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CHOREOGRAPHER'S BIOGRAPHIES |
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Laban/Bartenieff Links to Modern Dance Technique
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 Laban/Bartenieff Links to Modern Dance Technique Modern dancers and teachers of modern dance can benefit from applying the concepts and movement practices of movement pioneer, Rudolph Von Laban, and his protégé and colleague, Irmgard Bartenieff. Laban's global approach to the study and experience of human movement has been applied to a myriad of physical activities including dance, theatre, athletics, physical therapy, etc. Bartenieff's contribution as a physiotherapist and body mechanics specialist has helped many dancers to realize their physical potential. This workshop will be of particular interest to modern dancers and modern dance instructors.
However, dancers and teachers of all dance forms may be interested in attending in order to gain and share ideas about applying Laban/Bartenieff principles of movement to their own techniques. By learning specific exercises and through personal movement exploration, participants will experience Laban's principles of the inner/outer relationship, body connectivity, breath support, mobility/stability, weight sensing, spatial relationships, and effort/shape, etc. These explorations will be directly linked to the efficient and expressive execution of the vocabulary of modern dance techniques, including level change, shift of weight, articulation of the spine and torso, fall-and-release, use of dynamics, etc.
Lisa Sandlos, M.A., C.M.A., E.M.A., teaches at York University in the Department of Dance and the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. Sandlos has taught modern dance and creative movement to all ages and levels, and worked as a senior instructor of Pilates and Bartenieff Fundamentals at Second Wind and Riverdale Fitness Mill. She holds an M.A. in Dance from York University and certificates in Laban Movement Analysis from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies and University of Quebec in Montreal.
Photo: © David Hou |
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Beginner and Intermediate workshops in Graham technique
Rosemary James |
 Rosemary James was born in New York State and raised in Toronto. Following a successful career as a performer with Toronto Dance Theatre, she assumed the position of Rehearsal Director in 1992. She is a senior faculty member of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, and has also taught modern dance courses at York University. Ms. James has taught and choreographed extensively for community-based arts education programs. She was the movement teacher and choreographer for the musicals Spoke, This City of Angels, and Swimming for Shore. In addition to being a sought-after teacher, she holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts in dance from York University, and is currently the Choreography Consultant for the award-winning synchronized skating team Gold Ice.
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Master Class
Christopher House |
Master class for intermediate and senior professional creative practitioners with a movement background.The class will be based on Christopher's experiences at Findhorn and his work with Deborah Hay.
Artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre since 1994, Christopher House is one of Canada's most exciting choreographers. He has transformed TDT into a company known internationally for its fresh, intelligent and provocative dance. House's work is motivated by a profound curiosity about art and life. Born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland, he studied Political Science and Philosophy before switching to Theatre and Dance. His keen interests in travel, science, the visual arts, cinema and literature continue to inform the development of his work. Early choreographies such as Glass Houses and Vena Cava were praised for their "kinetic brilliance" (The New York Times) and "formidable craft and vision" (The Globe and Mail, Toronto). Since 2000, when TDT premiered Nest to critical acclaim, House has specialized in creating full-length multi-disciplinary works full of exhilarating ideas as well as stunningly beautiful movement. Recent productions, such as Severe Clear and Persephone's Lunch, examine such themes as the creative process, the ambiguity of signs and the manufacture of memory. He draws inspiration from the individual gifts of his remarkable dancers and from collaboration with such artists as Kim Soo-ja, Scott Eunson, Jeremy Laing, James Robertson and Phil Strong.
In addition to TDT, Christopher House has created choreographies for many companies including Portugal's Ballet Gulbenkian, the National Ballet of Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and Ballet British Columbia, and for soloists such as Peggy Baker, Guillaume Côté and Laurence Lemieux. |
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Newfoundland set dances
Jane Rutherford |
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 Set dancing based on European dance traditions has been enjoyed in Newfoundland and Labrador for hundreds of years and has evolved into its own unique genre. This workshop will include instruction of some simple set dances but will also include elements of 'Running the Goat', one of the province's most famous and beautiful set dances which are renowned for their length and complexity. Time permitting, dances featured will be from New World Island, from a resettled community in Placentia Bay and from the Great NorthernPeninsula. Set formations include a unique circular set, a longways set and a square set. Prior dance experience in this dance style is not necessary for this workshop.
