who we are in the dark - Program

who we are in the dark

SEASON SPONSOR

DANCE PROGRAMMING SUPPORTER

CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION & DIRECTION BY PEGGY BAKER COMPOSITION & LIVE MUSIC BY SARAH NEUFELD & JEREMY GARA OF ARCADE FIRE

WORLD PREMIERE FEB 21 - 24, 2019 BLUMA APPEL THEATRE CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION, DIRECTION

PEGGY BAKER MOVEMENT INVENTION

PEGGY BAKER WITH THE DANCERS COMPOSER /MUSICIANS

SARAH NEUFELD JEREMY GARA VOCALOGRAPHY

FIDES KRUCKER DROPS

JOHN HEWARD PROJECTION DESIGN

JEREMY MIMNAGH LIGHTING DESIGN

MARC PARENT COSTUME DESIGN

ROBYN MACDONALD STAGE MANAGER/TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/LIGHTING SUPERVISOR

GABRIEL CROPLEY ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

JAMES KENDAL

A PEGGY BAKER DANCE PROJECTS PRODUCTION PRESENTED BY CANADIAN STAGE IN COLLABORATION WITH FALL FOR DANCE NORTH

DANCERS

NICOLE ROSE BOND SARAH FREGEAU MAIRI GREIG KATE HOLDEN BENJAMIN KAMINO SAHARA MORIMOTO DAVID NORSWORTHY JARRETT SIDDALL S TA F F ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Peggy Baker MANAGEMENT

Meredith Potter Arts Management PRODUCER

Marlene Stirrett-Matson METCALF FOUNDATION ARTS MANAGEMENT INTERN

Steven Smits

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jacqueline MacKay PRESIDENT Faye Cohen SECRETARY/TREASURER Cheryl Belkin Epstein Patrick Cardarelli Stephanie Hutchison Tess McLean Kathrina Nhan

SOUND ENGINEER

MATTHEW LEDERMAN PRODUCTION MANAGER

ALANNA MCCONNELL

RUN TIME: APPROX.65 MINUTES (NO INTERMISSION)

#whoweareinthedark

C H O R EOG R APH ER ’ S N OTE In 2015, violinist Sarah Neufeld and I premiered fractured black – a brief, blazing duet that opened with the lyrics “who we are in the dark”.

With a fierce appetite to continue creating together, we zeroed in on that opening line as the starting point for a new work exploring the alluring darkness of night, intimacy, sexuality, the unconscious; the creeping darkness of uncertainty and malice; the confounding darkness of bafflement, secrets, the unknown; the dreadful darkness of cruelty, suffering, grief; the comforting darkness of condolence and contemplation.

I have worked from text as a primary source for movement invention.

The words of Rainer Maria Rilke, Sylvia Plath, Jean Genet, Jeanette Winterson, Pablo Neruda, Henri Michaux, and Roger Greenwald are deeply seeded in the choreography. This work is the creation of a collaborative team: stellar artists working with movement, sound, light, projection, pigment and fabric. The dancers are primary collaborators, and each of them has left an indelible imprint.

I’ve known the work of John Heward since the 1980s and the idea of incorporating a group of his paintings hit me like a thunderbolt. This is the first time John’s images have been seen on a stage, and I take the trust he put in me fully to heart. John Heward’s death on November 6, 2018 shook us all, and we share the grief of his loss with his family, friends and colleagues. This work is dedicated to his memory.

PEGGY BAKER

SUPPORTERS Peggy Baker Dance Projects’ season supporter is the BMO Financial Group. We also acknowledge our funding partners the Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and the Metcalf Foundation. who we are in the dark is a co-production of The CanDance Network Creation Fund, Danse Danse, National Arts Centre, The Banff Centre and Fall for Dance North in partnership with Canadian Stage, and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. This work is being developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.

Our work is possible only through the generous support of our donors and partners. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the extraordinary individuals and organizations who make our work possible.

Special thanks to Barbara Frum, Ilter Ibrahimof, Matthew Jocelyn, Sylvia Safdie, and to our donors – without them none of this would be possible.

Lead Underwriters: Martha Burns, Lynda Hamilton, Jerry & Joan Lozinski, James and Sandra Pitblado, The McLean Foundation, The McLean Smits Family Foundation, Gretchen and Donald Ross, Murray & Rean Smith; Supporting Underwriters: Faye Cohen and Stacey Hersh, Robert Sirman and the Metcalf Foundation, Norma Smith; Ensemble Supporters: Anonymous, Roger Greenwald; Supporters: Nova Bhattacharya & Mark Hammond, Cheryl Belkin Epstein, Richard Beninger, Rachel Cameron, Patrick Cardarelli, Judith Davidson, Kevin Garland, Eileen Farrow, Susan Farrow, Yvonne and David Fleck, Rina Fraticelli, Sally Hanon & Howard Barton, Wando Ho, Stephanie Hutchison, Sheena MacDonald, Susan Macpherson & Robert Steiner, Tess McLean, Blake Murray & Nancy Riley, Serena Richardson & Kurt Weinheimer, William A. Scott and Yvonne Iten-Scott, Marianne Teminski, Richard Teminski, Sara and Graeme Thomson, Margaret Torrance, Kathleen Ward, Devon & Gary Wolfe

