Robert Kingsbury for Women’s Voices

We welcome Robert Kingsbury to describe the process of creating his piece Can Be Is Hiding for tonight's performance of Women's Voices.

 

Robert: I was a little bit surprised when I was asked to be a part of the Women's Voices show this year. All the proceeds from this show go to Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. I saw the show last year and was impressed with the strong lineup of choreography offered by local women. In contemplating what I felt might be right for this event, I immediately enlisted the help of a female acquaintance. Katie Ewald is a dancer with a strong background in conceptual work. She moved to Guelph with her husband to raise their son. I had been interested in connecting with Katie so I decided to make this piece a bit of a “get to know you”.

Katie went to an influential choreographic school in Belgium called PARTS and has worked for choreographers Daniel Leveille and Ame Henderson. She teaches a gentle Pilates class at Temple Studios on Wednesday evenings. During our first rehearsal, I have never had anyone ask for so much clarity. Katie wanted to authentically explore the tasks set out by my research. This is part of the rigour of some contemporary forms of dance and choreography. How much time in the process is invested into sensory research, what are the specific intentions of the work, and do the performers have a precise understanding of their role. I was challenged to answer why I want to present my work to audiences instead of just doing it for my own experience. I eventually realized that in the process of performing I am challenged to be receptive, which allows me to grow. I believe that the possibility of witnessing this is of value to the audience.

During rehearsals we talked about what was going on in our lives, how we were feeling. I realized that every moment that we shared was somehow going toward what would be created. We indulged in my sensory mapping improvisations, where the attention of the body is kept in specific visual or felt places for prolonged durations. After our first rehearsal, I was happy to hear that Katie's neck was feeling better than usual. A recurring injury that comes and goes eventually evolved the nature of our performance into something very specific.

One of the things that we talked about was the desire to dedicate yourself to deep research, yet finding this difficult when the available funding is limited. We agreed that compensation in different forms might allow us to feel more willing to be involved. Within the next week Katie asked me if I'd do some babysitting or vacuuming. I happily played with her son on several occasions, allowing her some time to relax or get organized. From our discussions and this mutual exchange I feel a shared sense of value in the process we've had. We created a space for community, friendship, and the mutual expression of our desires onstage and in life. This happened because we kept a specific intention for the work. The goal was for whatever happened to be mutually satisfying for each of us. For me this meant learning to be receptive in every moment both to myself and to someone else. This has become the gift that I would like to share with Guelph.

Working equally in dance, music for the stage, and choreography, Robert has had the pleasure of participating in many artistic collaborations. In his work he produces audio, film, and movement to create a sense of embodied performance installation. A graduate of York University's Fine Arts department, Robert is honoured to be part of Guelph's rich community of artists.

Tonight in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Guelph Fab 5 is proud to present Women’s Voices. This fabulous event will 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. After the show, we invite you to join us for a reception.  

Karen Kaeja on Creating Her Latest Work

Karen Kaeja is currently at work creating Crave to Tell, a piece commissioned by the GCDF for the upcoming Women’s Voices performance.

Karen: There are no two better places to be than in the studio and in Guelph. I am truly in my element here. I love the pre-rehearsal anticipation. Each day that my wheels slick the pavement from Toronto to Quebec Street I feel the excitement begin to percolate through my body as if it is attuning to the calling of the work (preparation happens in the most unusual ways!). I walk up the stairs into the studio and it’s like a charge of lighting drops in, the fire ignites.

On the first day while the dancers were shifting through their stretching and warming and settling, I observed them. I get so much information from all of these nuances and initial interactions. Our initial time together fuels my continuum. I am not a choreographer with a routine of how I hit the deck. Each creation is a new possibility and I really do not know where it might go or what it might end up being. Sometimes I come in with a seed of curiosity that I will be inspired from but it may not stick and I secretly hope it does not. This allows me the freedom to follow a thread or many threads until the work finds its voice. In some way there ends up being an indirect link to my initial imaginings.

Shannon, Sue and I got together in Toronto before embarking on rehearsals with FOYF. I exposed my focus this year, which is based on secrets, and we were off to the races. It was a fully fueled conversation and enough to last for hours and hours of exploration.

My current inquiry of secrets kept and secrets shared is what I am stimulated by in this work. It is too tall an order for a short process such as this but it could become a long chapter of work in my life. All the pieces I am making this year share an element of this indirectly. The pressure to pair down the vastness of the exploration kept haunting me while I tried to be open to intuitive meanderings. My goal was to create a work that fits the dancers, one that is really of them and for them. Curious to discover in the body how and where secrets lay, how they affect our behaviour and how they shape our lives, witnessing such treasures of mystery and enchantment bring subtle and bold points of departure. I asked the dancers to only bring in secrets that they were ready and interested in sharing, and nothing that they could not depart with. We created a safe space to be with each other in the process, I hope! Some of the secrets became physical or vocal source material.