Presenter Jane Rutherford has considerable experience introducing Newfoundland set dancing to dancers of all levels of experience. Well known accordion player and accomplished dance musician, Stan Pickett, will provide the music. Participants should dress in layers (you will get warm), wear comfortable shoes and bring something to drink.
Jane Rutherford is the principal author and dance consultant for 'Traditional Dances of Newfoundland and Labrador: A Guide for Teachers', published by the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education in 2007. A staff member with Vinland Music Camp (www.vinlandmusic.ca) for four years, Jane has also coordinated the dance stage at the provincial folk festival in recent years. She has been a dance caller, teacher and performer for 20+years and has performed across eastern North America. Photo: Bob Rutherford |
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Introduction to the Skinner Releasing Technique
Julia Sasso |
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 An Introduction to the Skinner Releasing Technique™ The Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) offers an experiential, intuitive approach to moving and training. Classes include imagery as a powerful tool for transformation and involve hands-on partner studies. SRT uniquely integrates technique and creativity. We practice letting go of habitual patterns and ways of thinking in order to allow something new to occur. Participants find themselves moving in ways they may not have imagined themselves capable. Facilitated in English, SRT classes welcome all abilities with or without formal movement training.
"one of the foremost dance artists in the country." (The Dance Current), Julia Sassois a Toronto based choreographer, performer and master teacher. She has created choreography for film, television, theatre and more than fifty original dance works for the concert stage have been commissioned and presented throughout Canada, in the United States and in Europe. She performed internationally with Toronto's Dancemakers for sixteen seasons and has taught at distinguished learning centres worldwide. Photo: Kenneth Grey |
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Contemporary African Dance Technique
Nora Chipaumire |
Contemporary African Dance: a movement revolution: dancing over/under/inside and outside the tradition. This is a master class in Chipaumire's own movement idiom or style designed for both the professional dancer and the non-professional dancer keen on exploring new methods of dancing.
NORA CHIPAUMIRE was born in Mutare, Zimbabwe. A visionary African contemporary dance artist based in New York, her provocative and politically relevant multimedia dance work illuminates the struggles of human identity in an increasingly borderless world.
Chipaumire received a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award in 2007 and was also honored with the Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan UniversityCenter for the Arts. Chipaumire's work has received funding from the National Dance Project (NDP) and has been presented in the U.S. and internationally, including Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Merseyside Dance Initiative (Liverpool), The August Wilson Center (Pittsburgh), Tangénte (Montreal), Julidans Festival (Amsterdam), and others. Chipaumire just finished her season at Dance Theater Workshop in New York and will soon perform at the Internationale Tanzmesse in Düsseldorf. Through a fellowship with the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) Chipaumire is currently collaborating with renowned Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo.
Chipaumire is a member of the world renowned dance company, Urban Bush Women. She is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe's School of Law and holds graduate degrees from Mills College (Oakland, CA) in Dance (MA) and Choreography & Performance (MFA). Photo: Antoine Tempe |
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Integrating the Expressive Body
Megan Andrews |
Over the past five years, I have been working in the studio using sounding, or a kind of extended vocalization, in complement to my movement experience as a way to explore full-bodied expression. My practice has developed through the framework of Laban Movement Analysis and relates to the modes of intent articulated in the LMA system: Body, Effort, Shape and Space (BESS). This work has led to the development of several solo improvisations, one of which is described above (Stone).
