Guelph Dance

Lynette Segal Shares Thoughts about Working with Karen Kaeja

2012-02-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Members of Fall on Your Feet Collective are working with KarenKaeja in the creation of a new piece commissioned by the Guelph ContemporaryDance Festival for Women's Voices2012.

Lynette: Gearing up to work with Karen came on the heels ofspending a week in Toronto analyzing the mechanics of Kaeja Elevations, partnering work that Karen and Allen Kaejadeveloped over the last thirty years as part of their vast movementvocabulary—where contact improvisation and contemporary dance exquisitelycoalesce.

Rehearsal with Karen Kaeja

Despite the modest time-frame of roughly 32 hours to create a15-minute piece with five dancers from Guelph's own Fall on Your Feet, the process is immensely creative and inspiring. Imbuing moments of tender intimacy, as a mother to her child, or adaughter to her aging parent, Karen works her magic by continually remixing andadding her voice to the movement vocabulary derived from short phrases whichthe dancers created. Solo, duet and group forms weave into the fabric ofwhat will become Karen's choreographic contribution to Women's Voices.

Over the many years I've known Karen, she has maintained hermaster status as one of the most articulate and captivating dance improvisersin Canada. Working with her again has been an absolute honour anddelight. I am joined by champions Janet Johnson, Kelly Steadman, GeorgiaSimms, and Tanya Williams of Fall on YourFeet and gifted local music artists, Shannon Kingsbury and Sue Smith, inanother wonderfully creative occasion in this vibrant community of ours. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thoroughly blessed bythe tremendous community we call Guelph, Lynette Segal brought the foundingmembers of Fall on Your Feet togetherto provide collaborative improvisational opportunities. Recently appointedtreasurer for the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival and in her third year as a board member, Lynette has been informed byher work of 17 years as a Massage Therapist, and also volunteers for HospiceWellington.

On Thursday, March 8^th, 2012,and in celebration of InternationalWomen’s Day, the Guelph Fab 5 is proud to present Women’s Voices. This fabulous eventwill take place at 7pm at John F. Ross, E.L. Fox Auditorium, 21 Meyer Drive,Guelph. Tickets can be purchased at the door and all proceeds will go to Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. Afterthe show, we invite you to join us for a reception.

Kelly Steadman for Women's Voices

2012-02-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Kelly:Its Wonderful Pictures In Light beganas a quartet that I made using 4 senior company members for the Guelph Youth DanceTraining Program. Yann Tiersen’s Comptine d’Un Autre Ete was an obvious musicchoice to me. I was immediately and immensely moved by it, and felt that it wasa perfect fit for the emotional range I was to work with. These 4 youthful dancers were incrediblyreceptive to the movement ideas, and offered themselves genuinely in theirinterpretation of what I was asking them to do. I wanted to give them the chance to relate to and interact with eachother as well as with this stunning piece of music. It was really their imprint that caused me topursue developing it a little further.

Thefollowing year I was asked to be the Co-Artistic Director for Royal City Schoolof Ballet and Theatre Jazz Inc.’s tri-annual performance. I was given the opportunity to create 10pieces and couldn’t resist the chance to develop this one into an 8-dancerpiece. I decided to use some of the samemovement sequences, but switched the music to Summer ’78, (also composed by Yann Tiersen). The structure of this song is refreshinglysimple, and I clearly heard 8 voices blending into one, which fit wonderfullywell with the vision I had in mind.

Kelly Steadman and Robert Kingsbury. Photo by Dakota Burpee.

Theconcept was inspired by the video produced for this song. It depicts a day in the life of a young womanin reverse. It sparked a daydream aboutthe thoughts and images that flash at the passing of a person’s life—a sort of8mm reel of poignant, or perhaps random moments. These might trigger feelings of regret,doubt, certainty, and I would hope... acceptance. The idea that most of the moments were-experience at passing come from the time before we turn 25, and witnessingthe power of influence the youthful dancers have on each other, seemed to makemy simple vision seem relevant and honest.

