Graduate students Shannon Roberts, Nancy听Latoszewski Greyeyes and Ilse Gudi帽o, candidates in 91亚色鈥檚 Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in choreography and dance dramaturgy, premiere new choreographies for ensembles in Temenos. The show, performed by professional and pre-professional dancers, runs Feb.听15 to 17 in the Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre at听the Keele campus.
Shannon Roberts. Photo by听David Hou
The Greek word temenos refers to a piece of land cut off from common use, often dedicated as a place for worship. Historically, the proscenium stage has been regarded as a space reserved for particular users and dedicated to expressing the meanings that infuse our bodies and relationships.
As well as addressing the concept of the stage as a special site, the three emerging choreographers build on the idea of the dancing body itself as temenos 鈥 simultaneously separated from society鈥檚 imposed meanings, and infused with individual sources of meaning for each artist.
鈥淭heir dances focus on navigating the proscenium stage as a site for researching the body鈥檚 memories and cultural constructions,鈥 said Professor Darcey Callison, the production鈥檚 artistic director. 鈥淔rom delving into the historical roots of flamenco, to exploring a family narrative of coal miners in Pennsylvania, to challenging the complexity of the male gaze, these choreographers investigate the proscenium theatre as temenos: a theatrical space that frames these works in order to make visible the body as a conduit for memories and social conditions that permeate their choreography.鈥澨
Fusing modern dance with her athletic background, Shannon Roberts incorporates Bollywood, ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, figure skating and flying trapeze into her work. Her choreography is inspired by social issues and the people, artwork and cultures she has experienced in her travels around the world.听听听听听听听听听听听听听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
Roberts鈥 work, A Way of Seeing, is a discourse between Edvard Munch鈥檚 painting Woman in Three Stages and writer John Berger鈥檚 influential book Ways of Seeing. Investigating how a woman鈥檚 experience is informed through youth, sexuality and aging, this trio explores a sensual physical language that frames the private experience as public display.
听Ilse Gudi帽o Barthold. Photo by David Hou
In her piece, In the Marrow: A听Crucial Journey, Ilse Gudi帽o Barthold explores the history of flamenco as cultural memory and personal expression. Four dancers and four live musicians bring to the stage this complex journey, from a dance form infused with cultural significance to a movement vocabulary that is both personal and contemporary.
Trained in flamenco dance in Madrid and Seville, Gudi帽o Barthold has been a member of the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company since 1997 and has performed as a soloist and with other flamenco dancers across Canada and internationally.
In Valley of Coal, Nancy Latoszewski (Greyeyes) tells the story of her grandparents. Both her grandfathers were Pennsylvania coal miners, and her choreography charts memories of the challenges they faced and the personal sacrifices they made. This narrative choreography is Latoszewski鈥檚 way of exploring oral history through her work as a dance artist.
Nancy Latoszewski (Greyeyes). Photo by听David Hou
A former soloist with Feld Ballets NY, Latoszewski has also been a principal dancer with the Cleveland San Jose Ballet and Alberta Ballet. Her work has been performed at Nuit Blanche and by Ballet J枚rgen, and she has also choreographed for film.
The Temenos program concludes with a structured improvisation created by the 91亚色 Dance Ensemble鈥檚 (YDE) artistic director Holly Small in collaboration with the ensemble, and听performed by the 16 dancers and five musicians of the YDE.
For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.
Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.