Nothing kicks off the new year for dance fans in Toronto like Dance Ontario’s annual Dance Weekend festival.  Each year this amazing event showcases performances from a huge range of Ontario-based performers.  They also feature the world premieres of new works, specifically commissioned for this weekend.  It’s a veritable dance extravaganza and a huge treat for dance fans in the Toronto-area!

This year there are performances by Ballet Creole, Ballet Jorgen, COBA, Randolph Dance, Kaeja d’Dance and more!  The newly commissioned works are by Sashar Zarif and Robert Stephen, who is perhaps better known as a Second Soloist with The National Ballet of Canada.

This year’s Dance Weekend features 27 dance companies, and tickets are only $10 at the door!  You really cannot beat Dance Weekend for an opportunity to see some amazing dancers, choreographers and performers all on one bill.

Sudbury has some exciting dance happenings coming up shortly!  From December 10 -12, Heidi Strauss will collaborate with dancers from the local Sudbury scene, including artistic directors and producers of earthdancers, a local contemporary youth dance group Strauss herself founded.  Earthdancers presents dance to raise funds and awareness for environmental issues, so it's a good cause twice over.  The dancers will then present a show celebrating Sudbury's dance scene!  Strauss herself is a Sudbury native, so this is a bit of a return to home for her, and an exciting opportunity for dancers from her hometown to connect - and perform with - a successful dancer!  Following the performances, Heidi Strauss will then teach a week-long intensive program, from December 14 - 18.

This is a very unique opportunity for dancers in the Sudbury area, so if you're up there, be sure to check out the performances!  For more information, contact 705 674 0190 or email heidi@adelheid.ca

I found out about this very cool show from the Dance Current's Destination Dance ~ Danse website, a great resource for dance happenings across Canada.

Over the last 6 days, The National Ballet of Canada has been performing a mixed bill of works, including The Four Temperaments, by George Balanchine, Glass Pieces, by Jerome Robbins and the world premiere of WATCH HER, by Aszure Barton.  I was lucky enough to watch WATCH HER while it was still in rehearsal, but I was also able to see it performed twice.  The most interesting aspect of seeing this triple bill performed twice was to note the different interpretations different cast members bring a role.

The Four Temperaments is one of my favourite Balanchine works.  It feels so clean to me, so exact in its every move, this is a piece I always enjoy watching and the company did not disappoint.

Glass Pieces will always rank as one of my favourite ballets.  The differences in emotions between each of the movements are amazing.  The fast-paced nature of the first movement, the way the dance just sort of interjects itself into the movement is really great to see.  The pas de deux in the middle section is mesmerizing, especially with the silhouetted row of dancers moving in the background, and the final movement ends with such intensity.  I also love the Philip Glass music used, it really adds to the emotion of the work.

WATCH HER was the piece in which I got to absorb the most about the casts.  At the first performance I saw, I watched Bridgett Zehr, and on the second, Xian Nan Yu.  It’s so interesting to watch two equally gifted, amazing dancers interpret the same role so uniquely.  Bridgett’s interpretation I felt was much more other-worldly and almost alien, while Nan’s had a groundedness to it that made it quite intense.  I feel very lucky to have been able to watch both dancers perform in such an intriguing work of dance.

Last night I went to a taping of the results show for Battle of the Blades!  I’ve always loved figure skating -though as a child I played hockey as I was never graceful!  Watching the show last night, I was struck by the central role dancing plays.  In this case it was interesting to watch the pairings and the differences between them.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, a male hockey player is paired with a female figure skater.  After some basic training, each set of pairs must learn and perform a figure skating routine each week.  In each of the results shows, one of the pairs is eliminated based on audience voting. 

Watching the results show last night, I realized how much work these hockey skaters have to do!  Obviously they know how to skate, but they’ve spent their careers specializing in hockey skating, which is very different from figure skating – they are now learning to deal with toe picks, lifts, spins, jumps.  On top of the new vocabulary they’re now absorbing – and having to perform – they also have to learn how to dance!  One of the most obvious differences between the figure skaters and the hockey players is the flexibility, gracefulness and poise the women possess.  They’ve applied years of dance technique to skating, and it really shows.  The men, who are power houses and doing a great job of absorbing and displaying a lot of information in a relatively short time, simply don’t have the dance background required to be a figure skater.  They put in an amazing effort, though, and watching the show was a definite treat.

Anyone looking for more information on Battle of the Blades should visit their website, while a good summary history of figure skating (Which began in 1772!) can be found here.

On Friday evening I went to see Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie perform at Toronto’s Fleck Dance Theatre.  They were dancing an evening of contemporary works by James Kudelka, the program was entitled Living Dances, and it was one of most amazing evenings of dance I’ve been privileged to see. 

The first work on the bill was a world premiere and was called Beautiful Movie.  It featured Bill Coleman, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and a doll.  All dressed identically, the three engage in a mesmerizing tug of war, with Taylor singing all the while.  The other works are familiar to Kudelka audiences, In Paradisum, Soudain L'Hiver Dernier and See #1.  Although I am a huge fan of Kudelka’s works, I’d not seen any of these pieces before.  Watching the show, with the drastically different works, was an incredible experience.

Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie is a dance group based out of Montreal.  They create, produce and present art both across Canada and around the world.  Co-Artistic Directors Bill Coleman and Laurence Lemieux both dance and choreograph for the company, which was founded in 2000.  James Kudelka is now the Choreographer-in-Residence for the company, so hopefully we have many more evenings of dance like this one to look forward to.