This moving and sounding practice is closely related to my investigations of the relationship between movement and language, particularly through the psychoanalytic lens. In this workshop, I will lead participants in an exploration of moving and sounding grounded in the LMA framework I have been using. The session will develop from a somatic approach, starting with a breathing warm-up and moving into personal improvisational explorations and some partner work. Reflective writing will form an integral part of the experience. Participants should wear comfortable layered clothing and bare feet, and bring a pen/pencil and paper. The workshop will be accessible to all levels of movers and no previous experience is necessary. The workshop may be of interest to a wide-range of individuals, from performers and choreographers to teachers and writers/researchers.
Megan Andrews (MA, CMA) is a dance artist, teacher and writer/editor originally from Vancouver. In 1998, she initiated the Canadian dance magazine, The Dance Current, and continues as the Publisher/Founding Editor. Megan maintains a freelance performing career and also teaches in the dance department at York University. Her writing has appeared in several publications. She is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst and is currently working on doctoral studies in Communication and Culture at York University. Photo: Jeremy Mimnagh |
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An Introduction to Butoh
Denise Fujiwara |
 A dance-theatre workshop to train the body and the imagination by working from vivid internal conditions expressed through intense physicality. Using Butoh, the modern Japanese dance form as a foundation, we work to reveal the dance's inner life of authenticity, depth and paradox, and to express one's humanity in all of its irrationality, ugliness, beauty and mirth. An intermediate to advanced workshop geared towards people with dance and/or performance experience.
Denise Fujiwara is a choreographer, dancer, actor, dance impresario and teacher. NO EXIT is her second ensemble work after seventeen years of creating and performing solos. Her six solo dance concerts have toured to critical acclaim from coast to coast in Canada as well as to international festivals in New York, Seattle, Washington DC, Copenhagen, Osaka, Poland, Colombia, Ecuador and India. She is also a sought after teacher and conducts workshops across Canada and internationally. Her approaches to choreography, performance and teaching have developed over 30 years of intensive practice, performance and study. Her most influential mentors include Japanese butoh masters, Natsu Nakajima and Yukio Waguri, Montreal master dance pedagogue, Elizabeth Langley, the disbanded Mangrove Dance Collective of San Francisco, and the American theatre director, Anne Bogart. Photo Peter Stipcovich |
Im.provisional Lab workshop
Chanti Wadge |
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The Im.provisional Lab is a workshop structured to combine improvisational situations and strategies with contemplative dialogue on performance. In this short lab for the Festival of New Dance participants will be placed in an immediate environment for practicing improvisation in various performative contexts utilizing their own personal theatrical and/or movement curiosities. Simple tasks and restrictions will frame the search for balance between individual freedom of expression and instantaneous choreographic decision-making. This workshop is suitable for all types of performers.
Originally from Vancouver, Chanti has been living in Montreal since 2001 working as a multidisciplinary creator and performing internationally for a range of choreographers including José Navas, Andrew Harwood, Ginette Laurin, Emmanuel Jouthe and Isabelle van Grimde. Her ecclectic body of video, installation and choreographic works have been presented across Canada, in the Czech Republic, Poland and France as well as during choreographic residencies in Portugal and Berlin and Le Groupe de la Place Royale and O Vertigo Danse in Canada. In 2007 she received the Victor Martyn Lynch Staunton award for outstanding artistic achievement from the Canada Council for the Arts. Photo: Suez Holland |
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Urban Dance and the Creative Process
Helen Simard |
This workshop will focus on the creative process using elements of urban dance technique - bboying bgirling, house dance, break fusion. It will explore freestyle, abstract movement and concepts, building movement phrases, interpretation and performance.
Helen Simard is the Co-Artistic Director, dancer and choreographer with Solid State. She has a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University and has worked as an interpreter for Martha Carter, Lauren Degilio, and Tammy Forsythe. She opened Studio Sweatshop with JoDee Allen, teaches pilates at Concordia University and is a rehearsal director for several independent dance and theatre companies. As a founding member of the infamous DysFunkShn Crew, Helen has been repped and battled across North America. Helen has been a dancer and choreographer in several movies and videos, including Rapper K-os' Juno award winning video Bboy Stance". Photo: Melissa Gobeil | |
