Michael Piecez Prosserman / Photo by Glen Co Photography

Oct. 2, 2019

Breathe
World premiere
Choreographer: Michael ‘Piecez’ Prosserman
Performers: Michael ‘Piecez’ Prosserman
Collaborators: Kosi Eze, Caroline “Lady C” Fraser

Breathe explores the relationship between great success, mental illness, and unhealthy expectations. Having the weight of a mountain on your shoulders leaves a dent. The piece traverses four distinct stages of Michael “Piecez” Prosserman’s personal journey—growth, pressure, crash and uprooting. 

Nirguna (formless)
Choreographers: Rachana Joshi, Tanisha Mahesh Kumar, Natasha Manvi, Nancy Thavaruban, Donya Sandhu, Purawai Vyas
Performers: Rachana Joshi, Tanisha Mahesh Kumar, Natasha Manvi, Nancy Thavaruban, Donya Sandhu, Purawai Vyas 

Nirguna is a bharatanatyam work that explores the cyclical nature of the ascetic Hindu god Shiva, and the well-known symbols that adorn the image of Shiva that illustrate the juxtaposition of peace within the chaos.   

Mountain Duets
Choreographer: Sophie Dow
Performers: Shannon Flaicher, Mckenzie Foy, Lucia Llano, Paige Sayles

Mountain Duets delves into the inspiration and spirituality induced by the vast mountain ranges of Canada—embodying their same unwavering stillness and rootedness. Conceived during many sittings with elders and calling upon the ancestors of the Kootenay and Rocky Mountains, the dancers explore their human structure as well as their perception of their greater ancestral bodies.

Mushtari Afroz / Photo by Alexanditor Usquiano

Oct. 3, 2019

Resonance
Toronto premiere
Choreographers: Angela Déiseach & Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko / Illumina Flamenco
Dancers: Kiyo Asaoka, Angela Déiseach, Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko
Vocals & Percussion: Shirley ‘La Pili’ Pincay

Resonance is an original contemporary flamenco work for three dancers and a singer. The work explores the energy that is created when the past is conjured into the present. Entering an empty space awakens the energy left by those who once occupied it.

Silence Is…
Choreographer: Mushtari Afroz
Performers: Mushtari Afroz
Music Composition, Vocal and Bol Padhant: Tanveer Shawjeeb Alam (Bangladesh & Canada)

In this solo, Mushtari Afroz explores silence: Is it the state of mind where the previously imperceptible rises to the level of perception? Is it a symbol of oppression to silence the voice of justice? Is it merely an absence of all sound?

Birth of a B
Choreographer: Kaitlyn Seibold
Performers: Brayden Cairns, Heidi Lorenz, Jessica Mak

Inspired by different bee species—their lines, textures, colors, detail, and beauty—Kaitlyn Seibold choreographed Birth of a B to explore beauty, mutation, and imperfection, while exploring the dark truth about the decline of the bee population.

Oct. 4, 2019

Blue Ink
Canadian premiere
Choreographer: Chrissy Kokiri (New Zealand Dance Company)
Performers: Chrissy Kokiri, Carl Tolentino
Composer: Alistair Deverick

Fascinated by the movement of the octopus, Kokiri’s duet Blue Ink reflects the complexity of this creature and its habits. Rhythm, pulse, sensation entwine, slip, and slide in this enticing work.

Championess
Toronto Premiere
Choreographers: Melissa Hart & Samantha Schleese / SaMel Tanz
Performers: Melissa Hart & Samantha Schleese

Championess is not about the fight between two individuals, but about the fighters’ battle within themselves and against the world. In combining boxing with contemporary, salsa and hip hop, the piece explores how to persist through adversity, and confront fears.

Madhuvanthi Thillana – flow of the dancing spirit
Choreographer: Leela Samson
Performer: Bhavajan Kumar

Madhuvanthi Thillana – flow of the dancing spirit strings together an array of fluid movements from the vocabulary of bharatanatyam that explores the excitement of rhythm and movement passed down through generations of ancient dance composers. 

Ballet du Funk
Choreographer: Nicholas Rose
Performers: TBA

From the legacy of the classical to the legacy of music from the 60’s and 70’s, Bahamian American choreographer Nicholas Rose fuses classical ballet with funk/soul music.

Oct. 5, 2019

Unresisting Force
World premiere
Choreographer: Lukas Malkowski
Performer: Lukas Malkowski  

What happens when unstoppable forces meet a movable body? Researching weather, aerodynamics, gravity, anatomy, and adaptation, Unresisting Force is a journey through different states of matter and energy in the body and the world. An ebb and flow between climate, weather, the elements, the body, and the spirit.

Spirit and Veneer
Choreographed and performed by Susie Burpee

If we’re all in agreement about the fictional conditions of a performance (the veneer) – through costume, characterization, and the device of the lip sync – then perhaps, together, we are liberated to discover truth and meaning.

Her (an excerpt)
Choreographer: Dianne Montgomery
Performers: TBA

Excerpted from Dianne Montgomery’s 45-minute commission for the 2020 Toronto International Tap Dance Festival, Her, explores the inevitability of being, the complexity of conflict, and the process of learning to consider and accept a changing concept of self.