mix

As part of the upcoming Indigenous Dance Double Bill, our CoWorks series will present Brian Solomon’s the NDN way. Here, we ask Brian about story telling and re-imagining in his new work. DANCEWORKS: the NDN way is inspired by an original recording of Cree storyteller Ron Evans. Can you tell us more about this…

Dancer Lexi Vajda Reflects On Role in ‘Glory’

Lexi Vajda, dancer with Radical System Art, is originally from North Vancouver and started dancing at a local studio, moving on to Modus Operandi. Here, Lexi tells us about being inspired by “hyper-bombastic” choreography and her role in the upcoming show, Glory. DANCEWORKS: Can you tell us about yourself? Where did you spend your early…

That’s A Wrap

This season we presented commissions and co-productions from artists whose work emerges from diverse points of view – Toronto based companies tiger princess dance projects, Throwdown Collective, and inDANCE, and from Vancouver Wen Wei Dance and Shay Kuebler Radical System Art. Up next we announce our 2017/18 season featuring DanceWorks 40th Anniversary show and launch…

Interview with Margaret Grenier and Karen Jamieson

DanceWorks upcoming CoWorks, light breaking broken, is the personal journey of two artists reconnecting with language, culture, and identity. With different cultural perspectives and individual histories, Margaret Grenier and Karen Jamieson use their distinct dance styles to push each other’s boundaries. Here, we interview Margaret and Karen and learn more about their creation process. DANCEWORKS:…

Interview with inDANCE’s Hari Krishnan

Hari Krishnan, Artistic Director of inDANCE, talks South Asian dance, cultural appropriation, collaboration, and Big Macs in this candid interview*. DANCEWORKS: The title of the show is Holy Cow(s)! Can you tell us more about this compelling title? HARI: In an oblique way, I’m a Holy Cow myself. I am a brown, gay Singaporean by…

inDANCE’s World Premiere

We are looking ahead to March with inDANCE’s world premiere of Holy Cow(s)!, choreographed by Artistic Director Hari Krishnan. Holy Cow(s)! runs March 23 through March 25 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. A highly personal work from Hari Krishnan, Holy Cow(s)! is a subversive and physically complex full-length dance production, toppling South Asian-dance related taboos…

Lina Cruz Talks About World Premiere

Montreal choreographer and Fila 13 Productions founder, Lina Cruz, brings her work to Toronto in a collaboration with Throwdown Collective. The piece, Ylem (3 Eggs Ago), opens February 9 -11, 2017 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Here, we ask Lina about her creative process. DANCEWORKS: Can you tell us about how and when you began…

Mairéad Filgate on Early Infuencers and Acrobatics

Mairéad Filgate, choreographer and dancer with Throwdown Collective, tells us about her teen dancing days, a stint as a Moldovan acrobatic, and the upcoming Throwdown Collective show. DANCEWORKS: Can you talk about your early professional dancing days? Who were some of the choreographers you first worked with? What kind of work were you doing? MAIRÉAD:…

Brodie Stevenson Looking Back & Moving Forward

Brodie Stevenson, dancer and member of Throwdown Collective, found his way from the central coast of BC to Toronto via an interest in contact improvisation. Here, he tells us about his childhood, current challenges of being a dancer, and a Dora victory. DANCEWORKS: Can you tell us about your home town of Wuikinuxv? How did…

Zhenya Cerneacov, From The Ballroom To The Contemporary Stage

Zhenya Cerneacov, tells us about his journey from ballroom dancing in Chisinau to co-founder of The School of Cadence Ballet and Throwdown Collective, in Toronto. DANCEWORKS: Can you tell us about your home in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. How did you spend your early dancing days? ZHENYA: I was born in the Republic of Moldova…

Looking Back at Yvonne Ng’s Show

DanceWorks presented Yvonne Ng/tiger princess dance projects’ In Search of the Holy Chop Suey and Zhong Xin this past weekend. The work asked, “In what location, time, or space, does identity reside?” through a solo danced by Yvonne Ng, and a trio with dancers Mairéad Filgate, Irvin Chow, and Luke Garwood. Here are some powerful…

