Friday June 29: Emerging Artists Performance
June 29, 10 am – Eldon House: Inclusive Chair Yoga with Bizz Varty (FREE Workshop)
June 29, 5:30 pm – Eldon House: Contemporary Dance for Beginners with Julie Mytka (FREE Workshop)
June 29, 7 pm -Eldon House: Emerging Artists Performance. Tickets $18 online and $20 at the door. OnstageDirect.com/londondancefestival.
An exciting evening of dance works by emerging artists and special guests from London and beyond. This performance will take place on the beautiful lawns of Eldon House, and is our way of nurturing young choreographers. Bring your own picnic blanket or lawn chair.
Featuring Spotlight artist Breath in Mvmt. and emerging artists Tanveer Alam, Griffin Crespeigne, Kaitlin Jack, Tori Kuhn, Aly Mckone, Abbey Richens, and more.
Spotlight Performance: Splintered by Breath in Mvmt.
Choreographer: Melisa Boose
We split into fragments when faced with fear and the unknown. Every choice reaction determines the next and we can either feel solid on the ground we stand upon or succumb to the hole in the ocean floor. Collect the pieces with us.
Breath in Mvmt.’s work has been described as breathtaking, powerful and delivers much for the senses to absorb. Students and professionals from various disciplinary backgrounds and studios audition to take part in her work. Assistant Artistic Director at Sound in Motion and founder of Breath in Mvmt., Melisa has been a choreographer and instructor for seventeen years and is gracious to continuously learn alongside her students. Melisa’s work is crafted collectively around the narratives of the dancers’ lives, giving her pieces to an authentic foundation. Award winning and known for creations that challenge the imagination while evoking visceral reactions, Breath in Mvmt. is proud to train dancers in movement and views dance as a way to build community. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/BreathInMvmt/
While I’m Away
Choreographer: Abbey Richens
Dancers: Griffyn Crespeigne and Abbey Richens
While I’m Away is a piece that explores how the ones who are left behind while their loved ones go off to war cope with the idea of losing them. Tossing and turning at night, an endless battle with the internal struggle of feeling helpless, feeling as though they cannot protect them. This everlasting affair of the heart is an emotionally jolted rollercoaster, each drop capturing the heartbreak, loss, and verwhelming emotions of loving someone in the army.
Abbey Richensis a emerging artist local to London Ontario, with training in contemporary, modern, jazz, ballet, improvisation, and many more dance techniques, she believes storytelling through movement is of the uttermost importance.
Re Over
Choreographer & performer: Griffyn Crespeigne
Music: Excerpt from Song on the Beach; Photograph by Arcade Fire, Arranged by Griffyn Crespeigne
This choreographic work is influenced by the idea of letting go. Letting go of unwanted doubt or expectations, letting go of things that have already let go of you, and not running from difficulties, but facing them with vulnerability.
Griffyn Crespeigne attends H. B. Beal School of the Performing Arts. Thanks to his dance studio, Jo Read, Griffyn has been able to work with/perform for numerous choreographers who have challenged him.
Out of Touch
Choreographer: Aly Mckone
Dancers: Aly Mckone, Ashlyn Carwana, Claire Galajda, Gwen Logan, Jenna Hills, Hannah Granite, Madason Hale, Mackenzie Adams, Meghan Byloo, Sydney Ross, and Sydney Staecker.
Music: Lighthouse – Partick Watson
Sometimes we slip away from reality, and distance ourselves from facing the actuality of our lives. Often times we’re scared to see what lies at the end of the tunnel, making it difficult to find the strength to push forward. We get too comfortable with going through our lives living out of touch with reality. We need a push from others around us, to get us up, and show us the ropes.
Aly Mckoneis a dancer at Sound in Motion Music and Dance Studio, and will soon be closing her 7th year of dance. She has performed in every LDF showcase and festival since their Spring Showcase in 2017. From the emerging artists festival, to another piece in this year’s spring showcase, (both choreographed by Ashlyn Carwana), Aly is so greatful to support and be apart of the festival. Aly believes in the expression of emotion through dance, and how each dance piece and dancer tells their own story. She is excited to share her art and emotion through her dance.
