June 2010

A big, warm thank you to all who made this year’s GCDF a smashing success!

We are grateful for your support, interest and growing passion for contemporary dance. Dancers from across Canada and local Guelphites alike revelled in the spirit and enthusiasm generated by the GCDF; creating a wonderful platform to share and celebrate contemporary dance. With you in attendance we exceeded our attendance expectations with a total 2,250 patrons over the festival week-end and a total of over 5,300 patrons for events throughout the year!

We also want to express our extreme gratitude to our incredible, hard working volunteers and staff. In particulatr we would like to thank our board of directors: President Kim Bolton, Secretary Cheryl McGowan, Treasurer Christina Stavrou and members at large, Richard Gorrie, Lynette Segal, Lynda Walters, Michelle Miller, Sue Knox and Lina Fiore. A big thanks also goes to Daniel Poulin, our office manager who is both our right and left hands, and to our generous sponsors and donors, who have greatly assisting the festival to bring Guelph to this community, Bravo!

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Festival Re-cap

Watch a slideshow of images from GCDF 2010 courtesy of the Guelph Mercury.

On the Street was a huge hit, bringing dance right to the city’s heart, St. George’s Square. On the Street featured Guelph’s own Robert Kingsbury, whose dance-guerilla site specific work, provided GCDF patrons with new ways to look at their city’s downtown core (the flower beds, the water fountain, the street benches). This series also had stilts, umbrellas, hula hoops and funky break-dancing.

In the Park ’s dance works were wonderfully diverse, often comical as well as poignant and breathtaking. Montreal’s aerial company, Floating Seed, presented a work about the evloution of two catepillars out of the chrysalis (hanging 50 feet in the air) and Toronto’s Lady Janitor, with 15 over-the-top Syncronettes, seemed to linger the longest in people’s minds. The cluster of mosquitos (our loveable Company Blonde) were subtle in their humour yet suitably precise and efficient. Virtuo’s African contemporary dance featured three diverse, powerhouse women claiming their right to de-objectify themselves and women in general through a rigourous and ritualistic work. Victoria’s Suddenly Dance Theatre was set in an intimate grove of trees giving way to a romantic and intimate work.

Way to go for coming out in our often tenuous weather to enjoy stellar dance out-and-about in our lovely city of Guelph.

On the Stage featured three intense and diverse programmes, providing audiences with a chance to take in nine dance works showcasing artists from across Canada.

Stage A kicked off our gala with works by Toronto artists Susie Burpee and Menaka Thakkar Dance Company and Montreal’s The Choreographers. Burpee’s work was highly unique and quirky, spoken with a physically charged movement vocabulary. Menaka Thakkar presented a fusion of classical Indian and contemporary dance choreographed by Natasha Bakht. The piece was piercingly beautiful and rich. The Choreographers performed Rhyming Couplets, a piece that allowed the audience an intimate view of the creative process, as the work unfolded through familiar and sometimes awkward partnering.

Stage B featured dance and film by both Vancouver’s Animals of Distinction and Toronto’s William Yong. These works were totally captivating in their fluid inter-weaving between dance and technology. Calgary’s Helen Husak’s desperate, emotive character questioned through a dense, physically compelling language, the notion of destiny unable to be altered.

Series C closed up the On the Stage series, featuring Hamilton based, Columbian dancer/choreographer Olga Barrios, Toronto’s Blue Ceiling and Andrea Nann’s Dreamwalker Dance Company. Barrios’ work featured a scrim sized shower curtain from behind which she mulled over the intimacy of space and ritual. Blue Ceiling articulated the essential earth elements in Watermud/Airsmoke a structured improvisational duet that combined spontaneity with precision and control. Dreamwalker Dance featured Andrea Nann’s subtle yet athletic dance fused with poetry by Gord Downie and performed by Andy Maize, combining to create a powerful work about love, procrastination and idealism.

The inaugural year for Behind the Scenes Youth Dance Day was a great success wherein 23 teenaged dancers from Guelph had a full day of dance immersion. Participants watched the On the Street performances, took part in workshops, shared in discussion with On The Stage artists Animals of Distinction, toured the backstage of the River Run Centre and previewed On the Stage: Stage B’s dress rehearsal. This was a fantastic day for youth to experience contemporay dance first hand, guided by nationally acclaimed artists. Behind the Scenes Youth Dance Day promises to become an annual educational element to the GCDF.

Sharing Feedback

We are thrilled to have received such enthusiastic and positive feedback from the GCDF’s dance artists from across the nation. Following is a sample of our artist, audience and volunteer feedback:

"….It was very organized, run by a wonderful group of individuals and the public was exceptional."

"everybody is so helpful - this place has a very positive environment - everybody seems to get along- why aren't more festivals like this one?"

"Being my first time in Guelph and in the festival, I take with me one of my best experiences in Canada."

"See you soon - and thanks for an awesome (again) festival - I met people from Toronto, Collingwood and Michigan who came into town specifically for the festival!"

DANCE ASSOCIATE SPOTLIGHT

Suddenly Dance Theatre is pleased to announce the broadcast television premiere of a new Canadian short dance-film GUTHRIE SWIMS THE LAKE on "Bravo!FACT Presents" Sunday 27 June 2010 at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT on Bravo! See a preview!

Symphonica Dance Company - Dianne Chapitis
Performance, research, teaching, workshops and movement coaching. diannechapitis.com

Lynette Segal - Registered Massage Therapist, Dance Artist
With 21 years as a professional dancer and 14 years as a Registered massage therapist. lynettesegal.com

Guelph Youth Dance Training Program
Offers classes for ages 4-18 in contemporary dance technique, modern jazz and creative movement. Register before June 29th to receive our Early Bird rates! www.guelphyouthdance.ca

Ballroom Class
Offers group and private instruction in sizzling Latin and elegant ballroom for children ages 6 to 15, youth ages 16 to 18, adult couples and singles. ballroomclass.ca

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