Iused a lot of canon in this dance. Tobreak it down, canon is a choreographic device in which movements introduced byone dancer are repeated exactly by subsequent dancers in turn. My hope was this would help to depict thereplaying of fragments of life images, but also to keep the flow of the piecegoing to reveal a single voice. It seemedlike a fun and level-appropriate task for the dancers as well! Perhaps I overusedit. It becomes predictable, but thenagain what’s more predictable than death?

Mywonderful father-in-law passed away in December. I like to imagine what he experienced as thishappened. I look for it every time thedancers grace me with their dancing in this piece, which is something I’venever told them.

Kelly Steadman received her B.F.A inDance from Ryerson University in 2003. She currently performs with Dancetheatre David Earle and local independent choreographers. Kelly is a co-founder of Fall On Your Feet Dance Collective and currently teaches a variety ofdisciplines at the Guelph Youth Dance Training Program and Royal City School of Ballet Inc.

Getting Ready to celebrate Women’s Voices

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Janet: Women’s Voicesis the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival’s way of doing our small part inhonouring and celebrating women on International Women’s Day. It is anevent that encourages a sense of solidarity amongst our community of vibrantwomen, women facing challenges, and those who come in support of this importantday. On a local note, it is our intention that Women's Voices not only acts as a medium for focus and support ofwomen, but that all proceeds go to Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

This year we’re partnering with the Guelph Fab 5, fiveGuelph-centered performing arts festivals that are committed to enhancing ourcommunity and which share a core belief in innovation, that the arts can changethe world, and that education is a fundamental activity.

People of all ages will be uplifted by the power of ourcommunity to come together and produce great moments of artistic expression,reveal poignant elements of humanity, and find great solidarity in sharedeffort.

Women's Voices isfor those who believe in the ever-necessary change that needs to occur all overthe world for women seeking equality, safety, and expression. It is afantastic event for bringing this awareness to our community by means ofartistic expression.

We are thrilled that this year we will be featuring not onlydance but music and film. The performers will range from 12-years-old toadult and beyond! The featured artistic works will be: Fall on Your Feet performing a new workby Toronto dance icon, Karen Kaeja;

Karen Kaeja. Photo by Ella Cooper

Guelph's dazzling Robert Kingsbury’s premiere of a brand newwork with newly-arrived-to-Guelph-from-Montreal dancer, Katie Ewald;

Robert Kingsbury

and born-and-raised-in-Guelph dancer/choreographer/teacherKelly Steadman who will mount a beautiful work with Guelph's finest youthdancers.

Choreography by Kelly Steadman

The Hillside Festival will be featuring a youth musicianfrom their Girls and Guitars series. The Guelph Jazz Festival has put forward clarinetist, TillyKooyman, and the Festival of Moving Media has offered up a filmentitled "Flawed" for this event.

Women's Voices isaccessible for all those interested and hopes to encourage amulti-generational, eclectic group of eager community members keen on thecolours and hues which depict the vast arena of women!

Women’s Voices willtake place at 7pm at John F. Ross, E.L. Fox Auditorium, 21 Meyer Drive, Guelph.Tickets can be purchased at the door and all proceeds will go to Guelph-WellingtonWomen in Crisis. After the show, we invite you to join us for a reception.

Richard Gorrie: The GCDF Through My Eyes

2012-02-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

Richard Gorrie is president of the GCDF board. He has a theatrical background: as an academic he studied the history of theatre riots and as a performer he has toured coast-to-coast-to-coast. Currently, he researches and supports educational design, development and technology at the University of Guelph, as an associate director of the Centre for Open Learning and Educational Support.

Richard: Contemporary dance. I like to watch. And throughthe years, I've watched in different ways.

