Unleash Your Imagination with Toy Guns Dance Theatre

We want you to have the inside scoop, so in the weeks leading up to the 2015 Guelph Dance Festival, the artists will take you behind the scenes and you will hear from the Co-Artistic Directors about their creative vision. You can stretch your boundaries and unleash your imaginations before the Festival even starts! So go ahead, follow your instincts and read on...

This week on the blog, we hear from key members of Toy Guns Dance Theatre, who will be surprising and delighting you in the three Park performances at this year's Festival. Coming all the way from Edmonton, they are a special treat you won't want to miss! 

Toy Guns Dance Theatre was founded by an engineer, a business student, and an artist. But since no one but engineers likes to talk to engineers, here are words from the other two.

Don't they look like they're having so much fun? You will too! See Toy Guns perform this piece June 4, 6 and 7! Photo by Marc J Chalifoux.

From the mouth/fingers of Jake W Hastey (Artistic Director):
I would love to talk about our show, as it is dear to my heart or more accurately my broken and beaten heart circa 2009. Of course the show has transformed from the moment of inspiration, not in the least because of the amazing team that will be performing it. Toy Guns Dance Theatre consists of a company with extensive backgrounds in various forms of dance, theatre, music, and even engineering. Each cast member brings something unique to the table that ultimately informs each of our works. This collaboration is instrumental in creating the multilayered and evolving work that we are fortunate to be touring across Canada this year. We are so excited to be presented by Guelph Dance Festival and can’t wait to see you in June!

You must've seen this dancer before - she leaped right onto our Festival poster! Photo by Marc J Chalifoux.

From the styled coif of Richelle Thoreson (Executive Director/Dancer):
After one performance of “Bright Lights...” an audience member said that they laughed, they cried, they killed a mosquito, and then they laughed some more. The show is audience interactive in addition to featuring beautifully performed choreographed sequences. The Edmonton Examiner wrote, “From raucous laughter to gentle tears, Bright Lights Cold Water serves as a demonstration of the power of choreography for illustrating concepts and emotions that words simply cannot express. It was an emotional experience for the entire cast”. I am so thrilled to perform this summer in Guelph and have a chance to see all the amazing artists performing at the Guelph Dance Festival!

Want a quick preview? Here’s a time lapse video of the show’s premier in Government House Park in Edmonton, AB! The Park series, featuring Toy Guns Dance Theatre, is pay-what-you-can, suggested donation of $15. Don't carry cash? Pay online ahead of time!