The Chimera Project Dance Theatre to Launch Inaugural HAUNTED DANCES Halloween Event

The Chimera Project Dance Theatre is launching inaugural Haunted Dances. Inspired by a local legacy of outdoor community-activated dance in Toronto, an eerie tour guide departing from Jean Sibelius Park will lead followers to an evening of Halloween-inspired dance by choreographers Sze-Yang Ade-Lam, Jose Carret, Sophie Dow, Malgorzata Nowacka-May and Terril Maguire through a heartwarming community gathering

"In my Slavic heritage, Halloween is a time of remembering our ancestors, but when we look through the lens of human frailty, it's also a time to value every breathing, living moment. The Canadian tradition of wearing costumes references multiple others around the world that offer both fear and defiance, irreverence and respect, to both things we know and don't know. It is a beautifully complex tradition." - Malgorzata Nowacka-May, Artistic Director, The Chimera Project Dance Theatre.

Haunted Dances begins with a Witch Dance, then weaves gathered audiences through Toronto's famous Annex neighbourhood on a Ghost Tour revealing local and non-local stories of hauntings, and features five encounters with dance. The dances, created by Toronto-based celebrated-to-emerging choreographers, showcase local family participants and professional dancers.

Haunted Dances creators feature Sze-Yang Ade-Lam, Jose Carret, Sophie Dow, and Malgorzata Nowacka-May.

Haunted Dances will present original music by iconic dance composer Eric Cadesky, whose score for Chimera's dance film "Bears, Stars and Trees" recently won best sound at Experimental/Dance Fesival.

For those who love Halloween and would like to perform in the "witch dance" that kicks-off the event, there is still time to join! Visit: https://chimeradt.com/call-to-join/

Sze-Yang Ade-Lam

Sze-Yang Ade-Lam is a queer Asian non-binary dancer, choreographer, martial artist, actor, advocate, and community developer. Sze-Yang shares stories for love, liberation, representation and empowerment, as an independent artist, and as part of ILL NANA/DiverseCity Dance Company.

Jose Carret

Cuban born Mr. Carret is an award-winning choreographer and principal dancer who has created more than 60 original works.He was as principal dancer and choreographer at Danza Espiral from Matanzas, Cuba ,and performed many renowned Cuban choreographers' works such as Narciso Medina's piece "Metamorphosis", a Cuban modern classic.He has created choreographies for the International Ballet competitions in Cuba and for the Youth America Grand Prix international competition (2018) held in Canada.Many of his awarded works are still part of the repertoire of several companies such as Danza Libre,Danza Fragmentada from Guantanamo, Cuba and Ballet Creole Canada, among others. As a principal dancer he toured in Spain, Canada, Martinica, Saint Kitts & Nevis and Guadalupe. Mr Carret performed at the International Ballet Festival in Cuba and one his awarded piece "Invernal" was danced at a special gala in which a Dance Award was given to Prima Ballerina Absoluta Alicia Alonso. Mr Carret received many awards that were given by prestigious dance artists in Cuba such as : Narciso Medina ,Clara Luz Rodriguez, Isidro Leonardo Rolando Thondike and Ramiro Guerra among others.

Carret first shared his unique Cuban dance style and heritage with Canadian audiences in 2005 as a guest dancer with Decidedly Jazz Dance Works (Calgary) and Dance Immersion's Erie Music Festival (2010). His many credits include permanent guest teaching and choreographing for Toronto's Ballet Creole School and Company and guest choreographer for Ballet Jorgen Canada (2011-12 Solos and Duets series ) Since 2015 he is a guest teacher at the acclaimed University of North Carolina's School of the Arts Dance Program (Winston Salem, USA). Jose is the Founding Artistic Director of Danza Corpus (Cuba) and Danza Corpus Canada (DCC). Danza Corpus Canada was awarded the Aboriginal and Culturally Diverse Training Grant by the Ontario Arts Council in 2014, 2015 and 2016 . In 2016, Mr. Carret served as the Ontario Arts Council's Artistic Advisor for Operational Grants. Mr Carret is the founder artistic director of International Dance Intensive TEADE ( since 2011) that takes place in Cuba every summer and was held virtually since July 2020 and Winter TEADE 2020. He is a member of Dance Ontario ,and of the International Council of Dance ( CID) UNESCO. 2021 marked Carret 30th anniversary of his professional career, 20th anniversary of Danza Corpus and 10th anniversary of TEADE. He was also a guest choreographer for George Brown Collegue Dance Program and Canada's Ballet Jorgen for their 2022 productions creating 4 new works. Recently invited as one of the conferees at the 58th International Research Dance Congress by CID UNESCO,in Athens, Greece, July 2022.