In the warren of theatre spaces where I worked in mytwenties, in the wings or from the back of the house, I was able to peek in onrehearsals for the likes of the National Ballet School and Dancemakers (that'swhen I first fell in love with Peggy Baker). As a select and secret audience ofone, I was mesmerized by the commitment and concentration of the dancers evenwhen they thought no one was watching.

Karen Kaeja's Bird's Eye View; GCDF In the Park. Photo by Anuta Skrypnychenko

Sometime after that, I had my initial glimpse of theinimitable Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, following my wife Wendy (I'msorry Peggy) as she collaborated and performed with Catrina in the firstFestivals. Wonderful! I thought to myself as I watched with the rest of theaudience.

A regular after that, I was soon enlisted to archive theFestival on vIdeo, a marathon endeavour which involved attending and tapingpretty much every performance at every venue. While exhaustive, my view was adistant one, following wide to capture the sum of the piece. However, beinginevitably at the back, I also took in the audience as well, noting theirseeing and feeling. I experienced the totality of the dance, from stage tohouse to archived images.

Since becoming President of the GCDF Board, I have left thevideography in hands more capable, though not more willing. Now I like tosit near the front, often in the very first row. Where I can see and feel thedancers' emotions up close. I love to be right at that liminal point whereaudience and performance meet, where watching becomes being.

Mosa Neshama McNeilly at the GCDF

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Mosa: The GCDF blew my socks off my first summer in Guelph,2006. I moved here with my daughter from Toronto in the dead of winter, and thefestival really played a part in my finding my artistic bearings in this newmuch smaller city.

Mosa at the GCDF 2010.

I was so impressed with the caliber of performances and thegeneral feel of the festival that right away I wanted to become involved insome way. I met Catrina through signing my daughter up for dance classes atTemple. When she learned about my dance background, she invited me todo an African dance arts ed project at John McCrae, her children'sschool at the time, where she was an active parent. I was thrilled when sheasked me if I would be interested to sit on the Board of Directors for GCDF,and did for two years, 2008-10. My experience on the board was educational andrewarding. I learned a lot about the logistical and artistic behind-the-scenesrunnings of the festival, and each year felt so proud to be an ambassadorfor such an awesome festival. The meetings were always a good mix of good vibesand hard work. Nothing but good memories, really, and when my time frees up alittle, I will be knocking on their door to see if there is still a seat on theBoard for me.

A multidisciplinary artist and educator with 25 yearsexperience, Mosa's mixed media collage and installation art work has beenexhibited internationally in numerous group and solo art exhibitions. She hasperformed extensively as a singer, storyteller, and dancer in schools andpublic venues. She teaches African dance, drumming, drama and spokenword, facilitates arts projects culminating in murals, banners and quilts,and makes lecture presentations in galleries and universities. She is currentlyengaged in a program of independent study in voice and encaustic art workingwith two mentors. Mosa's website.

Dance From The Inside

2012-01-19T14:24:00.000-05:00

Daniel Poulin is theAssistant General Manager of the GCDF. You can often find him MC'ing theoutdoor events and teaching theatre during the Arts Explosion Camps. He alsoworks at the University of Guelph in peer-counselling and is the acting-chairof the Board of Directors for Out On The Shelf.

Daniel MC'ing the 2008 Noon Time series. Photo: Anuta Skrypnychenko

Daniel: It’s hard to put into words what excites me aboutcontemporary dance. When I watch dance it’s like I go somewhere else—to a placeof possibilities. Each breath, each movement, each pause, each silence is achoice and watching the string of choices combine with the shear athleticismand precision of the artists creates this rush inside me which can sometimesleave me breathless. It pulls me out of my day-to-day self and into a spacethat is creative, imaginative, playful, dark and wonderful.

Coming from theatre, I knew almost nothing about dance whenI started at the Festival four years ago. I have always loved watching dance,since I was little. The dancers captivated me—their sense of total focus. Ioften wondered where they went when they danced—sometimes I still do.