Yvonne Ng Choreographs Two World Premieres

DanceWorks presents Yvonne Ng/tiger princess dance projects’s In Search of the Holy Chop Suey and Zhong Xin on November 24 -26 at 8pm. We spoke with choreographer Yvonne Ng about the upcoming world premieres and her creative process, which included working with the dancers in isolation from each other for the past year. DANCEWORKS: In…

#DesignforDance

Did you hear about our new public engagement project? Designing for Dance (#DesignforDance #danceTO) is a collaborative project between TOES FOR DANCE and DanceWorks, funded by the Metcalf Foundation. Designing for Dance explores how Design Thinking approaches can activate new possibilities for public engagement with Toronto’s professional dance community. The project will focus on ways…

LONE WOLF, Joshua Beamish

DanceWorks CoWorks Series opens in November with Joshua Beamish/ MOVETHECOMPANY’s LONE WOLF LONE WOLF is an evening of solos, each exploring facets of Joshua’s persona, both public and private. We sat down with Joshua to learn more about the work and his process, and soon discovered that there was a time, when he almost stopped performing.…

Musician Xia Qiu He on ‘Made in China’

Qiu Xia He, musician and collaborator on the work, Made in ChinaMade in China, tells DanceWorks about her early musical influences and experience working with artists from different genres. DANCEWORKS: Can you talk about how you began your music career? QIU XIA HE: When I grew up in China, during the end of Chinese Cultural…

Wen Wei Wang Interview

DanceWorks kicks off the season with Wen Wei Dance’s Made in China – an interdisciplinary performance uniting the talents of four creators whose art practices have been influenced by China’s Cultural Revolution. Three of the artists, Wen Wei Wang (Artistic Director, Wen Wei Dance); Yanjinzi Gao (Artistic Director, Beijing Modern Dance Company); and Qiu Xia…

Schools, Students, and Shows

We are about to kick off our season with Wen Wei Dance, but just before the dancers take the stage, we wanted to share some details about our Student Matinees. Did you know that DanceWorks presents Student Matinees to schools in the greater-Toronto area from October 2016 to April 2017? Check it out. DanceWorks’ Matinees…

Mainstage Season Announced

DanceWorks’ new season has been announced. Curator, Mimi Beck, shares: “The 2016-17 Mainstage Series is ablaze with artistic collaborations! Commissions and co-productions are a vital part of the season, with dances created by professional dance artists whose work emerges from diverse points of view. The Mainstage offers five programs of contemporary dance, curated to communicate…

That’s A Wrap!

We wrapped our 2015/16 season! Here is a collection of photographs featuring Tribal Crackling Wind, Daniel Léveillé Danse, Julia Sasso dances, Hoskins/Baskerville, 605 Collective, TOES for dance, Tom Brouillette, Blue Ceiling dance/Lucy Rupert, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, and Native Earth Performing Arts. Photo credits Jeremy Mimnagh, Denis Farley, Nicolle, Rivelli, Maxime Bocken, Javier Castellanos, David…

Company 605 On Stage

As Company 605 makes their way across Canada, Vital Few performance photographs have offered a peek at what Toronto audiences can expect on May 7. The work features six dancers who share in the creative process and push the company to further explore the essence of unison and togetherness, negotiation of group dynamics, and preservation…

Josh Martin On Dual Roles

Josh Martin, co-artistic director of Company 605, tells us about his work as both choreographer and dancer, and the influence of urban dance. DanceWorks: Vital Few includes a cast of six dancers, including you. Can you talk about the challenges you have experienced as co-choreographer and performer in the piece? Josh Martin: It is…

Lisa Gelley Martin on Working In New Ways

Company 605 co-artistic director, Lisa Gelley Martin, talks name change from collective to company, the concept of connectedness, and how the title of the new work, Vital Few, relates to the Pareto Principle. DanceWorks: Company 605 recently had a name change. Can you explain why? Lisa Gelley Martin: We were ‘605 Collective’ because we originally…

