The January/February 2012 issue of The Dance Current print magazine includes an item on Pamela Rasbach, artistic director of Typecast Dance Company.
"'Typecast is about a youth voice in dance. It's about providing opportunities for youth to work at decision-making levels.' says Rasbach, who co-founded the company in 2009 with fellow artists and arts administrators Nicole Cornish and Matt Sweet. 'Right from the very beginning, Nicole, Matt and I decided we would lead in our roles for four or five years and then give them [to] someone else.'" By Brittany Duggan, The Dance Current: Print, January/February 2012.
Coming up next week, DanceWorks' Co-Works series presents the latest choreography from Rasbach. January 26th through 28th, Typecast Dance performs Tomato Soup (its fourth full-length work) at the Winchester Street Theatre in Toronto. According to DanceWorks' website, Tomato Soup is inspired by pop culture, and,"is a fast-paced response to the chaos of our overwhelming consumer culture and the thrill of excess." Its quirky and energetic choreography is featured by dancers Hilary Crist, Brittany Castiglione, Daniel McArthur and Mateo Galindo Torres. Emerging choreographer and former Typecast dancer Missy Morris opens the show with her new choreography, which can be previewed here.
Recently posted to YouTube, this video from the Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble (from Maryland) highlights some Canadian step dance traditions from their performance Incredible Feets held in April 2010. The suite entitled Northern Neighbors opens with Marsha Searle performing a traditional strathspey and jig from Scotland (highland dance). The following segment is a strathspey and reel from Cape Breton danced by Agnes Kovacs, Megan Downes, Shannon Dunne and Emily Crews. The final section is a Gigue de L'Isle, using traditional steps from Prince Edward Island, performed by Agnes Kovacs, Megan Downes, Shannon Dunne, Emily Crews and Mark Schatz. Musicians include Jon Glik (fiddle), Mark Schatz (bass), Danny Knicely (guitar), Cleek Shrey (piano) and Mark Delaney (bass).
The works were all staged by Artistic Director Eileen Carson Schatz, along with guests Kristin Andreassen and Jean-Paul Cloutier. Andreassen was a principle dancer with Footworks for several years, bringing her experience of living in Cape Breton to the table. Cloutier danced with Les Danseurs de la Riviere Rouge (in St-Boniface, Manitoba), having collaborated with Schatz several times under the auspices of the Winnipeg Folk Festival. More recent Canadian tours have included the Vancouver Folk Festival in the summer of 2011, and may soon include the SummerFolk Festival in Ontario in an upcoming season.
This video, recently posted to YouTube, features b-boy Melad of Floetic Crew (formally known as Fresh T.O. Death) in Toronto. The crew is proud to showcase its individual style, preserving the "Toronto Underground Flava" and, "keeping the traditional bboy dance with a new mental, physical and spitritual vision", according to its Facebook page. Formed in 2007, the crew currently includes Astro (Timothy John Ramos), Eric, Melad, Dyce (Roy Deng), Brick (Michael Z Feng), Skull (Rick Xue), Red and Beebz (Robert Strickland).
January 17th through 19th in Toronto, Dancemakers presents George Stamos of Montréal as he performs Liklik Pik with Dany Desjardins. The work is inspired by the idea of the pig as a totem animal, and the intersections between human and animal. According to the artist's website, the choreography, "emphasizes the animal power of the human body, following imaginative impulses and convergent, queer tangents along the way."
Be sure to check out the October 2010 issue of The Dance Current print magazine for an item on George Stamos.
Coming up in Toronto, Peggy Baker Dance Projects presents the sound and feel of it, January 20th through 29th. The show features performers Peggy Baker, Ric Brown, Benjamin Kamino, Sean Ling, Sahara Morimoto and Andrea Nann in three original works by Baker.
The program includes a solo for Kamino accompanied by marimba virtuoso Beverley Johnston, as well as the double Dora award-winning solo Portal performed by Baker herself. The highlight of the evening is Piano/Quartet, a major new work set on Brown, Ling, Morimoto and Nann, performed to prepared piano music by John Cage (played by pianist Andrew Burashko). The work was further inspired by poems of Cage, which Baker discusses in this video interview with Martha Burns. Click read more to see a rehearsal video of Piano/Quartet with further insights from Baker.