I started to develop a taste for a particular aesthetic—crisp,clean, dark, precise. Like a machine with many complicated moving parts.Moments of what seem like chaos quickly turn into precise synchronizedmovements. Simultaneous displays of total control and total abandon. Thisaesthetic is what draws me—not only to dance, but theatre, visual art, and film.

Kaeja d'Dance performing Abbatoir at Maintsge B in 2008. Photo: Anuta Skrypnychenko

Now going into my fifth Festival, I reflect on the over 100pieces I have been privileged to see. Each one had a unique impact on me. Somefall into my aesthetic taste and others don’t at all. But that’s what I loveabout the Festival: there are such a variety of pieces, dancers, and styles. Ilove that the Festival challenges me to look outside of my aesthetic comfortzone—to balance my perspective with the perspective of others. I love thatevery year I have been surprised and caught off guard.

So bring it 2012—challenge me. I’m counting down the days(133 to be exact).

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone at GCDF wishes

you a very

Happy Holiday

and a wonderful

New Year

full of dance!

Visit us back here after January 19

for more stories of dance and the dance community.

Jillian Cockburn: The GCDF, Diversity, and Me

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Jillian Cockburn, GCDF's 2010/11 publicist and writer, lives in Guelph and is currently on mat-leave. You can also check out her blog. We welcome Jillian's insight here!

Jillian: In January 2010, my husband, Lucas, and I moved to Guelph aftertwo months of backpacking through Europe and Central America. Our stay in Guelph was supposed to have beenbrief; following the completion of Lucas’ work contract, our plan was tocontinue traveling ... indefinitely. Afteronly one month of being here though, we felt at home.

Jillian Cockburn at Guelph's Goldie Mill. Photo by Angela Cockburn.

For me, the major draw was the city’s thriving artscommunity. In those first few months, Imade a point of experiencing as much as I could of what Guelph had to offer interms of arts and culture. And then inJune, I experienced my first ever GCDF festival weekend.

What immediately struck me was the GCDF’s commitment to andcelebration of diversity --- both in terms of dance works that were beingpresented and the representation of artists. As a former Torontonian, I never would have expected to see such a widerange of dance offerings featuring artists from across Canada (and around theworld!) in a city of Guelph’s size. Itwas both surprising and reassuring. Iknew right away that I wanted to be a part of what the Festival was doing.

In September 2010, I had the pleasure of joining the GCDF as boththe company’s contract Publicist/Editor/Writer and FundraisingCoordinator. Having the opportunity tobe a part of a top-quality festival that embraces and promotes diversity indance, pushing the boundaries of what this art form can mean and do for acommunity like Guelph, has been nothing short of amazing. And though I’m currently on leave, I lookforward to experiencing the 2012 Festival with “my little one,” and sharingwith her all that the GCDF has to offer!

The Fine Art of Curating

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Catrina: While much of my time as the General Manager of thefestival revolves around grant-writing and securing funds to make it allpossible, without doubt, my favourite time of the year is when I can put allnumber-crunching aside and devote myself entirely to being one of theco-artistic directors of the festival and to viewing the 80-100 applications wereceive each year.

firstthingsfirst productions (Toronto) with a view is a view is a view. Photo by Kristy Kennedy

The GCDF posts a Call to Artists with a deadline ofSeptember 15^th. We alsotravel across the country to view as many performances live as possible and toengage in discussions, panels, and professional development. In fact, I wrote this post as I was on atrain on my way to Montreal for the Parcours Danse Conference hosted by La Danse Sur les Route du Quebec and recently went to Calgary for the Fluid Festival andCanDance Network AGM.

Though the video-viewing and travelling to see works can begreat, great fun, this time of year can also be one of the most difficult. Out of the 100 applications, only 24 artistsget selected (6 for the On the Stage, 2 for the In the Studio, 4 On the Street,4 In the Park and 8 Youth Moves series artists), we have to decline many very,very strong applications.

So how do we make our choices?

