DanceWorks Presents THROWDOWN COLLECTIVE, 2/9-11

By: Jan. 06, 2017
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DanceWorks, Toronto's longest running contemporary dance series, proudly presents the acclaimed Throwdown Collective in an evening of two powerful works: the world premiere ofYlem (3 Eggs Ago) commissioned from Montreal choreographer Lina Cruz, and the Collective's own award-winning creation, Various Concert. Throwdown Collective performs Thursday February 9 through Saturday February 11 at 8pm at Harbourfront Centre Theatre as part of the NextSteps series. Tickets are now on sale.

Comprised of Toronto dance artists Zhenya Cerneacov, Mairéad Filgate and Brodie Stevenson, Throwdown Collective is a trio of accomplished artists who have forged a vital and highly collaborative working relationship. With choreographer Lina Cruz (who is founding artistic director of Fila 13 Productions), they have developed a process of mutual respect and cooperation with which to delve into Cruz's theatrical, idiosyncratic world.

Throwdown Collective premiered Various Concert in 2015, their first work for the stage, at the dance: made in canada/fait au canada Festival where it received the Audience Choice Award and subsequently the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Original Choreography. The work also received Dora nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design/Arun Srinivasan, Outstanding Sound Design/Joshua van Tassel and Outstanding Male Performance/Brodie Stevenson.

Various Concert sculpts space and time in a constantly shifting dynamic of action and reaction that plays with partnering, weight sharing and manipulation. With the anticipation of connection, tension builds as recognizable structures fade in and out of visibility and the three performers gradually find points of intersection. What slowly emerges is a highly attuned dance of unsettled interdependency.

Cruz's piece, Ylem (3 Eggs Ago), is steeped in magic realism and creates a potent counterpoint to the fluid and changing dynamic of Various Concert. Paraphrasing from a traditional children's poem, she says of this work, "In a marble sphere, as white as milk, dwells a cosmic egg, fragile as silk. As physicists sometimes humorously say, 'You can make an omelette from an egg but you can't make an egg from an omeletteŠ' " Ylem (3 Eggs Ago)is a co-production of Throwdown Collective and Fila 13 Productions.

BIOGRAPHIES:
Montreal choreographer Lina Cruz creates works with a very personal signature, described as "stylized to the minimum gesture (Le Soleil)," always evolving on the margins of mainstream dance. After 15 years as an independent choreographer, Cruz founded Fila 13 Productions in late 2003. Her group piece Soupe du Jour,presented at dance: made in canada / fait au canada 2011, received two Dora Mavor Moore Awards: Outstanding Original Choreography (Lina Cruz) and Outstanding Sound Design/Composition (Philippe Noireaut). Her choreography Waiting for A Sleepless Night presented by dance: made in canada / fait au canada 2015 received two Dora Award nominations: one for choreography and one for performance, which was awarded to dancer Fabien Piché. Vist www.fila13.com for more info.

Toronto-based Throwdown Collective is a contemporary Dance Company that supports the collaborative creative pursuits of founders Zhenya Cerneacov, Mairéad Filgate and Brodie Stevenson. Since 2008 the collective has been co-creating physically dynamic work for both stage and the outdoors, including three site-specific commissions for Dusk Dances - One Couch (2009), Boxset (2011), 1981FM (2013) - that went on to tour throughout Ontario and to Quebec and British Columbia. In 2015 Throwdown Collective premieredVarious Concert, their first work for the stage, at the dance: made in canada/fait au canada Festival where it received the Audience Choice Award and subsequently the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Original Choreography. In the fall of 2016, they performed at Fall for Dance North at the Sony Centre.

Zhenya Cerneacov was born in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. In 2006, Zhenya moved to Canada where he quickly became an active member of the contemporary dance scene performing in companies including Danny Grossman Dance Company, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Chimera Project, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre and Kaeja d'Dance. In 2011, Zhenya co-founded The School of Cadence Ballet with partner Courtnae Bowman with whom he shares artistic direction. For the past 9 years, Zhenya has been a member of the core ensemble of Dusk Dances.

Mairéad Filgate is a Toronto-based dance artist and graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and the Etobicoke School of the Arts. She has performed extensively throughout Canada and beyond with the Danny Grossman Dance Company, Dusk Dances, Yvonne Ng/tiger princess dance projects, Gabby Kamino, Ame Henderson/Public Recordings, Sylvie Bouchard/BoucharDanse, Marie-Josée Chartier/Chartier Danse, Bill Coleman and Kaeja d'Dance, among others. As a choreographer, Mairéad creates both collaboratively with Throwdown Collective and independently, most recently presenting one small thing at the SummerWorks Performance Festival. She is a student of Women & Gender Studies and Sociology at the University of Toronto and serves as co-chair for the board of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists.

Brodie Stevenson was born in the small village of Wuikinuxv on British Columbia's central coast. As an independent dancer, Stevenson has had the immense pleasure of working with many notable choreographers including Julia Aplin, Peggy Baker, Marie-Josée Chartier and D.A. Hoskins. From 2008 - 2014, Stevenson was a member of Toronto Dance Theatre where he created multiple original roles in works by Artistic Director Christopher House and performed for guest choreographers such as Lina Cruz, Deborah Hay and Heidi Strauss. For seven seasons he toured across Canada with the outdoor festival Dusk Dances. He is a Dora Award nominated performer and choreographic recipient with Throwdown Collective.

DanceWorks began as a collective of independent dance artists in 1977 and has grown to become Toronto's leading presenter of independent dance. DanceWorks offers seasons of eclectic, exhilarating choreography programmed to intrigue, challenge and enthral. DanceWorks adds to the theatrical experience with Carol's Dance Notes and post-performance conversations with artists. DanceWorks is the administrator of the CanDance Network and Dance Ontario Association. www.danceworks.ca + https://danceworksblog.wordpress.com/
(Photo Credit: Jeremy Mimnagh)


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