C R E ATIVE Peggy Baker

Sarah Neufeld

Jeremy Gara

Fides Krucker

John Heward

Jeremy Mimnagh

Marc Parent

Robyn Macdonald

Gabriel Cropley

James Kendal

Matthew Lederman

Nicole Rose Bond

Sarah Fregeau

Mairi Greig

Kate Holden

Benjamin Kamino

Sahara Morimoto

David Norsworthy

Jarrett Siddal

PEGGY BAKER

NICOLE ROSE BOND

Peggy Baker has been a vivid presence in contemporary dance for more than four decades, performing internationally in the work of Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris (with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project), Doug Varone, Tere O’Connor, Molissa Fenley, and Charles Moulton (New York City); and with Fortier Danse-Creation (Montreal); James Kudelka, Dancemakers and Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto). She established Peggy Baker Dance Projects in Toronto in 1990, and for the first 20 years dedicated herself to solo performance, winning rapturous praise for the eloquence and depth of her dancing, and accolades for her collaborative partnerships with extraordinary choreographers, directors, musicians, and designers. Since 2010 her choreography has focused on works for small ensemble. Over its 29-year history, Peggy Baker Dance Projects has been presented at major festivals and dance centres in North America, Asia and Europe. Under the banner The Choreographer’s Trust she has published a series of booklets and DVDs that document six of her landmark solos, and she is the subject of a book by Carol Anderson, Unfold – a Portrait of Peggy Baker, published by Dance Collection Danse. Among her many honours are the Order of Canada, the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Governor General’s Award, the Walter Carsen Prize, the George Luscombe Award for Mentorship, and six Dora awards.

Ms. Baker is Artist-in-Residence at Canada’s National Ballet School and a 2017 fellow of the Boglisaco Foundation in Liguria, Italy.

Nicole Rose Bond is a Torontobased dance artist who began her formal training at York University, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005. Since that time, Nicole has been privileged to perform works by many esteemed choreographers including Peggy Baker, Patricia Beatty, Tom Brouillette, Susan Cash, Bill Coleman, David Earle, Danny Grossman, Ryan Graham Hinds, Christopher House, James Kudelka, Learie McNicholl, Andrea Nann, Yvonne Ng, John Oswald, Peter Randazzo and Andrea Spaziani.

Nicole has taught dance classes and workshops at York University, the Toronto District School Board, and Toronto Dance Theatre. She has also served on the Toronto Arts Council Advisory Panel and is a member of the Dance Collection Danse ‘Encore: Hall of Fame’ Committee.

GABRIEL CROPLEY Gabriel Cropley has proudly been technical director for Peggy Baker Dance Projects since 2013. Gabriel is also a Toronto-based lighting designer and three-time Dora Mavor Moore award nominee, with recent credits including King Arthur Panto for Port Hope Theatre Festival, Kickstart for CanAsian Dance, Return of the Dead for NAfro Dance, Styll (Nuit Blanche Scarborough exhibits) for the City of Toronto, Sounding Thunder for Festival of the Sound, Llandovery Castle for Bicycle Opera, and Category E for Coal Mine Theatre, as well as past collaborations with Alias Dance Projects, Ballet Creole, Julia Sasso Dance, dreamwalker dance, Avinoam Silverman Dance, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, Danny Grossman, Sook-Yin Lee & Jennifer Goodwin, Tracey Norman, and Hamilton Children’s Choir.

SARAH FREGEAU

MAIRI GREIG

Toronto-based Sarah Fregeau has performed with Angela Blumberg, the Canadian Opera Company, Ivanochko et cie, Julia Aplin, Kate Hilliard, Nova Dance, Red Sky Performance, TOES FOR DANCE, Valeria Calam, and Jose Navas/ Compagnie Flak, of which she was a member from 2009 to 2014. Sarah has taught technique and rehearsal directed for Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Danse a la Carte, Ryerson University, Quinte Ballet School, and École de danse contemporaine de Montréal.

Sarah has danced with Peggy Baker Dance Projects since 2012, creating and performing in several full-evening concert programs, as well as gallery events and all-night works for Nuit Blanche. She is a certified Pilates, ELDOA level 2, and Myofascial Stretching instructor.

Mairi Greig, originally hailing from Penticton, BC, is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre.