Be sure to check out the Summer Annual 2008 issue of The Dance Current print magazine for an item on Peggy Baker.
This video highlights performance excerpts from the February 2011 world premiere of Atlantic Ballet's Ghosts of Violence at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. This acclaimed work, created by Artistic Director Igor Dobrovlskiy in collaboration with theatre-icon Sharon Pollock, is a multimedia ballet inspired by the lives of women who have died by domestic violence. Weaving dance with theatre, music and videography, Ghosts of Violence is both an emotional expression of the women's memories and struggles, as well as what the company calls an "innovative and poignant call for awareness, understanding and action."
Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada begins its winter season tomorrow with a performance of Ghosts of Violence in Halifax. Other upcoming performances of this work include shows in Fredericton (January 19), London (February 22), Toronto (February 25), Saint John (March 15) and Charlottetown (March 29).
Running January 18th through 21st in Montréal, Mandala Sitù Danse presents Bijoux at Agora de la Danse. Acting as artistic director, Marie-Gabrielle Ménard wrangles five male choreographers (Louis-Martin Charest, Pierre Lecours, Normand Marcy, Brice Noeser and David Rancourt) and five female performers (Geneviève Bolla, Milan Gervais, Émilie Gratton, Karina Iraola and Marie-Gabrielle Ménard) in a examination of femininity. According to the presenter's website, the work "courageously breaking the shell, delicately scratching the surface to reveal the treasures of the soul and the gems of the being." Striving for authenticity and humility in their expression of this intimately personal sense of identity, the outlet of movement is "at once brutal and sensual, at times poetic and tormented."
Coming up this Sunday in Toronto, Mazouka Dance is offering an intensive, fast-paced, two-hour workshop in Zouk. Designed for intermediate/advanced dancers of other styles, this crash course will teach basic steps and figures, including soltinho, turns and a look at more advanced movements, such as the cambre. Cramming the school's four-week Zouk I course into two hours, students will then be prepared to register for the Zouk II progressive class.
Another perk is joining the Zouk Me Tuesdays events where students can try out their new moves. This video highlights instructors Danielle Nash and Junyan Boon at the weekly Mazouka social. For those unfamiliar with the style, the school's website notes, "Brazilian Zouk or Zouk-Lambada is the fortunate marriage between Brazilian Lambada, and the beautiful music from Guadalupe and Martinique."
Diving into the new year, many are beginning new fitness regimes. Toronto's Miriam Schacter of danceFIT danceABILITIES Canada offers dance fitness workouts in various areas of the city, including public and private classes.
Of particular interest are her danceABILITIES classes, which address individuals with movement differences such as Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, joint replacement, arthritis, cancer and stroke. The movement is done in both seated and standing positions, and is accessible for those using walkers, canes or wheels for mobility and balance. Beyond fitness health benefits, the work aims to be expressive and enlivening, further addressing for mind-body integration and emotional well-being. According to Schacter's website, "For many, learning how to engage in a relationship with ones body in a collective space, no matter the age group, no matter the pathology or diagnosis facilitates the spoken and unspoken articulation of creative intention, passion and core value recognition." For more information on Schacter's background and class schedule (including danceFIT classes), please visit her website.
Coming to Maison de la culture Gatineau on January 22nd, Bouge de là presents its new show by Hélène Langevin, The Studio. Performers Audrey Bergeron, Nicolas Labelle, Jean-François Légaré and Jessica Serli explore and play in an artist's studio, getting their hands on props, tools, fabric, frames and accessories. The work is a treat for curious and whimsical imaginations, as paintings inspire embodied tableaux or are created by the moving bodies of the dancers. Indeed, the magic of the show introduces cameras to film and immediately process the motion, transform it by means of image capture software and project it back onstage as a dynamically created painting.
According to the company's website, the choreography and set design are inspired by artistic trends, themes and leading artists of the 20th century. With an interest in visual art, sculpture and painting, Langevin was "attracted to the work of Jean Dubuffet, Sonia Delaunay, Jackson Pollock and René Magritte, as well as Expressionism and Pop Art."
