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Conrad Alexandrowicz
A charter member and first resident choreographer of the National Ballet of Canada, Grant Strate left the company in 1970 to found the Dance Department at York University, Toronto. Known for the strength and excellence of its teachers, guest artists and facilities, the department has nurtured notable dance professionals including Susan Cash, Patricia Fraser, Denise Fujiwara, Christopher House, Holly Small, and many others. Most of Dancemakers' first members emerged from York; Strate chaired the board of directors during the company's formative years.
A series of National Choreographic Seminars, inaugurated by Strate, brought together choreographers, composers, dancers and musicians in mentored creative hothouses. The first seminar was held at York University in 1978; in 1980 the seminar took place at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and in 1985 and 1991 at Simon Fraser University (SFU).
In 1980 Strate became the Director of the School for Contemporary Arts at SFU, a position he held until 1989; from then until 1994 he served as director of the School's Summer Institute. He has taught and choreographed extensively, both in Canada and abroad, at institutions including New York's Julliard School and the Laban Centre in London. He has developed a special relationship with Chinese dance institutions. Since first travelling to the Beijing Dance Academy in 1986 he has returned to China a number of times to teach, choreograph, and act as a consultant.
Grant Strate has been honoured with both the Order of Canada (1995), and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1996), and in 1993 was the first recipient of the Chalmers Award for Creativity in Dance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Strate, Grant. China Journal, Dance Collection Danse Press/es: Toronto, 1997.
Strate, Grant. "Memories of a Generation," This Passion: for the love of dance, edited by Carol Anderson. Dance Collection Danse Press/es: Toronto, 1998.
Wyman, Max. "Grant Strate," 101 from the Encyclopedia of Theatre Dance in Canada, edited by Susan Macpherson. Dance Collection Danse Press/es: Toronto, 1997.
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Photo: Grant Strate
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