PRESENCE - a site-specific series at Lisgar Park
Hosted by Aria Evans (Sept 20-23, 25) and Tia Ashley Kushniruk (Sept 24)
Featuring commissioned works by
Kiera Breaugh and Renee Smith
September 20 - 24 @ 7:30pm & September 25 @ 3:30pm
production stage management: Michelle Soicher
sound technician: Eric Kinsella
production supervisor: Deb Lim
producer: Jenny McCowan
To watch Peggy’s virtual pre-show chat about the connection between Beautiful Renegades, Choreographic Gems, and PRESENCE, scroll to the bottom of this page!
Shahidi
choreography: Kiera Breaugh
music: Kiera Breaugh
costume design: Kiera Breaugh
dancers: Seanna Bailey, Morgan Carroll, Vania Dodoo-Beals, Kemora Manning, Zuri Skeete, Monique Pascall
Shahidi is an exploration of how we, as Black women, bear the weight of forced martyrdom. This piece was inspired by the collective trauma the Black community experienced through the publicized murders of our people on television and the uprising of Black Lives Matter. Shahidi investigates the bonding Black people have experienced as a result of this trauma and what collective coping looks like, from a distance and close-up.
Kiera Breaugh
Choreographer
Kiera Breaugh is a dancer/choreographer whose style lives at the intersection of contemporary and hip hop. In December of 2019, Kiera graduated from LMU in Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. While in LA, she was a member of several LA based companies including: the Young Lions, Immabeast, Immabreathe and MashUp Contemporary Dance Company. Since she returning to Toronto, Kiera performed “Barely Black” for the Dance Matters A Woman’s Work (‘20), became an Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellow at the School at Jacob’s Pillow (‘21) and performed in "Femmillennial" at this years Fringe Festival. She continues to teach and choreograph at studios across the GTA. Kiera is grateful for the opportunity to present Shahidi in such a unique setting.
Seanna Bailey
Seanna Bailey is a powerful artist who constructs with a unique perspective. She feeds solely on the connection of the mind & body when dancing. Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Seanna is taking all the knowledge and passion from her past, onto a new path as an emerging artist in Toronto. Currently, she is a member of faculty at City Dance Corps, sharing her vision through Contemporary Fusion movement.
Morgan Carroll
Morgan Carroll is a dancer based in Toronto, Ontario and just recently graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly Ryerson) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Performance Dance program. She had the opportunity to choreograph and perform during her four years there and is continuing her career as a freelance artist. Morgan strives to perform and create movement that explores physicality through the truest emotions of oneself while making art that brings people together.
Vania Dodoo-Beals
Vania is a Toronto Based artist and a student of many genres. She received a BFA in dance with an accompanying minor in marketing from Toronto Metropolitan University in Spring 2020. Vania has had the privilege of working with Siphe November and the National Ballet of Canada as a choreographer and Anne Plamondon, Peggy Baker, Louis Laberge-Cote, and Vicki St Denys as a dancer and collaborator. In this medium Vania strives to explore her own narrative and expression as it relates to shared social and human experiences.
Kemora Manning
Kemora is a dancer trained in tap, ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, Afro-Caribbean and West African. Her dance journey, which started at age four, has included training at York University, where she is completing her B.F.A in Dance with a specialization in education, Etobicoke School of the Arts, Ngoma Ensemble, and Ballet Creole. Dancing has allowed her to represent Canada in numerous Countries and participate in a number of stage productions.
Monique Pascall
Monique Pascall is a Toronto dancer, choreographer and educator. She's performed in ManifesTO, Dance Ontario Weekend, AfroFest and the Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister’s Best Village Trophy Competition. Monique's worked with: Andrea Nann, Emilio Colalillo, Percy Anane-Dwumfour, Natasha Powell, Lua Shayenne, Akil Elijah, Charmaine, Shopé and Shad.K. She teaches Hip-Hop, Jazz and Afro-Caribbean dance, educating black youth within their roots, culture and expression. Monique will graduate from X University in 2022 with a BFA in Performance Dance.
Zuri Skeete
Zuri Skeete is an emerging Toronto-based multidisciplinary dance artist. She is in her fourth year of the BFA in dance at York University, specializing in the choreography and performance stream. Zuri is constantly striving to explore her identity and movement aesthetic, persistently questioning if she can go deeper in everything she works on. She is always grateful for opportunities to collaborate and share her passions with other artists.
"Hmm…What’s This?"
choreography: Renee Smith
dancers: Katie Adams-Gossage, Reece Caldwell, Rajvi Dedhia, Lilly Giroux, Simon Mazziotti, Frédérique Perron, Emily Skubic
Music: Awake by Emptyset, Tears (Prelude) by The Irrepressibles
Fas-ci-nation [ˌfasəˈnāSH(ə)n] - the power to fascinate someone; the quality of being fascinating. I wanted to explore the idea of fascination by someone/something and how far it can go once you discover its full potential. I believe movement through this concept could go on for hours if given no time limit or rules. These beautiful artists through improv tasks and choreography now get to dive into the main trajectory we have connected to the most during this process- the power and fascination of their touch towards themselves, their space, and each other.
