Toronto missed winter this year ~  into Spring!

Yes, a few snowflakes were seen April 27, but otherwise no winter here to speak of.  Time also seems to have flown by for me with activity attending Theatre, Dance, Film and gallery exhibitions in this busy city while working .  I was carried away by the magic quality of Chagall's paintings shown at the AGO.  Next exhibition up is Picasso!

 My duties as administrator of the YOU dance program at National Ballet are over, and I am happy to return to guest artist, moderator, and teacher - a full schedule.

                                                 Thunder Bay with colleagues.

Zhenya, the wonderful pianist for YOU dance performances.  

Here we are together for last performance at the Betty Oliphant Theatre, Toronto.

Apprentice dancers after mixed program at Betty Oliphant Theatre, Toronto.

Teaching students and teachers has taken me to Ottawa, 

all around Toronto and area, Montreal, Thunder Bay.  

Now I sit in North Bay choreographing for 21 high school students a piece called Navigating.

OFFICIAL OPEN REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER ARTS PROGRAMS VICTORIA!!
Go to    www.CabriCreativeDance.com    for details

End of Fall season

After moderating 10 performances for school groups at the Betty Oliphant theatre, teaching 77 workshops at schools in and around Toronto, I went on tour with the apprentice dancers of the National Ballet of Canada, pianist, stage manager, wardrobe and staff to Sault Ste Marie, ON.  There we saw Ontario's beautiful fall colours.  Here below dancers on an after performance walk on the much loved HUB nature trail.

More workshops and performances and then return to Toronto for the world premiere of the new Romeo & Juliet with the big company.  The company had rave reviews for Alexei Ratmansky's new choreography and design/costumes by Richard Hudson.
To date I've been invited to give 5 workshop presentations to teachers of my work with brain-compatibility in the dance class.  In Ottawa, Stratford, Lakefield College, Blue Mountain and Toronto. All the participants were very enthusiastic and appeared to have never seen something like this before.  I loved the energy.
Mid November I had a much too short visit to Victoria, BC, and held a workshop with Sandi in visual art and me in dance.  Wonderful to see students I have known for years and meet new families.  We escaped the rainy weather into thoughts on all things hot in India.  Students showed a short Bollywood style dance to parents who then joined us for a circle dance to finish.
Back in Toronto I'm enjoying our prolonged mild weather, walks to market on Saturdays, teaching at schools and projects with the National Ballet.  On my recent trip up to Ottawa visiting my parents I saw the performance of renowned Pina Bausch theatre/dance company.  Wow! amazing crazy ideas that keep coming back to me.  What a place in modern dance history this lady has had.  And to think I saw her company when it was just starting out in Amsterdam some 30 years ago!

Back to the office!  keep in touch.

New Job Starts

Trinity Bells Park

I have a beautiful ride on my bicycle to work through parks, streets full of different brick houses, past some interesting sculptural chairs, to finally see the CN tower.   I zip along the waterfront and land at the National Ballet of Canada.

foyer of National Ballet

my cubicle in admin office

some of my favourites in wardrobe department
Swan Lake tutus

I am busy teaching workshops in schools throughout Toronto for YOUdance, planning our upcoming tour to Sault Ste. Marie, and many admin related affairs to keep this busy program going.  I will be hosting shows at the Betty Oliphant theatre with children who have attended my workshops in the audience.  Soon you can look up the ten dancers on the the website of YOUdance, and me too!

What a Summer!

July I taught at The School of Dance, Ottawa, ON., mornings ballet for 10-12yr olds and afternoons with the older teens in Dance Composition.  The fans in studios could never really make the heat disappear, but the enthusiasm of students and wonderful dancing made up for any discomfort.  The ballet students learnt more demanding ballet sequences, and we finished with our version of a peasant dance from Giselle.  One of my favourites from the classical repetoire.  In Composition we explored Movement Signatures, structures of choreography, style changes, and students really enjoyed creating their own environmental disaster choreographies shared with the other students and parents on our last day.

For August I moved out to the west coast (here kicking up my feet at Witty's Lagoon)

to visit and holiday with my girls in Victoria, BC. as well as direct, teach, and dance at Cabri Creative Summer Arts programs.  Truly a wonderful feeling to see the familiar, welcome past students, as well as meet new families too.  Sandi in visual art classes, and Rhonda in music, as well as the terrific teen helpers makes this a teaching highlight of the year.   The first week the theme was Colours with lots of exciting explorations.

 

The second week we discovered how any number of different seeds could be adventurous, inventive, secretive and sleepy!  Dance creations were made, art and song.  As always audience joined in a circle dance to celebrate being alive and happy!

