The Little Pear Garden Collective presents
Phantom Rose
February 14, 15 & 16, 2008
Al Green Theatre,
Miles Nader Community Centre, 750 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Tickets: $25, ($20 for CADA, Group, Students)
Box Office: 416.504.6429 ext 49
The Little Pear Garden Collective is please to present Phantom Rose, the first production under the artistic direction of Emily Cheung, February 14-16, 8pm at the Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Avenue. This innovative and romantic evening of dance is filled with daring new works and classic pieces from the collective’s repertoire. Cheung provides a new vision for the collective, staying true to the respect for traditional Chinese performing arts while identifying herself as a Chinese/Canadian artist.
Phantom Rose programme begins with a strong focus on traditional Chinese dance, pulling from the collective’s roots. The first section features four new exciting choreographic dance works showcasing traditional Chinese dance styles including a Classical Chinese dance, a romantic and amusing Han Folk duet, a martial arts style piece and a graceful and elegant peacock Dai Folk dance. The second section focuses on Cheung’s fascination with Chinese contemporary works mixed with Indian and Caribbean dances. The collective is presenting three unique ground-breaking pieces which are the result of collaborations artists including world-renowned Hari Krishnan, Gary De Matas and music composer Gein Wong.
Emily Cheung has a Masters of Arts in Dance from York University and is a choreographer, dancer and teacher who is interested in not only preserving traditional Chinese dance techniques, but also creating new works utilizing Chinese techniques. She has been a dancer with Little Pear Garden Collective for ??? and was chosen by former collective Artistic Director, William Lau, to take over artistic leadership after his departure. Her artistic vision takes that of Lau, and her modern fusion style, and melds together a combination of both traditional and modern fusion Chinese dance.
The Little Pear Garden Collective
The Little Pear Garden Collective is a federally incorporated non-profit cultural arts organization in Canada. Our mandate is to raise the profile of professional Chinese-Canadian artists through the presentation and production of high caliber artistic programming. Members of the collective include professional artists, cultural workers, and community leaders. We are committed to preserving and promoting the richness of the Chinese performing arts to a wide range of audiences in Canada.
YEBO
Celebrating 15 years of tradition and innovation in African movement
February 29 - March 1, 2008 | 8pm
March 2, 2007 | 3pm
Premiere Dance Theatre
207 Queens Quay West,
3rd floor
Choreography by
BAKARI E. LINDSAY, ROBIN HIBBERT and
VINCENT SEKWATI MANTSOE
COBA, Collective of Black Artists leaps boldly into its 15 th year with YEBO! – a season program that pays homage to African traditions and blazes an exciting trail for the future of contemporary dance.
Following a two-year creative hiatus, COBA’s artistic co-founders BaKari E. Lindsay and Charmaine Headley are gearing up a rejuvenated company to satisfy faithful COBA followers and new audiences alike with the Toronto premiere of two new dance creations: Cross Currents, a highly anticipated African contemporary piece by Lindsay; and Doundoun dance (Hibbert), a recreation of a women’s traditional drumming dance from Guinea. Both pieces will be unveiled February 29 to March 2 at the Premiere Dance Theatre when COBA takes YEBO! to the stage during Black History Month as part of the Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps series of globally-inspired dance from Canada’s best.
Also, on the program is the return of acclaimed South African dance master Mantsoe’s Bodika / Sessions, an avant-garde fusion of traditional African physicality with Balinese dance and martial arts. COBA’s will make its first UK appearance in May with the international premiere of a new co-creation (commissioned by dance Immersion) between the Collective and the London UK-based Tavaziva Dance Company.
An exclusive YEBO! sneak preview concert is set for February 12 at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in the prestigious Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
www.coc.ca/performances/concerts.html
COBA presents YEBO!
at Premiere Dance Theatre, 235 Queens Quay West,
Feb 29-Mar 1 at 8pm; Mar 2 at 3pm
Tickets: $25-$30 ($20-$25 students & seniors)
Box Office: 416-973-4000 or www.harbourfrontcentre.com
MOonhORsE Dance Theatre presents
Older & Reckless
February 28, 29 & March 1 at 8pm at Dancemakers Studio in the Distillery Historic District
55 Mill Street (South of Front Street, Between Parliament and Cherry Streets)
Reservations and information call 416-504-6429 ext. 30
This 14th edition of Older and Reckless features choreographers
Douglas Dunn, Keiko Kitano, Dan Wild and Bill James.
OLDER & RECKLESS, an informal performance series, features work from OLDER artists who continue to grow more RECKLESS as time goes by. OLDER & RECKLESS provides an opportunity for seasoned dance artists to perform short works and a chance for the audience to see some of Canada’s most celebrated senior choreographers.
Conceived as a twice-yearly event by Claudia Moore, artistic director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre, OLDER & RECKLESS is “an intimate exchange for both the performer and the observer; exciting, terrifying, and lots of fun. The performances are followed by a party with music, refreshments, and a chance to talk with the artists about work, process, and whatever else comes up!”
In this 14th edition, Moore is thrilled to present New York dance luminary, Douglas Dunn “a dance man of prodigal invention. He puts more beautiful and unusual dancing into the hour than most [choreographers] can produce in several years.” (Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice). Dunn will be bringing his work, Tithonus to Toronto, a work originally performed at the Anseong Juksan International Arts Festival in South Korea (2004). Dunn, described as “a fluent, complex, eccentric mover” (Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice) continues to create and perform internationally and MOonhORsE Dance Theatre is honoured to feature this distinctive artist in OLDER & RECKLESS.
Kieko Kitano has been performing as a solo artist for over ten years, with a strong background in butoh and contemporary dance. Kitano is presenting an excerpt of her newest work On the Wings / Surrender, which explores the Japanese aesthetic concept of MA. Simply defined, MA is intervals in time and space, or a space between two objects in time. Kitano’s work investigates this concept as it relates to space, dance and music. Kitano is collaborating with Taiko drummer and Shamisen player Aki Takahashi and multimedia artist Rick Thomson. Thomson’s soundscape and video provide textures of old and new world, combining the three elements of dance, music and video.
Dan Wild has worked professionally on the stage for over 25 years. He danced with Dancemakers for 8 years, was a featured performer with Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, and performed and toured extensively with the Caravan Stage Company. He will be presenting an excerpt of his newest work A Simple Statement for this Mosaik, a solo performed by Marie-Josée Chartier. In this work, Wild creates a dialogue reflecting on life, love and loss, and the lifting of memories. It is a journey in creating and sharing these memories of internalized landscapes, feelings, descriptions and depictions of living grief.
Bill James is a dancer, choreographer, mentor and teacher. Former artistic director of Dancemakers, Singapore Fringe Festival and Atlas Moves Watching Dance Projects, James continues a long and exciting career in dance. Since 2006, James has been working with Old Men Dancing, an eclectic group of men from Peterborough who love to dance. In OLDER & RECKLESS, James will perform some of his “first-ever solo,wearing a ‘Tesla suit’ that responds to electro-magnetic waves.” James is collaborating with designer Shelagh Young and Doug Back (electronic gizmo artist) and we can’t wait to see the results!
O & R: Free Informal Showing
February 27 at 5 pm at York University, 4700 Keele Street in the McLean Performance Studio (244) Accolade Building East.
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