Greig began working with Toronto Dance Theatre in 2010, where she has performed and created works with Christopher House, Jeanine Durning, Deborah Hay, Thomas Haeurt, Ame Henderson, Lena Cruz, Jean-Sebastién Lourdais, Emmanuelle Vo-Dinh, and Heidi Strauss. She has danced with Bill Coleman on numerous site-specific performances, and with the Danny Grossman Dance Company, and collaborates with visual artist Aleesa Cohene, as well as with filmmaker Sook-Yin Lee. Drawing Thinking of You Dancing, Greig’s dance-comic collaboration with cartoonist Jason Kieffer was published in 2015 by Old Boot Comics. She also works with textiles and is beginning to dabble in the world of costuming.

JEREMY GARA

JOHN HEWARD

Originally from Ottawa, Jeremy Gara has been a member of Arcade Fire since 2004. In the past few years he has spent his energies outside of the band collaborating with a wide variety of artists: bandmates Sarah Neufeld, Will Butler, Tim Kingsbury, as well as other artists such as Michael Feuerstack, Susanna Wallumrød, Owen Pallett, and Nedelle Torrisi to name a few. He has also been seen filling in occasionally for Fred Armisen playing drums in the 8G Band on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. Most recently he produced and released his first solo album, Limn, a melodic dense and noisy ambient record; a collection of organized improvisations of solo creative moments in response to familiar collaborative efforts.

John Heward was born in Montreal in 1934. He was internationally recognized as a percussionist in “free jazz”. As a painter and sculptor, he exhibited his work in Canada, United States, Europe and China. In 2006 he had a retrospective exhibition at the Musée nationale des beaux-arts du Québec that travelled to Montreal, Toronto, and Sherbrooke. In 2012 he was awarded the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas.

KATE HOLDEN Award-winning dance artist Kate Holden has had the pleasure of interpreting the works of many esteemed Canadian choreographers, with performances across North America, Europe and Asia. A former company member of Dancemakers and Danny Grossman Dance Company, Kate has had

the great pleasure of working with Peggy Baker since 2001. Kate is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and is very active in the Toronto dance community as an interpreter, rehearsal director, teacher, creator, and producer.

Parallel to her work as a dance artist, Kate has a deep interest in holistic health; she currently practices Cranial Sacral Therapy and Reflexology. (kateholden.ca)

and production management.

Recent projects include - Noor by Generous Friend at the Aga Khan Museum, Jungle Book Kidoons/ WYRD Productions U.S. tour, and Monkey Queen with the Red Snow Collective amongst others. James is pleased to be working with the cast and crew of who we are in the dark on this cross Canada tour.

FIDES KRUCKER

Benjamin Kamino is a dance artist whose work has been presented nationally and abroad. His most recent collaborators include Lars Jan, Clara Furey, Sook-Yin Lee, and Virgil Baruchel. As a dancer, he has been fortunate to work under the direction of Michael Trent, Ame Henderson, Marie Chouinard, Sasha Kleinplatz, Aszure Barton, Jennifer Mascall, Peggy Baker, and Robin Poitras.

Kamino was curator at Dancemakers Centre for Creation in Toronto alongside colleague Emi Forster. He is the recipient of the 2016 Toronto Arts Council Emerging Artist Award, the 2013 Audience Choice Award at the Dance:MIC festival, and the 2009 DanceWeb Scholarship. Kamino holds a BFA in Dance from the Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in Choreography from DAS Choreography.

Fides Krucker has sung and created award-winning contemporary opera and interdisciplinary work in Canada and abroad for thirty-five years. Her company, Good Hair Day Productions, produced the groundbreaking electroacoustic monodrama Girl With No Door On Her Mouth (Bartley/Carson); CP Salon, an R&B disability love show with Kazumi Tsuruoka — now an NFB film; Julie Sits Waiting (Dufort/ Walmsley), a sexual catastrophe opera nominated for five Doras; and In This Body, a collection of Canadian songs amplified through dance (Baker/Lemieux/Strauss) which premiered in 2018 at Canadian Stage. In 1991 Fides founded the interdisciplinary performance ensemble URGE; their final work was published by Playwrights Canada in 2016. Fides has written a book on women, culture and voice.

JAMES KENDAL

MATTHEW LEDERMAN

James Kendal is a freelance technician, carpenter and artist currently working in Toronto. His career in performance began as a youngster with classical training in voice, violin, and 10 years as a classical ballet dancer. Throughout the past decade, James has expanded his skillset into the realms of lighting, audio and video design, and carpentry along with stage

Matthew Lederman is a Torontobased music producer and audio engineer. Spending his musical formative years in Montreal, he was exposed to a wide range of musical styles and genres. There, he co-created the experimental music series Moondata LABprojects, which over the span of its run had over 100 musicians participate (including both Sarah Neufeld and

BENJAMIN KAMINO

Jeremy Gara). Since moving to Toronto, he has been an integral part of numerous productions, including the Luminato Festival (2016), the Canada 150 celebrations (2017), Polaris Prize (2018) as well as touring with a variety of artists.