Luu hlotitxw: Spirit Transforming

Our upcoming CoWorks presentation is a Native Earth Performing Arts double bill of Luu hlotitxw: Spirit Transforming and NGS (NATIVE GIRL SYNDROME). Luu hlotitxw: Spirit Transforming was choreographed by Margaret Grenier in collaboration with Nigel Grenier and the Dancers of Damelahamid. Margaret Grenier is of Gitxsan and Cree ancestry. She is the Executive and Artistic Director for…

DA Hoskins Gets Personal

DA Hoskins, independent choreographer and Artistic Director of The Dietrich Group, gets personal and tells us about his reason for creating Jackie Burroughs is Dead & what are you going to do about it?, the circumstances that brought a “potent focus to the creative work”, and a battle between the emotional and the physical. DanceWorks:…

Producer & Performer, Danielle Baskerville

Danielle Baskerville tells us about her first meeting with frequent collaborator DA Hoskins, her new role as Artistic Producer, and how Jackie Burrroughs is Dead and what are you going to do about it? is ultimately, not really about loss. DanceWorks: How and when did you first meet DA Hoskins? Danielle: I was fifteen, a…

#JackieBurroughsIsDead

We stepped in to the studio with dancers Danielle Baskerville, Luke Garwood, Robert Kingsbury, and choreographer DA Hoskins. The artists are spending their final week in rehearsals. The show, Jackie Burroughs Is Dead and what are you going to do about it? opens on April 7 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. The world premiere focuses…

Irvin Chow On Filling Dance Shoes

Dancer, Irvin Chow, shares the details of his dance rebellion (and epiphany) and first gig with choreographer Julia Sasso. DanceWorks: How did you become interested in dance? Was being a dancer a childhood ambition? Irvin: I became interested in dance later in my life, at 18 years old. I felt like I needed to do…

Jesse Dell Talks About Honour And Excitement

Dancer, Jesse Dell, shares her enthusiasm for her upcoming role in Sporting Life. Check it out. DanceWorks: How and when did you become involved in dance? Jesse: I think I have been a dancer my whole life. I’m told that by the age of three, when I would not stop dancing around the house, my…

Julia Aplin Takes On New Role

Sporting Life original cast member, Julia Aplin, takes on the role of Rehearsal Director for the remount of the piece. We asked Julia to tell us about her early dance days touring with Dancemakers (and partying with TDT, Desrosiers, and Danny Grossman), meeting Julia Sasso for the first time (she was afraid), and bearing witness to…

Julia Sasso Revisits and Remounts Work

Just ahead of the opening of Sporting Life, we asked Julia Sasso to talk about her experience remounting the piece twenty years later with a new generation of dancers. From her early creation days at Dancemakers’ Choreographic Lab, to the surprising personal rewards of watching the work characterized as ‘Three Stooges meet(s) Quentin Tarantino’, here…

Lucy Rupert Navigates New Work

CoWorks artist and choreographer, Lucy Rupert, kicks off the new year with dead reckoning. We asked Lucy to tell us more about the work – from Charles Lindbergh to navigation systems, famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and artist Peter Quanz, here, she shares details about her inspiration and creative process. DanceWorks: Can you explain the…

Rupert’s Reckoning

We are looking ahead to the new year and our upcoming CoWorks shows. First up is Lucy Rupert/Blue Ceiling dance‘s dead reckoning opening on January 13 at the Theatre Centre. Choreographed by Lucy Rupert and Peter Quanz, the work is an investigation of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s account of a disembodied presence who guided him through…

Tom Brouillette’s Ever Onward Hits the Stage

Our upcoming CoWorks show Ever Onward, choreographed by Tom Brouillette (with guest choreographer Danny Grossman), opens this week at the Betty Oliphant Theatre. Tom Brouillette began dancing at the age of thirty and trained intensively with Til Thiele. Over the last four decades Tom has performed with many of Toronto’s leading choreographers, including Peggy Baker,…

CoWorks! TOES for dance performs “entrances and exits”

Our CoWorks’ season kicks off this month with TOES FOR DANCE entrances and exits. Called a “smorgasbord” of contemporary performance, entrances and exits aims to make dance accessible to new audiences by striking a balance between innovation and entertainment. Audiences can expect to witness a variety of movement styles and physical theatre including performance art,…

