Our Education and Outreach programs have received a new boost this season, in part due to generous funding from the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, a collaboration between The Guelph Community Foundation, the Government of Canada, and extraordinary
leaders from coast to coast. That funding has expanded our Workshops in Schools program this year to include professional development workshops for dance educators and for public school teachers, as well as increasing the number of workshops we can offer schools serving a higher number of economically disadvantaged students. The morale boost from that grant encouraged us to re-think our summer camp offerings for our older campers, and to expand our camps from two to three weeks next summer.
Janet Johnson, Guelph Dance's Artistic Director of Outreach, shared the following short piece about feeling newly inspired about her work in outreach and education.
With the encouragement and supportive
assistance of Kit Clark, Guelph Dance's General Manager, I have been able to expand
Guelph Dance's educational reach and areas of investigation. This
expansion has included in-depth exchanges and training with other
dance educators, the initiation of a great partnership with the Upper
Grand District School system and the expansion of our summer camps to
include richer art experiences for our pre-teen youth.
Janet Johnson, in performance
I
am deeply inspired and fueled by these areas of expansion and am
newly "wowed" by the importance of art education and experiences in our
lives. For me, and I trust for others, movement is a pretty direct route to happiness. Dance helps to keep us buoyant and inspired.
As I venture into my
current Workshops-in-Schools program at Sir Isaac Brock Public School, I see clearly how children drive us forward through their words and actions. They ask us to be better and to show them possibility.
Gratitude is a big buzz word these days. And for good reason. We have much to be thankful for, even amidst some truly terrible things that happen on a daily basis. Saying "Thank You" is a big deal. It means you've been recognized, that your efforts have been noticed, that you're not being taken for granted, and that your contributions have made a difference. Running a dance festival can get a little chaotic at times...staff and volunteers are truly in the present moment as they run to post a sign about a rain location, or make sure a youth dancer hasn't been left behind, or ensure that artists have water to drink after their performances, or chat with a patron about a particular performance. So, as we emerge from our Festival weekend, we want very much to thank each and every person, funder, sponsor, neighbourhood group, and volunteer, who contributed towards the creation of a very successful Festival. We absolutely could not pull any of this off without your support! Big thanks to our Platinum Sponsors: 1460 CJOY, Magic 106.1, CFRU, and Intrigue Media. Big thanks to all of our other sponsors noted in the sponsor board below.
Big thanks to our Funders: Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council,Ontario Arts Council,City of Guelph, Guelph Community Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Good Foundation, Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium. Big thanks to the Guelph Dance Board of Directors: Richard Gorrie, Michelle Miller, Heather Finn, Marie Zimmerman, Jillian Cockburn, Kim Bolton, Lynda Walters, and Lindsay Morris.
Big thanks toHanlon Creek Neighbourhood Group, Exhibition Park Neighbourhood Group, and 2 Rivers Festival for creating partnerships beneficial to so many. Big thanks to our numerous volunteers at our camps and festival, helping with kids, collecting donations, handing out programs, setting up tables, etc. Big thanks to the folks who joined our team for the Festival: Taras Cymbalisty, Dorothy Fisher, Leslie Fisher, Amber Sherwood-Robinson, Solana Del Bel Belluz, Davian Hart, Daniel Poulin, Kelly Steadman. Big thanks to all of the individuals who donated money to our organization all year long. You hold us accountable!
We asked Alexandre Hamel, Founder of Le Patin Libre to tell us more about the origins of the company, and how a group of former competitive ice skaters began to make art on ice. His words are evocative, and a wonderful video about the making of the work they're performing in Guelph is at the end of this post. You should definitely scroll all the way through and watch it!
Le Patin Libre performs on Stage A, Friday, June 3, 8 pm, at the University of Guelph's gold ice rink. They also teach an ice skating workshop, suitable for all levels, on Saturday, June 4, 9:30 am.
Vertical Influences is a contemporary ice-skating
show.
Now, what's contemporary ice-skating? It's the
result of a 10-year artistic adventure.
I launched Le Patin Libre in 2006. I was then a
retiring figure skater. I competed on the international scene, skated
professionally for Disney On Ice and in a few other big traditional figure
skating shows. Sparkles and all... In 2006, I was also a Fine Arts student, at
Concordia University in Montreal. I was studying film production.