He continues to produce music and mix records out of his studio Solaris Sound. (solarissound.com)

ROBYN MACDONALD Toronto-based costume designer Robyn Macdonald is passionate about creating wardrobe that reflects the inner life of a character.

Her work explores the nature behind why we wear what we wear and seeks to give layered nuance to a character’s personality. She has worked with Peggy Baker on Krishna’s Mouth and locus plot and is thrilled to be designing the costumes for who we are in the dark.

Her latest work includes costume design for Lua Shayenne Dance Company’s Frontiers, Kolo, Tales & Dances around the Baobab, and the upcoming Kira, the Path; Mateo Galindo Torres’ i:political, i variations, and blue(dot)political; Wildling Pictures’ indie feature Cardinals; Riddle Films’ docudrama Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas; and Fulldawa Films’ upcoming feature Heavy.

JEREMY MIMNAGH Jeremy Mimnagh is a Torontobased photographer, filmmaker and projection designer for performance.

His still collections and film work have been shown across Canada and won awards internationally.

Film credits include: girl in mourning & a settling haze (co-created with Heidi Strauss), Jamaican, From Gentle Ashes and a short film for Bravo! called Floating Construct (co-created with Peter Chin).

SAHARA MORIMOTO Sahara is an independent dance artist, based in Toronto. She has had the privilege of dancing for many esteemed choreographers, currently with adelheid, Dreamwalker Dance Company, Karen Kaeja, Kemi Contemporary Dance Projects, and Soft Matter. Sahara is a participant of Ilan Lev Method’s Training Course in Poland, with support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Dancer Transition Resource Centre. She was the Artistic Associate for Peggy Baker Dance Projects from January 2008 to June 2015. Sahara’s extensive repertoire with PBDP includes Aleatoria, Aleatoric Solo No.1, coalesce, Encoded Revision, Geometry of the Circle, In a Landscape, land | body | breath, locus plot, move, Night Garden, on earth, The Perfect Word, Phase Space, Piano/Quartet, Split Screen Stereophonic, Sylvan Quartet, and Yang.

SARAH NEUFELD Sarah Neufeld is an internationally renowned violinist and composer based in Montreal and New York City. Best known as a long time member of Arcade Fire, she is also a founding member of the instrumental ensemble Bell Orchestre. Sarah began developing pieces for solo violin in a formal sense in 2011. Violindriven, emotive and minimalistic, her influences range from Bartok to Aphex Twin. Neufeld’s acclaimed debut album Hero Brother, produced

by Nils Frahm, was released in 2013.

In 2015 Neufeld released Juno award winning Never Were The Way She Was with celebrated saxophonist and collaborator Colin Stetson, and in 2016 Neufeld released her second solo album, The Ridge, featuring Jeremy Gara (of Arcade Fire) on drums. (sarahneufeldmusic.com)

DAVID NORSWORTHY

JARRETT SIDDALL

David Norsworthy is a Torontobased dancer, choreographer, and educator. He has performed with Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Toronto Dance Theatre; Dancenorth (Melbourne); ZviDance, Brian Brooks (New York); Skånes Dansteater (Malmö) and Andersson Dance (Stockholm).

David’s choreography has been presented at the KickStart Festival (Toronto), Wave Rising (New York), Our Voices (Stockholm), and OnSite/InSight (WinstonSalem). Commissions include Lamondance (Vancouver) and Point Park University (Pittsburgh).

A graduate of The Juilliard School, David was the recipient of the 2016 Ron Lenyk Award (Mississauga) and one of three finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award. David is a Co-Director of TOES FOR DANCE, a non-profit organization that produces workshops and performances across Canada. (davidnorsworthy.com)

Jarrett Siddall is a Dora-nominated artist who started his performance career in Edmonton dancing for the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers and Citie Ballet. Jarrett entered The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2009, and was awarded the Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant in Contemporary Dance in his first year. Graduating in 2012, Siddall joined Toronto Dance Theatre for five seasons and now works with various independent choreographers and companies including Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Vazari Dance Projects, and Frog In Hand. Jarrett also works as an actor in film and television, primarily using his experience with movement research and creation to develop as a creature actor. For more information about Jarrett you can visit his website at (jarrettsiddall.com)

MARC PARENT Marc Parent has worked as a lighting designer for 30 years, creating designs for many choreographers in Montreal’s contemporary dance scene, as well as theatre and opera. Since 1990 Marc has lit most of Peggy Baker’s solo work and all of her ensemble dances. He is currently resident lighting designer for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Marc’s extraordinary work with Peggy Baker Dance Projects has garnered Dora Mavor Moore Awards in lighting design for two Toronto seasons: Split Screen Stereophonic (2013), and Phase Space (2016).