Dance masters showcase their artistry

The first group of candidates in York’s Master of Fine Arts in Dance Program will present the third and final component of their thesis performances starting tonight and continuing through to mid-April.

Building on their two preceding shows this season – Cuatro, which premiered self-choreographed solos and Penumbra, which premiered works created for multiple dancers – this final round of performances gives the choreographers free rein in the culmination of their creative work.

Moving Earth is the final chapter in the triptych Sangre (Blood) by Olga Barrios. Moving Earth offers a searing exploration of the dehumanizing effects of war. Created in collaboration with visual artists Maria Flawia Litwin and Alexandra Gelis, Moving Earth is a multidisciplinary choreographic journey depicting aspects of forced displacement.

The work will be performed tonight at 6 and 7pm at the Arta Gallery in Toronto’s Distillery District at 55 Mill St., Building 9, Suite 102. Admission is pay-what-you-can at the door.

The connections between cartography and choreography are the subject of 43°N 79°W, the latest work by Tracey Norman (BFA Spec. Hons. ’03). 43°N 79°W continues her exploration of one of our deepest needs: to know where we are. Every day people get lost and find their way. We use our senses to navigate – to discover where we are and how to get to where we want to go. How do we sense it? And how is our inner compass affected when our senses are blocked? These are the questions underpinning 43°N 79°W.

York dance alumni Jesse Dell (BFA Spec. Hons. ’03) and Sky Fairchild-Waller (BFA Spec. Hons. ’09) will perform Norman’s 43°N 79°W  March 18 to 20 at 8pm at Hub 14, 14 Markham St. in downtown Toronto. Tickets are $10 and can be reserved at tickets@traceynorman.com.

Susan Lee performs her new solo Sensorium, an intermedial dance work that explores the nature of self-revelation, identity perception and intimacy in an immersive technological environment. In Sensorium, video images by Lee and sound by composer Edgardo Moreno are triggered by various interactive technologies, creating new arenas for the exploration of intimacy in a sensory environment that is shared and acted upon by both audience and performer. The viewers are not passive observers, and the dancer is not solely a representational object. The work, constantly in flux, is born out of their interaction.

Lee presents Sensorium April 16 at 5 pm, 6pm and 7pm in 103 Accolade West Building on York’s Keele campus. Admission is $5 or free with a donation of non-perishable items for a food bank.