During the 15 years of my intensive training as a
figure skater, I always felt I didn't fit into what figure skaters reverently
call “Le Monde du Patin,” or “The Skating World.” I always found my training
companions very obedient and blindly engulfed in this closed universe of
competition, hyper-sexualisation, drama, superficialism and....sparkles, always
more sparkles. But, I loved the moves and the challenge so much! I just kept
going until university provided me a good excuse to get out of it. Figure skating
is like a sect. It's not that easy to get out of, especially after your parents
have “invested” $15,000 a year in that weird training, secretly and crazily
hoping you'll be an Olympic champion.
At university, I was part of little indie video
projects. I loved it! Still infused with the love of skating, I gathered a few
skaters I knew to launch a little indie ice-show project. It seemed natural to
me. This doesn't exist in figure skating, however. Normally, it's all about big
money, big producers, big sport federations, an establishment approving it all,
etc.
So, year one of the project included a few short
performances on frozen ponds in little towns around Montreal. We performed in
winter carnivals. It was simple and naive. Good skaters, funny numbers, a bit
of acrobatics, a slightly rock 'n roll attitude and....finally... no sparkles!
Not a single one! I called the troupe Le Patin Libre. It means The
Free Skate.
The shows were prepared very quickly because we
didn't have access to much ice time, between hockey games and traditional
figure skating stuff. Doing anything happy and un-conservative is forbidden at
public skating sessions (even empty ones), so we could not dance or practice
there. We did rehearse outdoors, in the winter, but that's often unreliable and
feet freeze in an hour in those horrible hard-leather tight ballet shoes with
blades.
However simple and quickly thrown together, our
little shows pleased people. The local media talked about “rebel figure skaters,”
the troupe grew, and we were quickly invited to France for shows organized by
private ice rinks.
In France, we were offered a deal: do a few shows
for free in exchange for practice ice time. All of the ice rinks are empty at
night and in the morning, when hockey players are at work or at school. In
city-run ice rinks, the bureaucracy makes such deals impossible, but in the
private ice rinks of France, we just borrowed the keys from the owners and went
skating for long hours whenever the ice rink was closed or unused. At night, sometimes!
We started to go often, for residences that grew longer and longer. We
literally exiled in France, to have access to this ice time.
Finally having time to do more than just throw shows
together, we started to ask ourselves deep questions:
·Why are
we doing ice shows?
·Why do we
stick with this thing even though ice rinks are so complicated?
·Why do we
freeze our asses in sad looking, foul-smelling refrigerated garages?
I don't even remember how it came to us but the
answer was simple: Glide!
It's what makes hockey more exciting than soccer.
It's what makes surfing more sexy than beach volley-ball. It's why people fly
to the Rockies to ski, when they could snowshoe in their backyards.
Glide is the possibility to dissociate movement
through space from the gestures organically associated to human locomotion:
walking, running, jumping, crawling, etc. This means a body can be immobile but
move quickly. One of the skating-artists of the troupe calls it “grounded
flight.”
Glide is the only thing we have and that dancers,
circus artists or comedians don't have.
Glide is what's left when you take out those damned
sparkles. And I mean “sparkles” in the large sense: TV shows, podiums, judging
systems, syrupy music, themes, commentators, princesses.
Later, I would learn that glide is our specificity.
With it, we could reach artistic modernity.
And we understood right away that the choreographic
possibilities would be endless and completely new.
As soon as we were conscious of this, our shows
started to feel better, richer and more natural. Our years of training as
top-level figure skaters finally made sense! Where we felt compelled to add
barrel jumping, tap skating and fire breathing (check our YouTube channel), in
our first naive years, we started to just glide. Simple, pure and rigorously
choreographed glide.
And the rest is just lots of sweat, big financial
risks and the lives of 5 skating-artists completely invested in this over the
course of a few years.
To make the story short, we developed that stuff,
self-produced a show in London after another one of those residences in Europe,
had a little box-office success, were noticed by the programmers of a big
theatre and of a big dance festival (Sadler's Wells and Dance Umbrella), were
offered real residencies and professional support and finally developed Vertical Influences. It got us some
awards and accolades, and the show is so fun to do, I would perform it even if
I were invisible.