Thank you everyone!

The last residency of this season with the National Ballet was in Parry Sound, population 5,000.  As per usual I went up the week ahead.  I was working with a group of grade 7-8's who wanted to end in the performance with YOUdance.  In the week I also had an all boys class trying out dance for the first time in a community heavy into all things hockey.  By week's end there was a buzz about what was happening in the gym and the principal invited school trustees and teachers to join in watching a pre-show run of the piece we called Copy Me. Some proud dancers showed their moves to classmates.

 "The choreography was amazing!" said a teacher with big wide eyes on first viewing.  "I liked the second half the best because of the energy" student comment.  And my favourite was a group of three students who found me afterwards and let me know that they would be signing up for this next year when they are in grade 8 as this year they weren't sure what it was and now that they have seen it definitely want to be part of it.  The shows with the YOUdance company were in the stunning Stockey Centre theatre over looking the bay and went off with success.

This month I've been teaching at a school down on Queen's Quay in a wonderful light filled building with a dynamic class of grade 4's.  We are creating our version of an opening to Midsummer Night Dream and having lots of fun, growing imaginations, learning new skills, and energizing our bodies.

Looking forward to Toronto's Ultimate Block Party at Fort York on June 5th.  I will be dancing with a team inviting passers by to join in a circle dance and creative explorations.  Reminds me of some of my favourite students in Victoria doing something similar with me at Fernfest below.

More talks and events in the works in upcoming months with time enough for some wonderful weekends spent in Ottawa with my parents.  Both still prolific in their work and keeping the sunny side up!

Spring beginnings

The Spring quarter began with a wonderful collaboration with grade 12 dancers at Cawthra Park Secondary, Mississauga, ON.  A group of 35 dancers putting in their efforts, talent, ideas, and trust in the dance with lucky me.

 




End of March brought me to Thunder Bay, ON, working on 'Snow notes' with a class of exuberant grade 4 students from St.Paul's Elementary.  The 20 students will be performing after 6 classes (!) with the YOUdance performers from The National Ballet of Canada in an evening show.  Sooo exciting.  The teachers here are generous, creative, and eager to connect with all things new.  I'm loving it!
Thunder Bay is the city with the Sleeping Giant, a land mass and protected park, with an enchanting First Nations story attached.

Thunder Bay is also close to Fort William with re-enactments of times past.

 This is the land of snow as I gaze out the plane down at the sea-like Lake Superior with the most beautiful patterns of broken up ice.  I just couldn't stop watching.  It's also the land of the sauna!

And the dancers were amazing in Snow notes!  plus they really enjoyed themselves altogether on stage making the dance happen under the lights.

photos by Brent Linton, Chronicle-Journal

Middle of Winter

The new year started off with lots of teaching in and around the Toronto area in elementary, middle and highschools doing workshops for the National Ballet outreach program.  All I can say is students and teachers wanted more!  I see they have had a lot of salsa classes in some of the schools a craze that went into effect after the popular Ballroom movies a few years ago.  But as my past students will know this class is different and teachers are catching on.  It is a relief for teachers and students alike who are stuck in newly built mostly cement classrooms to move to music in a logical, fulfilling, thoughtful way.  Self directed - teacher directed.  Everyone in class has success, with teachers as usual being surprised by all students being able to engage in this style class.  Another comment from teachers becoming common after one of my classes is  how eagerly the boys in particular take to the work at hand.  For me I often don't think that anyone wouldn't like it, but of course glad of the observations.

Lakefield College School main entrance

End of the month I was guest at Lakefield College School where I have never felt more welcomed by students and staff.  As the week progressed more classes wanted to have their turn at the fun the other classes were having in dance, and by Friday I had many of the staff join in a lunch discussion and demo.  I do hope to return to the lovely campus and wonderful teaching staff.

Tash helping with morning shovel

For all the west coast friends wanting to make sure I know that crocuses are up in their gardens, yes I know but am loving the vigor the season here is making us feel.  I'm also looking at the morning shoveling as my free upper arm work out and marvel at the beauty of a city gone white over night.  My girls experienced their first 'snow day' where the schools are officially shut due to snow.  It landed right on my birthday, what an unexpected treat!  we had a blast all day.

Birthday goat cheese soufflé... yum

My project at the moment besides teaching at schools in town will be making two choreographies for Cawthra Park Highschool, one of the two audition arts highschools here in Toronto.  I have travel to teach and choreograph in Thunder Bay and Parry Sound.  Plus there is interest in my teachers training course, and planning summer and next year.  I am very close to posting the summer school details for Victoria, BC, at www.CabriCreativeDance.com

 Check back soon.

Annemarie