FOYF members have an obviously strong connection and this helped me understand its potential right away. I have treasured the amount of input and full on commitment the dancers have given me. I am a lucky woman!

Collaborating with Sue and Shannon has been beyond a dream. It has been an extremely ‘cooking’ relationship, very inspiring. Last night we began a creative session at 9:45pm and when we were too tired to go on at 12:15am, I suggested a little idea of mixing some of the dancers words in sung phrases and they could not help themselves but to go at it. They are a truly amazing team and boundless in ideas and tenacity. I love this way of working – incubating in the oven together.

Questions I ask to myself these days during creative process are: How do I mine something to become uncomfortable? How do I deal with my discomfort? How does the dancer’s discomfort or excitement affect my next choice? How do I fuel it with smell, taste, touch, and an everyday life palette of feelings, exactitude, perseverance and incubated expression? These questions may or may not be transmitted or dealt with, but they linger during my current existence.

I take pleasure in the intuitive and unknown nature of that which can never be exactly repeated. I never feel like I progress, but I feel different each time I create.

Being familiar with Guelph, through many visits and inclusions in the festival, I feel very welcome here. I have a long time friendship and professional relationship with many artists in the community here. I really feel like it is a 2nd home to me artistically and beyond!

Karen Kaeja of Kaeja d’Dance is a 2009 Dora performance nominee. She is included in The Canadian Encyclopedia, The Canadian Who's Who, and Theatre Dance Encyclopedia in Canada and has won performance awards from Moving Pictures, the Paul D. Fleck Fellowship as one of Canada’s innovative artists of excellence, with nominations for the 10th Annual American Choreography Awards and the 2006 Banff World Television Awards. Noted in NOW magazine as “one of the country’s best dance artists”, her career as a performer, teacher, and creator spans ten countries and exceeds 17 internationally award-winning dance films at over 400 festivals.

On Thursday, March 8^th, 2012, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Guelph Fab 5 is proud to present Women’s Voices. This fabulous event will 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. After the show, we invite you to join us for a reception.  

Lynette Segal on Working with Karen Kaeja

Members of Fall on Your Feet Collective are working with Karen Kaeja in the creation of a new piece commissioned by the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival for Women's Voices 2012.

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

Rehearsal with Karen Kaeja

Despite the modest time-frame of roughly 32 hours to create a 15-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 a daughter to her aging parent, Karen works her magic by continually remixing and adding her voice to the movement vocabulary derived from short phrases which the dancers created.  Solo, duet and group forms weave into the fabric of what will become Karen's choreographic contribution to Women's Voices. 

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

Thoroughly blessed by the tremendous community we call Guelph, Lynette Segal brought the founding members of Fall on Your Feet together to provide collaborative improvisational opportunities. Recently appointed treasurer for the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival and in her third year as a board member, Lynette has been informed by her work of 17 years as a Massage Therapist, and also volunteers for Hospice Wellington.  

On Thursday, March 8^th, 2012, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Guelph Fab 5 is proud to present Women’s Voices. This fabulous event will 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. After the show, we invite you to join us for a reception.  

Kelly Steadman for Women's Voices

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

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

Kelly Steadman and Robert Kingsbury. Photo by Dakota Burpee.

The concept was inspired by the video produced for this song.  It depicts a day in the life of a young woman in reverse. It sparked a daydream about the thoughts and images that flash at the passing of a person’s life—a sort of 8mm 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 we re-experience at passing come from the time before we turn 25, and witnessing the power of influence the youthful dancers have on each other, seemed to make my simple vision seem relevant and honest. 

I used a lot of canon in this dance. To break it down, canon is a choreographic device in which movements introduced by one dancer are repeated exactly by subsequent dancers in turn.  My hope was this would help to depict the replaying of fragments of life images, but also to keep the flow of the piece going to reveal a single voice.  It seemed like a fun and level-appropriate task for the dancers as well! Perhaps I overused it.  It becomes predictable, but then again what’s more predictable than death? 

My wonderful father-in-law passed away in December. I like to imagine what he experienced as this happened. I look for it every time the dancers grace me with their dancing in this piece, which is something I’ve never told them. 

Kelly Steadman received her B.F.A in Dance 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 of disciplines at the Guelph Youth Dance Training Program and Royal City School of Ballet Inc. 

On Thursday, March 8^th, 2012, and in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Guelph Fab 5 is proud to present Women’s Voices. This fabulous event will 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. After the show, we invite you to join us for a reception.