Burlington's Outdoor Dance Event
Co-Directed by Leslie Gray and Joanne Ferguson
AUGUST 12, 14, 19, 21 - 2014
7PM
Central Park Bandshell
New Street, Burlington, ON
Promoting the love of dance and showcasing dance in a new environment.
A Magical Evening of Dance will feature new works from 8
local professional and emerging choreographers with over 40 local dancers of all ages and the community!
PAY - WHAT - YOU - CAN
( Suggested $5 - $10 )
bring your own lawn chair or blanket
If it rains we will move the show inside the Music Centre, located directly behind the bandshell
MEET THE CHOREOGRAPHERS......
SARAH GAGNON – Sarah’s passion for dance began as a toddler when she regularly asked her parents to put on her favourite songs and danced in the living room. She studied dance through her childhood and university. After achieving her BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo, Sarah could no longer resist her love of dance and joined Kitchener’s Fred Astaire Dance studios working in ballroom and latin styles for a few years. However, the allure to modern and afrocentric dances was too powerful to resist and Sarah moved to Toronto where she enjoyed a career as a afrolatin dancer working with various companies such as Ballet Creole, DaDa Dance and KW’s own Caña Brava. Sarah also produced a monthly show called In the Raw where new choreographic ideas could be explored and intimate discussions with the audience were encouraged. This show was featured on City TV News, CBC News as Artist of the Day, and TFO. When Sarah was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, she redirected her professional goals with an eye on achieving health. Subsequently, she spent 15 years teaching Pilates, specializing in rehab and post-rehab clients, then attended the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy and earned her M.OMSc diploma 2012. She now enjoys a full osteopathic practice in Burlington and is an Assistant Professor at the CAO, but her heart still longs to dance and choreograph new works! Sarah is thrilled and deeply honoured to be a part of Burlington’s upcoming A Magical Evening of Dance!
GEORGIA SIMMS - Georgia has been dancing most of her life. In her youth, she studied RAD Ballet and ISTD Modern Theatre Jazz at the KADE School of Dance in Milton. Soon after moving to Guelph to attend university, Georgia was thrilled to discover the amazing community of artists at Dancetheatre David Earle (DtDE). She has been training in the tradition of Modern dance and performing throughout Ontario with the company since 2005. As an independent artist, Georgia has also had the pleasure of dancing in works by several different Canadian choreographers from Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.
In addition to performing, Georgia is also passionate about creating dance. Her choreography has been presented at the Guelph Dance Festival (2011, 2013) and she is a guest choreographer with the Guelph Youth Dance Company. Her own creative enterprise, IMAGEO artworks, has been commissioned by the City of Guelph to create site-specific dance and entertainment for the new downtown Market Square, which features a giant splash pad and fountains. Her production called “Water Moves” has been a great success for 2 years running.
She has taught modern dance at the Royal City School of Ballet, University of Waterloo, The Contemporary School of Dance and continues to teach adults with DtDE. Georgia is also collaborating with partners at the University of Guelph exploring new methodologies and approaches for research. She is currently working with the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship and the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation on projects investigating arts-based research practice, conflict transformation and civic engagement.
KIRI-LYN MUIR - Kiri-Lyn has worked in the theatre/dance industry for over 25 years, first as a dancer, and for the past 14 years as a choreographer. She has had the privilege of choreographing over 50 professional shows, some of her favorites being Oklahoma, Cats, The Music Man, Anne of Green Gables, My Fair Lady, Hairspray, Joseph, Guys and Dolls and Seussical. She recently choreographed The Drowsy Chaperone for the Lighthouse Festival Theatre in Port Dover, and is looking forward to working on Mary Poppins for the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope later this summer.
