ACCELERATION 2013
March 20 - 23, 2013, 8pm
Dancers from the graduating year of the Professional Training Program perform works by Peggy Baker, Rachel Browne, Danny Grossman/Judy Jarvis, Christopher House, and José Limón
Suite from A Choreographic Offering
(1964)
Choreography: José Limón
Reconstruction and Direction: Risa Steinberg
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Musical Offering
Rehearsal Direction: Risa Steinberg
Rehearsal Assistance: Pat Miner
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley
Costumes courtesy of Toronto Dance Theatre
Dancers: Robyn Breen, Jessica Hall, Marie Lambin-Gagnon, Britanny LaRusic, Ann Trépanier, Mathieu Trépanier, Kathia Wittenborn, Michelle Zimmerman
First performed by the José Limón Dance Company on August 15, 1964, at the American Dance Festival.
This work is in memory of Doris Humphrey. It is based on movements from her dances, and contains variations, paraphrases, and motifs from her works.
©1996, José Limón Dance Foundation. This performance of excerpts from A Choreographic Offering, a LimónSM Dance, is presented by arrangement with The José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. and has been produced in accordance with the Limón StyleSM and Limón TechniqueSM service standards established by The José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. LimónSM, Limón StyleSM and Limón TechniqueSM are trade and service marks of The José Limón Dance Foundation, Inc. (all rights reserved).
Fjeld
(1990)
Choreography: Christopher House
Rehearsal Direction: Rosemary James
Music: Arvo Pärt, De Profundis
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley, after Ron Snippe
Costume Design: Denis Joffre
Dancers
Mateo Galindo Torres, Greg Harris, Damian Norman (March 20 & 23)
Christian Giraldo, Turner Norman, Mathieu Trépanier (March 21 & 22)
The trio from Fjeld was choreographed in 1990 to music by Arvo Pärt with dancers Michael Sean Marye, Graham McKelvie, and Crispin Redhead. The imagery in this trio was inspired by the serene pathos and expressive contrapposto on display in religious paintings of the late Renaissance.
– CH
KJ4
(1994)
Choreography: Rachel Browne
Rehearsal Direction: Mairéad Filgate
Rehearsal Assistance: Patricia Fraser
Music: Keith Jarrett, improvisations
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley, after Hugh Conacher
Costume Design: Cheryl Lalonde
Dancers:
Nicole Carr, Claudine Dubé, Britanny LaRusic, Ann Trépanier (March 21 & 23)
Marie Lambin-Gagnon, Kassi Scott, Kathia Wittenborn, Michelle Zimmerman (March 20 & 22)
Originally KJ3, and commissioned by Toronto’s Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre, KJ4 was later remounted on the Professional Program at the School of Contemporary Dancers and the students of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre.
excerpt from Piano/Quartet
(2012)
Choreography & Coaching: Peggy Baker
Music: John Cage (from Sonatas and Interludes / pianist Aleck Karis)
Projection Design: Larry Hahn
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley, after Marc Parent
Costume Design: Jennifer Dallas, after Caroline O’Brien
Staged with the assistance of: Ric Brown, Sean Ling, Sahara Morimoto, and Andrea Nann
Dancers:
Robyn Breen, Turner Norman, Kassi Scott, Michelle Zimmerman (March 20 & 22)
Nicole Carr, Claudine Dubé, Christian Giraldo, Greg Harris (March 21 & 23)
Piano/Quartet sets four dancers in motion, translating – as movement – a series of striking and complex poems by the iconoclastic composer and thinker John Cage. More than any other writing I know, Cage’s poems feel to me like choreography – in the way that a single idea is pulled apart and repeatedly reconfigured, moving beyond the explicit language employed to call up images and juxtapositions that emerge, transform, catalyze, and dissolve.
– PB
The creation of Piano/Quartet was made possible with funding to Peggy Baker Dance Projects from The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Special thanks to Canada’s National Ballet School for providing rehearsal space for this piece.
Bella
(1977)
Choreography: Danny Grossman and Judy Jarvis
Rehearsal Direction: Pamela Grundy, Eddie Kastrau, Meredith Thompson
Music/Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley, after David Morrison, after Nicholas Cernovitch
Costume Design: Mary Kerr
Dancers
Mateo Galindo Torres, Jessica Hall (March 20 & 22)
Damian Norman, Jessica Hall (March 21 & 23)
Bella was inspired by the opera music of Puccini. In 1977, with the Puccini music and a mutual love of Marc Chagall’s paintings, Danny Grossman and Judy Jarvis set out to make a duet for themselves on top of, under, and around a table. When Mary Kerr arrived to design the sets and costumes, she took her inspiration from the Chagall images they had been using and created a beautiful painted horse as the centerpiece for this charming love duet.
Note: Thank you to Joey Eddy, who inhabited the piece so beautifully during the rehearsal process.
– DG