Renee Smith
Choreographer
Renee Smith is a black and Metis Ontario-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She trains, choreographs, and teaches in various styles including Contemporary, Modern, Improv, Ballet, Jazz, Acro, Tap, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, and Fusion styles. Renee has performed and choreographic in NYC, Toronto, and GTA. Recently graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University’s dance program with a BFA degree in 2021, She has performed in works by Alysa Pires, Lua Shayenne, Justine Chambers, Derek Piquette, Mitchell Jackson, and more. Her latest appearances include music videos for the artist, Nano Talrose and Rêve.
As a teacher, Renee works all over the GTA and was a faculty member of the On the Floor Dance Convention in July 2022. Renee is dedicated to positive practice while challenging dancers to step outside of their comfort, in hopes for them to find new information within themselves that can be carried into their own artistry. She strives to continue sharing her passion with others while growing her knowledge throughout all genres and opportunities that come her way within the industry. all the difference.
Katie Adams-Gossage
Katie Adams-Gossage (she/her) is a celebrated graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, recognized with the Kathryn Ash Scholarship, the Leslie Wood Leadership Award, a nomination for the Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant, and the Winchester Prize. She recently presented original choreography at SummerWorks, performed in professional works by Colleen Snell, Brianna Clarke, Kaelin Isserlin, Andrew Gaboury, Renee Smith, and Frédérique Perron, and is a transmedia production associate with Dancetheatre David Earle.
Simon Mazziotti
Simon Mazziotti (he/him) is a Gen-Z, lefty, triple aquarius, queer movement artist located in Tkaronto/Toronto. Graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Dance program in 2021. He most recently performed in a new work by Sarah Diorio entitled Ascending, presented at Angela Blumberg’s DaCo collaboration lab. As he moves into his pre-professional career Simon is inspired by working with other artists who engage in the act of creating community and supporting anti-oppression practices.
Lilly Giroux
Born and raised in Toronto, Lilly began developing her dance fundamentals at an early age. Throughout school, she trained in the Claude Watson Art Program, and after graduating high school, she furthered her education in Erica Sobol’s Gypsy Project (Los Angeles), and the Sidra Bell Dance Module (New York City). Lilly is a freelance dancer and choreographer that works throughout North America. She has had the privilege of training under Medhi Walerski, Jermaine Spivey, Adi Salant, and Tilman O’Donnell, and worked for many talented artists such as Christina Digiusseppe, Alvin Collantes, Rebecca Zizek, and Charles Moulton. Notable performances include Fall for Dance North, Toronto Fringe Festival, and Capezio Ace Awards. Lilly is cofounder of Half Light Dance Project (alongside Emily Rapley) which had its debut performance at ‘Entwined Together’ in 2020. Lilly would love to continue to develop her artistic voice and share it with the world.
Rajvi Dedhia
Rajvi Dedhia started her training in India with Shiamak Davar International Institute, gaining experience in ballet, contemporary, modern, Graham, Horton, Limón, Indian classical, hip hop, and jazz.
She is currently a third-year student at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she has received numerous awards and bursaries. She has had the privilege to work with several renowned choreographers in Toronto such as Roberto Campanella, Robert Glumbek, Nova Bhattacharya and many more.
Reece Caldwell
Reece Caldwell (he/they) is a Toronto-based emerging contemporary LGBTQ+ dance artist. Reece is currently interested in contemporary performance, collaboration, and improvisation. Reece is a recent graduate of York University’s BFA dance program specializing in performance and choreography. With a growing toolbox, Reece is excited to create and cultivate collaborative works. He passionately looks forward as an emerging artist with values closely focused and aligned with equity, community, and inclusivity.
Frédérique Perron
Frédérique Perron (she/her) is a dance artist and choreographer based in Tkaronto. She is a recent graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she has worked with choreographers Michael Caldwell, Alyssa Martin, Riley Sims, B. Solomon and Heidi Strauss. She has professionally performed works by Katie Adams-Gossage, Brianna Clarke, Near&Far Projects, and looks forward to dancing Renee Smith’s work in Presence. She has recently received The Winchester Prize which offered her the opportunity to present her choreographic research during the SummerWorks' Lab 2022. Perron has been investigating the body’s impulses in response to sensations, hoping to present movement qualities that represent a common language for movers and observers. She aspires to keep questioning her approach to performance and acknowledge the shared space between audience members and performers.
Emily Skubic
Dancer
Emily Skubic fell in love with dance at the age of 8, when she first started training at Jo Read School of Dance. At the age of 11, she auditioned for the prestigious, Canada's National Ballet School, where she trained for 6 years professionally. During her time at the school, she also began choreographing and performing work by world-class choreographers such as Peggy Baker, James Kudelka, Crystal Pite. Etc. Emily has spent time dancing with Multiple companies in Toronto, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), Les Ballet Jazz Montreal, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and even worked in a supporting role on a Netflix Original Series, Tiny Pretty Things.