The Dream of Life
Choreographer & performer: Kaitlin Jack
The Dream of Life, created and performed by Kaitlin Jack, is a piece which fuses modern and contemporary dance and focuses on exploring the concepts of vulnerability, religion, reality, and truth through choreographed and improvisational movement.
Kaitlin Jack is an 18 year old dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in London, Ontario. She began her dance training at Step Above Dance and Music Studios in her hometown of St Thomas, Ontario at the age of 6. Kaitlin is a versatile dancer trained in classical ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, jazz, hip-hop, and acro, her favourite styles being ballet and contemporary pointe. Kaitlin began dancing competitively at the age of 15 and has since won multiple highest senior soloist scores and received scholarships to The Canadian Dance Expo, The Conteur Dance Summer Intensive, and the Toes for Dance FRESH Summer Intensive. Kaitlin has had the opportunity to learn from teachers and choreographers from The Next Step and Toes for Dance and has attended summer intensives at the Quinte Ballet School in 2014 and 2016. In 2017, Kaitlin successfully completed her RAD Advanced 2 examination and received her Advanced Royal Academy of Dance certification. Kaitlin is currently training in Toronto and London and teaching at Dance Steps Studio while studying at the University of Western Ontario. Kaitlin believes that dance is one of the most powerful and empowering tools for self-discovery and expression and views the art as a celebration of humankind which connects people from all walks of life. Kaitlin is currently looking to expand her training and gain further experience in performing, choreographing, and teaching.
Uncharted
Choreographers & Dancers: Tanveer Alam & Eshani Sathe
Music: In Akbar’s Palace by Bageshree Vaze and Dancing in Madness by Anoushka Shankar
Uncharted is an exploration of the physicality that can be discovered within one’s body and what they can project into the space. The two dancers, one from India and the other from Canada, create a meeting point in these uncharted territories.
Born and raised in Montreal, Tanveer Alam started his dance training in kathak, an Indian classical dance form under Sudeshna Maulik and guru Sandhya Desai. He then trained at l’Option Danse du Collège Jean Eudes and L’Espace du mouvement in ballet and contemporary. He is currently in his second year at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Tanveer has also attended various workshops, and explored the different facets of kathak with masters such as Pandit Birju Maharaj, Padmabhushan Kumudini Lakhia, and Smt. Nahid Siddiqui. Tanveer has performed professionally across Canada, and has had the opportunity of performing in Pandit Birju Maharaj’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Danny Grossman and Rina Singha’s “Storytellers”. Tanveer has also performed in a variety of productions for Janak Khendry (“Life Eternal”) Anjali Patil (“Design 14”, “Ekayan Kathak”, “Kathak Soirée”), Bageshree Vaze (“A Canadian Dream”, “Mudra”, “Diwali – A Night to Shine”), and Usha Gupta (“Romeo and Juliet”). Furthermore, Tanveer has presented his work “Khoj” at Festival Quebeasia 2016, and has been commissioned to choreograph for Festival Accès Asie 2017, where he premiered “Eclosion” and “14 – Into the Mughal Courts”. In the summer of 2017, he presented “Aalingan” at New Blue Emerging Dance Festival. Tanveer will be presenting and choreograping new solo for Tangente’s 2019 season in Montreal. “Alam attacked the footwork of his pieces, and emphasized the complexities of the rhythms. His lines were beautifully extended, and there was intention in his movement.” -Aparita Bhandari, Torontoist, review of Kathak Mahotsav 2015
Smother
Choreographer & performer: Tori Kuhn
Smother is a piece crafted around the struggles of conformity, and the desire we feel to comply to societies expectations of us. Although the temptation of being unique is present, the fear of rejection and ridicule motivates us to conform.
Tori Kuhn, a young and vibrant dancer/aerialist on the way to fulfilling her dreams. At the age of seven, Tori started her seven year competitive dance career at Studio Dance Pointe in St. Thomas. Always restless and looking for something new, Tori took on the wonderful world of cirque. After 6 years and 4 studios as far away as Detroit, Tori is now training with Savannah Crittenden, a performer for LPC in LA. With dreams of taking her career to the professional level some day, Tori is working to expand her knowledge and prepare for auditions.