Janet and I view the submissions separately so as not toinfluence each other. We try to giveeach submission our equal time and attention. We take notes, we make scores,and we allow the work to resonate. Choosing pieces is not as simple as pickingour personal favourites. We truly wantto represent the national dance community. We try to choose artists from at least3 provinces each year while also representing the local dance scene. Our choices must represent our nation’scultural diversity (the GCDF has represented dance from a wide range ofcultural backgrounds and influences), an eclectic mix of dance styles (urban,innovative contemporary, improvisation, aerial dance, physical theatre, modern,etc…). And the works have to work wellon a mixed program (for example, three solos could feel long, but a mix ofsolo, duet, trio and group work becomes much more exciting).

LINK Dance (Vancouver) with Experiments: Where Logic and Emotion Collide. Photo by Peter Eastwood.

Creating a program that incorporates as many of thesecriteria as possible while also ensuring the strong programming you have all cometo know and trust is indeed a challenge, but something both Janet and I cherishas part of our jobs as co-artistic directors.

Janet: Curating ... a joy and an utter heartbreak! Itis incredibly stimulating to see packages from across the nation (and otherparts of the world) filled with powerful passion, determination, conviction andartistry. I feel that each package is a little gift, a message from anartist, a way of looking at dance, the world. I try hard to honour thisand view packages when I am alert and will only view a few at a time beforetaking a break. I often know which pieces "work" by how longthey resonate in me, how often they come into my imagination, my visualmusings.

tiger princess dance projects (Toronto) bring us Cypress. Photo by Brendan Wyatt.

There are some tough parts like loving a work but notnecessarily thinking it is right for this year's festival for a number ofreasons. It is also potentially super-difficult when works come from a personal as well as professional connection (much of the greater dancecommunity is made up of links such as these...) ... When we just don't have thecash to bring the bevy of amazing talent that comes our way ... When we arewell aware that an artist or company "needs" a gig like the GCDF togrow and be reinforced for what they do.

Curating annually gives me a great sense of what's out thereat this time, what themes, movement motifs, styles are at the forefront, whatartist is investigating what territory, collaboration, etc. I feelhonoured to wear such a hat and am incredibly motivated to bring to the Guelph"table” a diverse, highly skilled, challenging, heart-felt feast of dance.

Robert Kingsbury at the CSA Nooner

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, November 23, Robert Kingsburyperformed as part of the CSA Nooner at the University of Guelph. We asked himto describe his experience.

Robert: Myfirst piece of choreography as an adult was site-specific. I was studying musicat York University and in an attempt at taking dance classes again, I foundmyself in site-specific choreography. The class culminated in a showing thattoured the concrete jungle campus, stopping in places that the students hadchosen for choreography. In studying this type of work before entering therealm of formal dance & technical training, I immediately began to see humanmovement as part of a larger context and environment. In site-specific work,the choreographer seeks out places where they think that they can make momentshappen. For the CSA Nooner, the location is predetermined and so it's more of acase of bringing dance to an environment where it may be surprising.

Some people feelthat to present dance in a public space tells people that they can look at artthe same way that they look at a water bottle or shoelace. I think that thejourney towards embodiment is accessible in every place, every moment andthrough any kind of interaction so this kind of work excites me. I feel as achoreographer a lot of my time & skill goes into sensing my environment.Through site-specific work I feel that my sense of being can be useful inhaving an affect on the space. For the Nooner I picked the flight of 6 stepsfacing away from the audience's seats. To make choices that go against audienceexpectations is one of the first rules.

The piece that Iremounted was originally presented in a parquette just north of Queen &Yonge, in Toronto. This was a place that reeked of urine and was notmaintained. I took photos of all of the litter, printed them and put themthroughout the space during our performance. As a trio, we did a half hourmeditation that moved along the surfaces of the space in an attempt at bringingsome gravity and thoughtfulness to the environment. People who frequented thespace interacted by joining us in climbing the structures of the parquette asthough it were a playground. A man peed in the direction of the performance,but did it in a way that said 'this is what I do here'. We did not takeoffence, in fact a viewer cried at their perception of what seemed ironic andbeautiful.