So, that's what we're bringing to Guelph! And by the
way, Guelph's Arena is not smelly and not even that cold! It's a really good
one, and I'm not only saying this because they agreed to cancel a few hockey
games to let this happen. We can't wait!
* * * * *
Check out this wonderful video about the making of Vertical Influences
Choreographer's Notes, by Suzanne Miller (May 16, 2016)
Interestingly,
the percentage of water contained within our body mirrors the percentage of
water in the earths’ body.
Water
marks our existence and continues to reveal life itself never fully knowing
either beginnings or ends.
photo: Francois Bergeron
On
June 4th, I share the stage with dancer/collaborator/perfect dance
partner Karsten Kroll, with whom I’ve danced since 2000, and
composer/musician/life partnerAllan Paiviowith whom I’ve worked since 1985.
Performed
on a mirrored floor surface and riddled in plastic,THIRSTuses the three states ofwater’stransformation -- SOLID, LIQUID and VAPOUR
-- as a resource to direct the choreography, scenography and music composition.
The kaleidoscopic effect of the mirrors creates a hybrid body where boundaries
between, BONE, BLOOD and BREATH – are mixed.
The
mirrors also providewaterfor an interpretation of“The Dying Swan.”This ends the production - it pays homage
to the iconic solo choreographed by Mikhail Folkine (1905), made famous by the
legendary Anna Pavlova.
Welook forward to returning to Guelph Dance
festival and are eager to reunite with our family and extended community.
We
managed to get Guelph Dance’s Festival Artistic Director, Catrina von Radecki,
to sit down for a few minutes so that we could ask her a few questions about how
partnerships are making a difference in the Dance Festival’s offerings.
Who are Guelph Dance’s
partners are this year during the Festival?
What are some of the benefits of
these partnerships?
The benefits of partnerships cannot be understated! We enrich each
other’s programming and assist in promoting each other’s events. The sum is greater than its parts.
The 2Rivers Festival is an annual festival celebrating the
beautiful Speed and Eramosa rivers, which meet in the city of Guelph. This
year, our Hanlon Creek Park performance (Friday, June 3, 5:30 pm) is included
as one of their events, along with a wide variety of activities including
nature hikes, heritage walks, opportunities to paddle the rivers, and arts
events. Our partnership with the
Hanlon Creek Neighbourhood Group includes their helping us promote the event to
their neighbourhood, and….they’re providing free ice cream during our event!
The Exhibition Park Neighbourhood Group’s Creativity Picnic takes place
immediately following our Saturday In the Park performance, providing a full
and rich afternoon of arts activities for people of all ages. EPNG is also helping
to promote our Festival to people in their Neighbourhood.
Our partnership with
Capacitance, curated by Lynette Segal, is a wonderful example of how we have
helped to foster an active dance community in Guelph. Capacitance is our Local Initiatives event this season (Sunday, June 5, 2 pm), and is being co-presented
by the Guelph Jazz Festival. The performance is multi-disciplinary and
improvisational, and offers a more experimental approach in contemporary
performance. Other Fab 5 partnerships
during the Festival include Eden Mills Writers’ Festival co-presenting Sara
Porter at the In the Studio show (Saturday, June 4, 4 pm); Guelph Jazz Festival
co-presenting the Guelph Youth Jazz Ensemble during the In the Park series
(Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday); and the Guelph Film Festival
co-presenting the screening of ORA,
an innovative dance film that will be show during On the Stage B at the River
Run Centre (Saturday, June 4, 8 pm).Our programming is just so much richer with the contributions of our
fellow festivals!
What extras can Guelph Dance
audience members expect to see due to these partnerships?
·Live music
during the In the Park shows
·Multi-disciplinary
and experimental performance in the Local Initiatives performance
·An
intermingling of dance and storytelling at the In the Studio show
·Avant-garde
films with a focus on dance at Stage B
·Activities for
kids as well as parents during the Creativity Picnic at Exhibition Park
What IS a ‘Creativity Picnic’
anyway?!
Hosted by
the Exhibition Park Neighbourhood Group, the Creativity Picnic offers music,
magic, and a wee bit of mayhem from 1-4 pm on Saturday, June 4. It immediately
follows the In the Park show. The Children’s Art Factory, Five the Magician,
the Making Box, the Art Gallery of Guelph, and Cardboard-ia are among the
activities and entertainment that will be available.