Curator, Mimi Beck, on Léveillé’s ‘Painterly Strokes’ of Choreography

DanceWorks’ 2015-2016 Mainstage performances explore diverse themes – from allegiances to the state of solitude, social power and transformation, the works highlight personal interactions. Here, DanceWorks’ Curator, Mimi Beck, shares her thoughts about our upcoming show, Solitudes Solo, performed by Daniel Léveillé Danse. In Solitudes Solo, choreographer Daniel Léveillé works with excellent dancers to create…

Dancer Justin Gionet on the Challenges (and Triumphs) of Solitudes Solo

In Solitudes Solo, choreographer Daniel Léveillé features five performers who explore what it means to be alone. DanceWorks had the opportunity to speak with company dancer Justin Gionet about the challenges and triumphs of performing in Solitudes Solo, and the path that took him from Toronto to Montreal. DanceWorks: Can you tell us about your…

Dancer Simon Renaud Talks About Tap Dancing & Astrology

Dancer Simon Renaud performs Solitudes Solo with Daniel Léveillé Danse on Oct 23-24, 2015 at the Harboufront Centre Theatre. We chatted with Simon while on a cross-Canada tour with the company. From tap dancing to astrology, Simon shares details about his early dance days in Ottawa and eventual audition with Daniel Léveillé Danse. DanceWorks: How did…

Solitudes Solo and Léveillé’s New Creative Cycle

Solitudes Solo marks the beginning of a new cycle for Daniel Léveillé – the dancers are no longer nude and their vulnerability is emphasized through choreographic phrases as they stand alone in the spotlight. Performance Critic and Journalist, Fabienne Cabado, suggests that Solitudes Solo “presents us with Daniel Léveillé at the height of his powers and a…

Toronto premiere of Daniel Léveillé Danse’s Solitudes Solo

TORONTO (October 5, 2015) – DanceWorks, Toronto’s longest running contemporary dance series, proudly presents the critically acclaimed Daniel Léveillé Danse in the Toronto premiere of Solitudes Solo, choreographed by the award-winning Daniel Léveillé, for two days only, Friday October 23 and Saturday October 24 as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps at Harbourfront Centre Theatre (formerly…

Kassi Scott On Dancing With An International Cast

Dancer, Kassi Scott, is a graduate of Ballet Divertimento and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, was mentored by Claudia Moore, and assistant to BJM’s Eric J. Miles, David Pressault (David Pressault Danse), Allen Kaeja (Kaeja d’Dance) and Peter Chin (Tribal Crackling Wind). She has danced for Susie Burpee, Shannon Litzenberger, Jasmyn Fyffe, Kaeja d’Dance, Aria Evans, Lua…

Dancer Kathia Wittenborn Talks About Working With Peter Chin

Dancer, Kathia Wittenborn, is a Toronto-based independent artist currently working with Tribal Crackling Wind and artistic director, Peter Chin. Originally from Montreal, she graduated from Ballet Divertimento and then moved to Toronto to pursue further professional training at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Upon graduating in 2013, she has worked with Robert Abubo, Amanda Acorn,…

Peter Chin Commissions Writings from Textile Scholars

Inspired by the intertwined threads of woven art, Peter Chin’s creative process involved an investigation of cultural details from traditional and indigenous textile cultures in South East Asia and Mexico. Peter also commissioned writing from four eminent textile scholars – Hector Meneses from Oaxaca Mexico, Linda Susan McIntosh based in Luang Prabang Laos, Michael C.…

Curator, Mimi Beck, Shares Her Thoughts About Woven

DanceWorks’ Curator, Mimi Beck, programmed the 2015-16 Mainstage series to highlight the fabric of personal interactions, from the upbeat to the tragic. Here, she shares her thoughts about the world premiere of Tribal Crackling Wind’s Woven. Woven is a major new work created by choreographer Peter Chin, for his company Tribal Crackling Wind. The themes…

Tribal Crackling Wind’s Woven Opens the Season

We kick off the 2015/16 season in one week and are thrilled to open with the world premiere of Tribal Crackling Wind’s Woven on September 24-26 at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Inspired by the intertwined threads of woven art in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico and Canada, Peter Chin and an international cast of dancers reflect the…