Needless to saythe performance at the University Centre was less interactive. The studentsthat I observed seem shy and in a rush. A little bit of this energy made itsway into my performance too. I had set a strong intention to interact with theother dancers and be open to the audience, but felt a little less present thanI like to be. Being raised above the audience disconnected me from them. In atheatre, they are usually raised above you. That day I was reminded of thefrantic sense of disembodiment I experienced during University. This was forme, the major reason I started dancing again. Full circle.

A Devoted Fan Shares Her Blog-Dreams

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Barbara: Hi all! So happy tomeet you here.

To catch you up: I’m Barbara,this year’s GCDF PR go-to and, quite incidentally, Catrina’s sister (GCDF co-Artistic Director).

I’m also goingto be the "blog-master", which means I will make sure you have a steady stream offresh stories—a new post will go up every Thursday morning from now on. On theone hand, we want to reach out to dance enthusiasts everywhere and share ourexperiences, on the other, we’d like to get to know each other a bit better.And a blog is a cozy way to do just that.

I’ve been going to the GCD Festivalsince it began. Of course, Catrina is my sister so one might assume it is mysibling-duty to do so. But I could also (just between us) remind you how easyit would be for me to say: “Oh, it’s too far,” (I live in T.O.), or “I have,you know, important stuff to do,” or “My dog can’t be alone all day,” or somesuch thing. But the reason I come back year after year after year is becausethe Festival is quite simply amazing!

I have been moved to shivers,moved to wonder, moved to tears. I’ve watched with bated breath as a dancer ordancers pushed the boundaries of convention and made me think twice about whatdance is or how it “should look”. Whether it’s in the sweeping fair-like settingof the park, or in the intimate comfort of the River Run Centre, I can’tremember ever, not once, walking away feeling like my life hadn’t just become abit more nuanced. Like dance moves had insinuated themselves inside thisnon-dancer’s body and transformed my DNA somehow.

It’s possible I haven’t likedevery single piece I’ve seen—frankly, I don’t remember—it’s certainly possibleI didn’t understand every piece, butthere is something uniquely exponential about seeing not just one dancer’svoice on stage, but several different ones over the course of each Festival.Like a high tea of movement. If the tea isn’t my, well, cup of tea, then thescones will certainly be to-die-for.

I was thrilled when mydaughter began to take dance lessons with Michelle De Brouwer of Company Blonde(a delightful mainstay of the festival over the years) and was able to takepart in the GCDF Youth Moves series for several years in a row. This wasn’tjust a proud mom watching her daughter, but a dance fan watching a young personabsorb the complexity and spirit of contemporary dance. It was a powerfulturning point in her adolescent life. Way more rewarding than the simplebenefit of “exercise” it might have seemed at the start.

It is a delight and an honourto be part of the GCDF. And I thank you for welcoming me here. So what are myblog-dreams? Well, I hope that you will engage with us, throw caution to thewind and share your own stories and thoughts, either through a blog-post ofyour own or below each story in the comments section. I hope you will share theblog with your friends on Facebook and Twitter and help us spread the word sothat we can build our connections far and wide. Because the more we keep dancealive in everyone’s consciousness, the more support we will garner and developin our broader communities.

So I’ll leave you with aquestion: what dance piece comes to mind first when you recall the GCDF’shistory? The first one that comes to my mind is one from years ago, a lonedancer centre stage, wriggling out of dozens of layers of clothing—and makingit utterly riveting. You?

You can also find Barbara at The Middle Agesblog.

Hello and Welcome from Co-Founders/Co-Artistic Directors: Janet Johnson and Catrina von Radecki

2011-11-17T01:00:00.000-05:00

Janet: I arrivedin Guelph having had an action-packed, intense, dynamic and, at times, intimateexperience with the dance community of T.O. This was a richtime, for sure, but I was starting to feel myself get jaded, worn down a bit bythe high and low of being a dancer/choreographer in the big smoke.