Bring a picnic, stay and
play for the day on our new playground. J.O.E. coffee will be there with
coffee, drinks and treats; and Blue Water
Creamery is bringing its delicious ice cream.
We have local and lovely talent such as: The Children’s Art Factory,
Five the Magician,
The Making Box, and the Art Gallery of Guelph's ‘Inflatable
Art Gallery’. Plus we'll have activities from the Guelph Civic Museum, Cardboard-ia, Kids
Make Guelph, and more!
Anything else you'd like to say
about GD's partnerships?
Partnerships are fundamental to what we do and are
found in all aspects of the Guelph Dance Festival and outreach activities. Partnerships enable
us to branch out to new audiences, afford larger scale and a greater variety of
work, and access more resources to reach new audiences and to provide artists
with great opportunities.
As the Guelph Dance
community grows we are excited to continue to develop and deepen partnerships so that we
can be sure we are listening and responding to our community’s needs, that we
are intricately immersed
in the community we live in, and holding hands with the amazing people that
make Guelph such an incredible place to live.
Toronto-based Sara Porter takes the In the Studio stage at Guelph Youth Studios on Saturday, June 4 at 4 pm. Here, she tells us more about "Sara does a Solo," her intimate piece which is part memoir, part stand-up comedy, part dance performance; and in whole, a beautiful and bold statement.
* * * * * *
We all need reassurance.
: that things will be
as we expect them to be : that we have a handle
on what’s happening in our lives and in the world : that, despite all life’s
uncertainties, that we know something,
at least something that we can rely
on...
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about live performance.
Last night, I ran the newest version of Sara does a Solo, under the masterful technical direction of James
Kendal, in front of a small invited group. James is up for anything and I love
that. (He doesn’t seem to mind if I call a cue from onstage and change the
order of things, just spontaneously, just for fun.) But last night I thought: That’s it! It’s finished! After working
on several different versions of Sara
does a Solo over the past months – for various shows in New York and
Toronto – I think I have finally arrived at the finished version of the piece. And
I felt the satisfaction of having completed something. Ended, finished, done. This
is the version I’m taking to Montreal (Studio 303) next week, and to the San
Francisco International Arts Festival the following week. (May 20-22). I will
be all set for Guelph in June. Now, I
know what I’m doing!
Well, now, hang on a moment…
Sara does a Solo
is a piece that is in continual flux. I premiered it – the earliest version –
in June 2014 at my studio in Toronto. And, frankly, I was terrified. I didn’t
even know if it was a piece. But from there, I’ve shown it – in various
iterations – at the Intergalactic Arts Collective Studio in Toronto, at the charming
Evergreen Theatre in Nova Scotia, as part of Performance Mix Festival in New
York City, at Dancemakers Theatre in the Distillery District as part of Older
& Reckless in Toronto, and at Douglas Dunn’s Studio Salon on Broadway in
NYC. Each time, a slightly different piece.
We laugh in rehearsal – my rehearsal assistants/creative
facilitators Katherine Duncanson, Gerry Trentham and me – saying the title
suggests I’m doing “a” solo – but doesn’t actually commit to any “particular”
solo. That’s just to ease our stress of this continual change. The piece is
continually in flux. And that is partly what it is about….
Sara does a Solo
is very much about the present tense, about what’s going on in the moment, both
in the theatre as I perform, and in my life. As one audience member said
recently, “It feels like you’re just making it up, right there in front of us.”
Well, in fact, in some ways, I am.
There is a strong structure and clearly determined form and
text, and much of it is, in fact, very carefully rehearsed. But, as a solo, I
can follow – and respond to – what happens in the moment. That’s the fun and
the danger of it. It’s much like life. There’s a frame, but there’s always
space for exploration, invention, trying something a different way. For play.
That is, I think, what live performance is all about: living
a small piece of your life in front of other people. So we get to ponder
together what it’s about, what we might share, what is familiar and what is
different amongst us. How we might cope.