So many times, when people think of dance in Ontario, they focus on the bigger cities, like Toronto and Ottawa.  There is, however, a thriving dance scene happening in other cities all over the province.  A great example of this is the Niagara Dance Company.  Founded by Kathleen Hughes and Mary Jo Mullins, the company focuses on presenting and performing Canadian dance, and bringing a diverse aesthetic to the stage.  They also have an affiliated school, The School of Niagara Dance Company, which offers a wide variety of classes and levels.

The Company will be performing a work entitled Past Hereafter from November 6 – 8 at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre.  Past Hereafter features works by Patricia Beatty and David Earle, both Co-Founders of Toronto Dance Theatre, and will showcase dance works created over the past 40 years. 

For those of you in the Niagara area, this sounds like a wonderful performance to catch.  I found out about this performance through The Dance Current’s destination dance ~ danse website, a great resource for listings of local performances across Canada.

Last Friday I was invited to The National Ballet of Canada to watch a rehearsal of the newly-created, world premiere work by Aszure Barton!  The work will be having its world premiere with the company later this month, as part of their November season.  I will acknowledge that this is far from the first time I've watched the NBoC in rehearsal, but it's been a long time since I've had that opportunity and it was an amazing experience to be back in the studios, watching the dancers work.

Aszure Barton is, as some will know, a Canadian choreographer who is really making a name for herself down in New York City.  This new work was commissioned by Karen Kain and marks the first time Aszure has worked with the company.  For those of you who are balletomanes and who follow the National Ballet, you'll know that the last time Karen Kain commissioned new works from Canadian choreographers, we received three amazing creations, including Crytal Pite's Emergence, which went on to win the company some Dora Awards.  So, the prospect of another Canadian creation is building some excitement in local ballet audiences.

One of my favourite things about watching dancers in rehearsal is having the chance to see them think or work through a movement sequence.  By the time we see something on stage, it's been perfected, and looks effortless and easy.  Watching a rehearsal is that rare opportunity to see dancers puzzle something out, or allow their body to learn a new movement and as an audience member, I found it fascinating. 

I'm very excited to now see this new piece, entitled WATCH HER, in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts later this month. Tickets are on-sale now, so anyone interested in seeing WATCH HER, along with Glass Pieces and The Four Temperaments can purchase their ticket today!

Thank you to the staff and dancers of The National Ballet of Canada for letting me have a sneak peek at what they're working on, it was a great experience.

Ballet Kelowna is on the road!  This Kelowna-based dance company likes to travel throughout B.C. to bring dance to those smaller communities that may not otherwise have a ton of access to the performing arts.  Tomorrow night, October 30, they’ll be in Salmon Arm, a town approximately half-way between Calgary and Vancouver.  The company will be performing four works choreographed by Canadians and a classic.  The performance repertoire is David LaHay's In Arden Woods; Le Banc by Paul Destrooper; Vicki St. Denys’ Indigo Moods; and the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake.

The performance is at the SASCU Recreation Centre.  For tickets and further information, click here.

On Sunday night, Tara Jean Popowich was crowned Canada’s Favourite Dancer on the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 2.  A contemporary dancer from Lethbridge Alberta, Tara Jean or TJ definitely shone throughout the season.  She’s got strong technique but I think what stood out to me most about her is how emotionally invested she was in her dancing.  This isn’t to say the other dancers weren’t giving it their all, they definitely were, but there was something about the way TJ performed that really let everyone watching know she wasn’t holding anything back.

 

TJ is a great example of dance in Canada, and the way in which our dance community really does extend from coast to coast.  TJ is from Lethbridge, but moved to Vancouver to teach dance there at a studio called Harbour Dance Studio.  She was planning to audition for SYTYCDC in Vancouver, but broke her toe days before the audition!  She let her body heal, and then travelled all the way to Saint John, New Brunswick, to audition there.

 

TJ also demonstrates the way that dance, and dancers, are constantly changing.  Although she describes herself as a contemporary dancer, she says that thanks to SYTYCDC she’s fallen in love with ballroom, and would like to spend more time focusing on that.  Throughout the demanding weeks of competition on the show, TJ showed the audience a lot of heart – and a lot of guts!  She recently confessed on the show’s website that she’s been dancing these past few weeks with dislocated ribs, requiring a daily visit to the hospital to have them popped back into place!  Yet another reason I love this show is the way in which it showcases our dancers and their athleticism and discipline.  Thanks TJ for showing us the amazing caliber of dancers Canada has to offer!

I’ve just read about a dance performance that opened last night, and runs again this evening, happening in Victoria, B.C.  Decidedly Jazz Danceworks will be at the McPherson Playhouse, performing a work called wowandflutter. 

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks is a Calgary-based dance group that was founded in 1984.  They aim to create new jazz dance works that sustain the spirit and traditions of jazz.  They have a distinct and eclectic style, combing rhythm, improvisation, African rotos and more.

Wowandflutter is set to a score by the Brazilian/Canadian choreographer Amon Tobin.  The work is for ten dancers, and uses video as well.  Kimberley Cooper is the choreographer, and the work is described by the Calgary Herald as “A wild and wonderful conjuncture of soundtrack wizardry, a little video magic, and a never-ending kaleidoscope of movement that is nearly always fresh and engaging and never dull. In other words, a knock-out!”

For those of you in the Victoria area, this sounds like a great opportunity to see some amazing jazz dance, so I urge you to check it out!  For details, you can check out the Dance Victoria website.

This is another performance I read about through The Dance Current's Destination dance ~ danse website, a great resource of performance listings from coast to coast.