So when I foundmyself in happy, open, earthy Guelph I felt a wonderful new wave of energy andpositivity coming my way. I was cementing my union with my partner,becoming a mother, putting down roots.

Janet in her own piece, Chrysalis

I felt an almostimmediate connection to Guelph, but was missing my former dancecommunity!! How to have it all? How to bring the best of the T.O. dancescene to my newfound home, this place with which I was most excited to share mypassion....?

Janet in David Earle's Tango Dreams

By some oddfluke of happenstance, I found myself meeting Catrina who too had moved from avery vibrant dance scene in Montreal (and Europe). There began our earnest,slightly naïve, but highly passionate attempt to bring fantastic dance artists(many of whom in the beginning were my friends and peers from T.O.) to littleriver-lined Guelph. I was super excited to give dance artists gigs, as well asto feed Guelphites some great morsels of artistic expression through the bodyand through this great medium of commonality!

Catrina and Janet, 2001

In the beginningwe had a fantastic group of volunteers (mostly those in the community we hadstarted to teach, to win over) and we would all meet with babies in hand insomeone's kitchen, sipping coffee and dreaming big. It was supermotivating to see how much our volunteers, like us, were seeking rich artisticexperiences to sweep up on the shores of Guelph. Everyone wanted tosupport a community that presented such artistic endeavors.... We all wanted tohelp foster a city for our kids, our souls, our shared sense of the need forartistic interaction and proactive expression.

As a newpresenter for dance, Bill Kimball in Peterborough was a big inspiration for me. He programmed interesting and edgy dance and the University-driven cityseemed to follow eagerly in his presenter's path. I saw a link betweenthese two communities and, with Catrina's love of experimental dance in mindtoo, we tried our best in those early GCDF years to go slow but to immediatelypresent dance that was slightly challenging, risk-taking and definitely, forthe most part, of a very high skill level (we maintained separate series forboth emerging artists and youth performers, and continue to do so today).

We seemed tograsp immediately that if we wanted this wee festival to survive, we would needto grasp hands with other organizations, with more people, and with the greatercommunity if possible. This element has undeniably been one of the mostsatisfying as well as wise moves the GCDF has made. With great supportand collaboration, the GCDF has been able to take leaps, spin slowly, lungedeep..........

Catrina: Andwhere are we leaping, spinning, lunging deep to? Where are we now andwhere do we go from here? These are the questions we are asking ourselvesright now, planning a future direction for the festival in ways we cannot evenimagine just yet. In the very beginning we dreamed that Guelph could be aplace where dancers could work outside a metropolitan area (yes, this was verypersonal for us), where artists could create in tranquility and with lessinfluences all around them (yes, also something we wanted for ourselves), andwhere we could witness the diversity of dance happening across Canada withoutdriving an hour or more.

We really dohave all that now right here in Guelph. Guelph is home to Dancetheatre David Earle, a world-renownedOrder of Canada and Premier's Awards of Excellence in the Arts recipient. Professional dancerscan train with them and perform with their company. Guelph is home to Fall on Your Feet, a relatively newcollective of professional dancers who all call Guelph their home and whoinvite the community at large to join in on their movement research anddiscoveries.

Young dancersare training regularly in contemporary dance through the Guelph Youth Dance training program, and the more serious youngdancers get performance opportunities with a wide range of professional dancersthrough the Guelph Youth Company. And, of course, the festival itself brings artists from not only across thecountry but from all over the world to this wonderful city of Guelph.

We may have beena bit naïve in the beginning, but hey, that quality brought us to a place where anything is possible, a place I am still very happy to be.

We areincredibly excited to continue with the dreaming and the planning and to seewhere this might take us over the next 10, 20 years. What are yourthoughts? Do you want to be involved?