My life is full of parenting, practicing, rehearsing, making
things up, questioning who I am, whether I’m doing the right things, whether
I’m too serious, or not serious enough. Whether I believe in what I’m doing –
or if others believe in it. Who am I, anyway, and how did I get here? Sometimes
it feels like I’m performing all the time. Other times, I’m not even certain if
I know who I am. Everything moves.
So, it’s reassuring to know – at least – that I’ll be at the
Guelph Dance Festival on June 4th with a piece called Sara does a Solo. That is confirmed. I’m
really looking forward to it. But nobody – not even I – knows exactly what it
will be. But don’t worry: something will happen. And it will be live. And so
will you.
Sara Porter
May 2, 2016
photos: Tamara Romanchuk (top)
* * * * *
Here's a sneak preview of Sara's piece:
A limited number of tickets are available to Sara's performance in Guelph. Click here to purchase your tickets online, or call the River Run Centre at 519-763-3000 to purchase your tickets by phone. This show is sure to sell out!
This week's Artist Spotlight blog is guest-authored by Colleen Snell, artistic director of Frog in Hand. The company performs its new work Dragon in the In the Parkseries, atExhibition Parkon Thursday, June 2nd, 7 pm; Saturday, June 4th, 12 pm; and Sunday, June 5th, 12 pm; and at our new park location, Hanlon Creek Park, on Friday, June 3rd, 5:30 pm.
Dragon is the timeless story of two knights on a quest to slay a dragon, yet it
is no traditional fight between good and evil. When these knights find their
dragon, they do not encounter the beast they expect. After a struggle, they learn
the consequences of their violent acts; they redefine the meaning of courage
and realize the redemptive power of empathy. Our production is an epic legend
blending swordplay with dance, magnificent costumes and immersive set design.
Damian Norman (dancer, actor), Colleen Snell (dancer, certified actor
combatant) and Andy Ingram (certified actor combatant and fight director) bring
this tale to life while Joe Pagnan (lighting/set designer) and Noelle Hamlyn
(textile artist, costume designer) construct and design the visuals.
The plot of our production is simple, yet deeper metaphors lie beneath
this recognizable exterior. Dragon
manipulates a traditional legend as a way of studying greed, humanity’s
strained relationship with nature, the power of movement to cross borders
between cultures and the overarching importance of myth and archetype in
defining a collective human identity. Oh – this is of course in addition to
swashbuckling fun, breathtaking feats of physical prowess and spine tingling
thrills.
The Process
Dragon was created for
the Off the Wall project, a
multi-arts event Frog in Hand organized in collaboration with the Living Arts
Centre and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. Off the Wall 2015 involved twenty-three artists of all
disciplines who worked in five teams to create original, site-specific
performances. While Damian, Joe, Colleen, Noelle and Andy had worked together
previously they had never worked all together in one group. Andy and Joe had
never even met! This creative team had three 7-hour days to devise an original
show for the grand staircase in the Living Arts Centre. The work premiered on
the fourth day.
Everyone was
challenged and surprised by this project as we encountered our characters and
crafted our story. Noelle and Joe were confronted with the task of creating the
dragon tail (constructed with metal hoops), and transforming the staircase into
the dragon’s nest. Damian learned sword work with Andy, who choreographed the
fight sequences. Colleen physically researched how a dragon might move and
interact. Together we questioned and built a narrative arc, fusing our
professional perspectives as actors, dancers, visual artists, and fight
choreographers into one project. Certainly the pressure of time was stressful,
yet it was also helpful – providing urgency to our process and making each
decision count. The work was a hit with our audience, who told us they liked
the exciting music, breathtaking action and moving storyline. We’ve since
reworked and revisited the piece, performing it in Kitchener for Night/Shift2015. We are thrilled to bring Dragon
to Guelph, and can’t wait to share it with new audiences for the In the Park
series.
Video below shows excerpts from 'Off the Wall.' You'll easily find 'Dragon!' Take a look.
We are
thrilled to announce the lineup for the 18th Annual Guelph Dance
Festival, June 2-5, 2016. Bigger and better than ever, Guelph Dance will
host 18 dance companies in 9 performances in 5 venues! We promise to define
gravity in new ways this season, with dances on ice to dances in trees.
We know there is something for everyone, with ticket prices ranging from, well,
FREE to $30.
