DanceWorks to Present THE FOUR SEASONS, 3/6-8

DanceWorks, Toronto's longest-running contemporary dance series now in its 37th season, presents the North American premiere of The Four Seasons, a powerful dance work choreographed and performed by Kevin O'Day and Robert Glumbek in which two middle-aged men ponder the cycle of life and its various stages. This exceptional full-length work runs Thursday March 6 to Saturday, March 8 at Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre.

The Four Seasons, premiered by Kevin O'Day Ballett Nationaltheater Mannheim in May 2103, is a highly personal work; the two choreographers examine the cycle of life itself in which there seems to be a time for everything in the world - blossoming, discovering, stopping, standing still, looking back and letting go - and in so doing, look at their own lives as well.

After their internationally acclaimed collaboration Full Bloom in 2009, Kevin O'Day, Artistic Director of Ballett Nationaltheater Mannheim and Toronto-based dancer/choreographer Robert Glumbek, once again share the stage. For this co-creation, they are working with Max Richter's adaptation of Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons,. Associate Director of Ballett Mannheim, Dominique Dumais, was the outside eye.

Artistic Director of Ballett Mannheim in Mannheim since 2002, Germany, Kevin O'Day trained with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. He joined the Joffrey Ballet, and began performing with Twyla Tharp in 1984. From 1988 to 1991, he was a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, and from 1992 to 1995 he danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, and as a guest dancer with the New York City Ballet. After making his choreographic debut in 1994 with White Oak, O'Day has since choreographed more than 30 original works for companies including the New York City Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, The National Ballet of Canada, Stuttgart Ballet, Ballet BC and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Since he became director of Ballett Mannheim, the 14-dancer company has developed an original, contemporary repertoire with no less then three original creations a year. Canadian choreographer Dominique Dumais is Artistic Associate. On tour, in the region and for its devoted Mannheim audience, Kevin O'Day Ballett Nationaltheater Mannheim performs an average of 65 times a year.

Upon graduation from Bytom State Ballet School in Poland, Robert Glumbek joined The Great Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Warsaw as a soloist where he worked with choreographers such as John Neumeier, Maurice Bejart and Hans Van Manen. In 1987, Glumbek came to Canada and worked for a variety of companies including the Judith Marcuse Company in Vancouver and Ottawa's Theatre Ballet of Canada, before settling in 1990 with Desrosiers Dance Theatre where he danced for ten years. Glumbek joined Ballett Mannheim in 2002 as dancer and ballet master and returned to Canada in 2004 to work as an independent artist and choreographer. Glumbek joined ProArteDanza as Artistic Associate in 2004. Glumbek has been honoured with the K.M. Hunter Artist Award and the Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award. In 2009, Glumbek shared the stage with Kevin O'Day and Luches Huddleston Jr. in the critically-acclaimed trio Full Bloom. A four-time Dora Mavor Moore nominee, he and Roberto Campanella were co-recipients of the 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Choreography for ProArteDanza's Š in betweenŠ . Glumbek continues to choreograph and perform in Canada, Germany and Poland.

DanceWorks presents the world premiere of The Four Seasons choreographed and performed by Kevin O'Day and Robert Glumbek Thursday, March 6 -Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8pm Part of Harbourfront Centre's NextSteps at Enwave Theatre, 231 Queens Quay West, Toronto Tickets: $18.75 -$37.25 Harbourfront Centre Box Office: 416-973-4000 OR online at www.danceworks.ca

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