Sophie Dow

Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creative, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and Métis-Assiniboine + French/Ukrainian roots. An avid adventurer, Sophie exudes passions for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University. Highlights of Sophie's Turtle Island touring journeys include choreographing and performing at Burning Man and opening ceremonies of BC's Shambhala Music Festival, filming with Vero Films and teaching dance in many rural and urban school contexts throughout the mountains and prairies. Sophie presently fulfills roles as: creative director of PEC's Flight Festival, artistic associate of Chimera Dance Theatre & O.Dela Arts, musician with The Honeycomb Flyers, a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage, a student of BreathWave, a freelance dancer/choreographer/sound designer and a puddle jumping trickster.

Malgorzata Nowacka-May

Malgorzata Nowacka-May is a dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director The Chimera Project Dance Theatre. She has been described as the "most exciting" and "most original in Canada" (The Globe and Mail) and have garnered accolades such as Top 10 performances of the year in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, NOW and FASHION. Nowacka-May's works were presented at the Canada Dance Festival (Ottawa), DanceWorks Mainstage series (Toronto), Dance Victoria (Victoria) Dancing on the Edge (Vancouver), Tangente (Montreal), Algoma Fall Festival (Sault Ste. Marie) and Lila Lopez International Dance Festival (Mexico). Nowacka-May has creating contemporary ballets for Canada's Ballet Jörgen since 2010, which have been performed throughout Canada. Malgorzata is proud to have created for some of Canada's largest and smallest venues, and is curious about the intricacies of being shown at the National Arts Centre and on a field in Sioux Lookout. She is honoured to have been working with elder Shirley Horn on many projects that include artists Arik Pipe, Nimkii Osawamick, Katie Couchie and Sophie Dow.

Terrill Maguire

A choreographer/dancer/educator and community arts advocate, Maguire's career began in her native California, continued in New York, and settled (47 years) in Toronto. Additional time in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, France, and much of Canada involved performing, choreographing, teaching, and studying. She has been an artist-in-residence at St. John's Sound Symposium, The Yard (Massachusetts), School of Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers, Banff Centre, Randolph-Macon College (Virginia), among others. She teaches part-time in York University Dance Department. An early initiator of site-specific performance in Canada, her first commission upon arrival in Toronto was to dance with music composed for the Carillon, on the grounds of Metropolitan United Church, 1973. Her subsequent works have continued this outdoor trend, along with themes spanning the natural world, relationships in their myriad forms, surviving trauma, ancestral memory, and more. Her professional artistic practice has gone on for over 52 years.

About The Chimera Project Dance Theatre

(www.chimeraproject.org)
Founded in 1999 by Artistic Director and choreographer Malgorzata Nowacka-May, The Chimera Project Dance Theatre is a contemporary dance company that has been recognized for explosive athleticism, innovation, and authentic connection with audiences. www.chimeraproject.org

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

The Chimera Project Dance Theatre presents Haunted Dances, in the heart of the Annex on Halloween night

Date: October 31st, 2022 at 7:30pm and 9:00 pm

Price: Pay What You Wish

Address: Jean Sibelious Park, by the sculpture
50 Kendall Ave, Toronto, ON

Website: www.chimeraproject.org

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