The
wildly-popular, pay-what-you-can In the Park series features four
companies this year:
·Aeriosa, from Vancouver,
performs “Birds Land Too,” a part-aerial, part-land piece that is derived from
the behavior of birds (photo right: Nicholas Podbrey)
·Ferenc Feher travels from
Hungary to perform “Tao Te,” an explosive male duet
·Mississauga-based Frog in Hand brings “Dragon,” a piece
that includes theatrical sword work
These four
companies perform in Exhibition Park on Thursday, June 2 at 7:00 pm, Saturday,
June 4 at 12:00 pm, and Sunday, June 5 at 12:00 pm, and – new this year - at Hanlon
Creek Park on Friday, June 3 at 5:30 pm.
ON THE
STAGE
The On
the Stage shows take place on two different stages this year: the Cooperator’s
Hall at River Run Centre and the University of Guelph’s Gold Ice Rink. Ticket
prices range from $15-30.
·Le Patin Libre, a Montreal-based
ice skating dance troupe, is featured in On the Stage A, on Friday, June 3, 8
pm. Performing at the University of Guelph’s Gold Ice Rink, this company
exploits the idea of glide in its full-length piece “Vertical Influences.” (Photo right: Le Patin Libre (Alicia Clarke)
·Julia Sasso dances (Toronto) and Suzanne Miller & Allan Paivio
Productions (Montreal), both long-time members of Canada’s professional
dance community, perform in On the Stage B, Saturday, June 4, 8 pm (River Run
Centre). Sasso’s group performs “Sporting Life,” a piece that
mirrors our fragilities and perverse lust for violence. Miller & Paivio
bring “The Water Project: THIRST,” which reflects on the perilous crisis of
water as a global issue.
IN THE STUDIO
Sara Porter is featured at our In the Studio event, taking place at the Guelph Youth Studios on Saturday,
June 4, at 4:00 pm. In this intimate performance, sure to sell out quickly,
Porter performs “Sara does a Solo,” a fearless account of an
aging body and reflective mind. Ticket prices range from $15-20. (Photo right: Sara Porter (Tamara Romanchuk)
LOCAL INITIATIVES Local Initiatives,
Guelph Dance’s commitment to fostering the local dance community, features Capacitance, a multidisciplinary,
improvisational performance produced and curated by Guelph dancer Lynette
Segal. The show takes place on Sunday, June 5, at 2:00 pm at the Guelph Youth
Studios, and is pay-what-you-can.
YOUTH MOVES
Festival favourite, YouthMoves, features 9 youth dance companies from across Southern Ontario in
a professionally-produced performance at the River Run Centre, Sunday, June 5,
at 4:00 pm. Youth Moves is the place
to see the next generation of dance artists in action, before they’re famous! Tickets range from $15-20.
WORKSHOPS, CONVERSATIONS,
YOUTH & TEEN DANCE DAYS
There are several
educational opportunities throughout the Festival, including free post-show chats following In the Studio and Local Initiatives; a free pre-showchat facilitated by Sara Porter before On
the Stage B; an ice dance workshop
with Le Patin Libre at 9:30 am on Saturday, June 4 ($20); a workshop in Skinner Releasing Techniquewith
Julia Sasso at 9:30 am on Sunday, June 5 ($20); Youth Dance Day on Friday, June 3, with a full afternoon and
evening of dance activities ($32); and Teen Dance Day on Saturday, June 4, with a full morning and afternoon of dance
activities ($45).
Photo Below: Dance Market (Lydia Summerlee)
DANCE MARKET
The fun and interactive Dance Market is back at Exhibition Park this year, following the Saturday and Sunday In the Park performances. Stick around after the show to participate in short demos given by area movement practitioners. It's the perfect way to try out yoga, pilates, gyrokinesis, and more!
TICKETS Tickets for all ticketed
events, including workshops and youth and teen dance day, can be purchased through the River Run
Centre Box Office (www.riverrun.ca; 519-763-3000). In the Park, Dance Market, and Local Initiatives are all pay-what-you-can events. More information about the gravity-defining 18th Annual Guelph Dance
Festival can be found on our website at www.guelphdance.ca.
Mark your calendars and purchase
your tickets now so you don’t miss Guelph’s premier dance event of the year!
Look for our poster around town! Thanks to Gareth Lind for the design.