LISA EMMONS - Lisa founded Le Form contemporary dance theatre in Burlington, Ontario in February 2014. Her work, Storm and Silence will be presented at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this coming July. Boy Q was developed through the Take Two Series 808 program and presented in FRESH BLOOD February, 2014. In March
2013 she performed in Laurence Lemieux's site specific work based on AllOneWord at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. She appeared as a guest artist with Collective Heat Winter 2013 performing in Mare at Dance Ontario and the Simcoe Art Gallery. Lisa performed with Lightning Strike Art Productions 2005-2013 in Toronto, Germany and New York. Emmons choreography At Home, a solo, was presented at the Seeds In Time dance festival produced by the Niagara Dance Company (March 2012). In 2011, she had the opportunity to attend ImpulsTanz festival in Vienna, Austria. In 2009 Lisa choreographed and presented Luminiverous, a group work with solos and duets, in Toronto. From 2002-2006 she was a member of Motus O Dance Theatre. Lisa graduated from the dance program at York University and is a member of CADA.
LESLIE KAY - Leslie has been dancing since the age of 10, training at many different studios in Hamilton (Paul Gordon, Steps, The Dance Centre), Toronto (Randolph, Toronto Dance Theatre) and New York (Broadway Dance Centre) and at the Sheridan College musical theatre programme. She has trained in jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, modern and musical theatre and has performed in over 40 musical productions. Leslie choreographed for local schools, Hamilton Theatre Inc. and Theatre Aquarius as well as for KooGle Theatre Company. Leslie had the privilege of dancing on stage with Toronto Dance Theatre through a residency program with The Oakville Centre. She is also the Dance Outreach Coordinator at The Burlington Performing Arts Centre bringing in professional dance artists such as Peggy Baker, Robert Desrosiers, Bboyizm, Laurence Lemieux, Andrea Nann, Shawn Byfield, Nova Bhattacharya and Ballet Creole for workshops and performances. Leslie will be teaching musical theatre classes for the Burlington Dance Academy in the Fall to ages 6 and up.
ELIZABETH KMIEC - Elizabeth is a professional dance, theatre artist and dance educator working and residing in the Milton area. Since moving to Milton six years ago she has been heavily involved with the local growing arts scene. Elizabeth has been a volunteer for the Milton Film Form, performed with Globe Productions and is the current President of Arts Milton, a volunteer run organization dedicated to bringing the community together through the arts. In April 2013, Elizabeth presented 'Nutcase' an original dance based production at The Milton Centre for the Arts. Most recently she was honoured to perform with Dance Theatre David Earle in February 2014. She is looking forward to being a part of 'A Magical Evening of Dance'.
OLIVIA NICHOLL - Olivia Nicholl began her competitive training in Burlington, Ontario. With extensive training in many disciplines, she furthered her studies by attending the Conteur Academy (Post secondary program) founded by Canada’s top choreographer Eryn Waltman and Dani Matte. Olivia has worked alongside some of the top professionals in the industry, and continues to teach at the competitive level developing a thorough knowledge and understanding of the training and experience involved in the maturity of a dancer. Some of her professional credits include Conteur Academy’s presentation of ‘Frames’ (2014), Degrassi: The next generation (2012), Bomb girls (2012), Shawn Desmans ‘Nobody does it like you’ Music video (2012). In addition to her extensive training with Eryn Waltman and Dani matte, Olivia has had the opportunity to work with other renowned dancers/choreographers such as Kelly Shaw, Julia Cratchly, Ryan Lee, Scott Mcdonald and Bianca Melchior. Moving into the future Olivia hopes to continuously make contributions to the dance industry, though her intricate creative process and impactful choreography. Though her biggest dream is to fulfill and expand the minds of all those in who she has the opportunity to work with.
ROSE HAJAS - Originally from Burlington Ontario, Rose began her dance training at Cheryle Bodrug’s Burlington Dance Company, training in ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical prior to furthering her dance education at York University from which she is about to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance with Honours. Rose competed for over ten years across North America, as well, she successfully completed her CDTA Dance examinations with honours status. While at York, Rose was a member of the York Dance Ensemble during her third and fourth year giving her the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Holly Small, Carol Anderson, Darcy Callison, Julia Sasso, Michael Greyeyes, and Marie-France Forcier.
As an emerging choreographer, Rose created her first piece in her third year entitled Sincerely, anonymous and her second piece during her fourth year entitled I am (I was) here. Rose’s main discipline of dance is contemporary and with a growing interest in choreography, Rose hopes to continue to explore movement invention and the translation of stories through the body.