Strand (1997)

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In 1997 Peggy Baker Dance Projects joined forces with Toronto Dance Theatre - led by Artistic Director Christopher House – and Arraymusic – led by Artistic Director Michael J. Baker – to co-produce and co-present a two-week performance run of dance and live music titled musicDANCEarray. TDT and Peggy each had their own concert program featuring live music performed by members of the Arraymusic ensemble; and Arraymusic’s program included works contributed by both of the dance companies. This week Peggy looks at one of the new works on her program for this season, entitled Strand.

“One of two premieres for me was Strand, performed to a delicate, spare and nuanced piano score by Ann Southam. I had known Ann’s music since in the early 1970s through the repertoire of Toronto Dance Theatre, and I had first danced to one of her electronic scores in 1974 for Anna Blewchamp’s powerful and disturbing Arrival of All Time. When I approached Anne for a solo piano piece, she offered Spatial View of Pond, which had been commissioned by Arraymusic for pianist Henry Kucharzyk, so it was a perfect fit for our shared project.

Strand was choreographed bar by bar to Ann’s music with the movement arising as a response to phrases of text extracted from the writing of American author May Sarton, whose journals eloquently chronicle the way in which our lives arise through the detail of each small act. For the dance, Ann allowed me to have the pianist release the sustain pedal to cut the last note off at the moment that my final gesture completed.

The photographer V. Tony Hauser invited me to dance Strand for his camera, and his portraits – which I love – capture the essence of gesture and unguarded emotion that lay at the heart of the dance.”

Discover more about May Sarton’s journal writing here on newcriterion.com.

Completely unrelated, but awesome nevertheless, read about Ann Southam’s extraordinary contribution to the Canadian Women’s Foundation here at cbc.ca.

Photos of Peggy Baker by V. Tony Hauser

In a Landscape (1995)

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The music and influence of John Cage is peppered throughout Peggy’s work, and it all began back in 1995…

“Pianist Andrew Burashko and I often gave one another books or CDs as gifts, and for our opening night at The Kitchen in New York in 1995, he gave me a CD of solo piano music by John Cage performed by Stephen Drury. The first track on the album was a piece from 1948 entitled In a Landscape. I instantly feel in love in with the music’s gently cascading melodies and the cresting and lulls of its compositional asymmetries. I lucked into an opportunity to perform a new work for fFIDA, (Toronto’s sadly no-longer Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists), and because Andrew was elsewhere, teamed up with pianist Henry Kucharzyk for the premiere.

The music took me inside of what I described then as my “creature body” – an interior world of sensations and movements riding the contours of joints and the pathways of blood, bone and muscle. The cycles of ritual that emerged elicited fragile balances and distortions that carved the lines of movement like the scarring and pruning used to cultivate a bonsai. Though this dance is brief, it moves through a timeframe that opens and elongates every second. The original staging of this work included a stunning costume by Jane Townsend – a kind of cocoon for the torso that left my bare arms and legs looking like the appendages of an insect – and a set of sculptural pieces by Kurt Swinghammer, some of which glowed at various times. Marc Parent, who lit this original version, later created a completely different treatment that called on the dancer to navigate a constantly morphing circle of light (imagine a rotating lava lamp projected onto the floor) that was devilishly difficult to balance within and which gave the impression of a dancer moving on a surface sliced out of the Milky Way.  

I hold dear performances of In a Landscape with Henry, and later, and over many years, with Andrew. Performances of this dance by others, most especially Christopher T. Grider, Tanya Howard and Andrea Nann, have moved me deeply. “ PB

"A finely crafted solo, with carefully articulated movement perfectly matched to a John Cage composition." - Lewis Hertzman, Dance Magazine

“The estimable Andrea Nann puts her personal stamp on Baker’s 1995 solo In a Landscape; the choreographer’s own remembered presence in the same work hovers like a distant echo.” - Michael Crabb , The Toronto Star

Listen to Kurt Swinghammer being Interviewed by Steve Waxman here on The Creationists.
Watch the documentary John Cage. From Zero here on YouTube.

Non Coupable (1982/1990)

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Peggy’s connections with Paul-André Fortier, the ground-breaking choreographer from Montreal, are many but they begin with the acquisition of his solo Non Coupable early in her company’s history. Paul-André writes:

“This solo first premiered in 1982, masterfully performed by Susan Macpherson. The piece was later performed by three other remarkable dancers: Michèle Febvre, Manon Levac and Peggy Baker. Each drew upon their background, experience and physique to plumb the depths of this work in a unique way. Peggy embraced this solo body and soul, crafting the darkest, most nuanced portrayal of a woman caught between her fears and her desires.” PAF

Peggy adds: “I learned Non Coupable from my friend and teacher Susan Macpherson before being coached by Paul-André, and from the first moment he and I were alone in the studio together, a particular mix of responses arose in me that have held true over the years since: awe and some intimidation in the presence of a great and uncompromising artist; intense attraction to Paul-André as an extremely intelligent, funny, physically charged, and outspoken person; fascination and respect for his provocative work; and a direct confrontation with my vulnerabilities and limitations as a dancer.

I performed Non Coupable for the first time as part of my solo debut in Winnipeg in 1990, and I continued to come back to it for another 17 years. The shock and charge of the actions, acts, and images that drive the choreography remain as vivid sensory memories for me: the rumble, scraping strum, and metallic hammer strikes of the prepared piano in Henry Kucharzyk’s searing score; the tight wrap of the costume against every contour of my body, and the binding of the rope on my arms; my vision distorted by the mask; the tremendous weight of the stones, and baring my breast to suckle one; sitting over my heels, knees open, the crack and thud of one stone slamming the other against my crotch. It is an intense piece for both the viewer and performer, but one that stands out for me as an incredible work of art.” PB

Tying together the Creation Catalogue blog posts since late May is the brief critique of Peggy’s 1991 solo show for NYC’s Danspace Project by James Sewell in Ballet Review. Covering Non Coupable, Sanctum, This Isn’t the End, Inner Enchantments and The Volpe Sisters, this review has provided the Peggy Baker Dance Projects’ management team over the years with one of the best pull quotes an arts manager could dream of: “There are good dancers. There are great dancers. And then there is Peggy Baker… From the essence of gesture to the unrestrained explosion in space, Baker moves with eloquence and force. It’s like seeing the human body for the first time.”

The first - and iconic - photo below, taken by Cylla von Tiedemann, supports Mr. Sewell’s thoughts.

From more information on the reviewer, visit James Sewell Ballet here.