MOonhORsE Dance Theatre Presents 36th Edition of OLDER & RECKLESS This Weekend

Claudia Moore, Artistic Director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre, proudly presents the 36th edition of Older & Reckless, "a gem in the Toronto dance scene" (Michael Crabb, Toronto Star). Older & Reckless #36: 3 Solos & A Duet features five distinctive Toronto-based artists - Julia Aplin, Tiina Kiik, Sara Porter, Laurence Lemieux and Joanna de Souza- in daring new dance works, this weekend, November 13-15, 2015 at Dancemakers Centre for Creation.

Canadian dance light Julia Aplin with acclaimed accordionist Tiina Kiik will perform an excerpt of Zolla (2014), a work inspired by the music of revolutionary Argentine tango composer, Astor Piazolla, and the harsh Canadian winters. Zolla is witty, improvised and full of eclectic props (including gold dance shoes and a redhot tango dress) paired with thought provoking 'aha-moments'; a quintessential example of contemporary improvised performance at its best.

Laurence Lemieux presents Over Lockerbie, which takes its inspiration from the overwhelming feelings Lemieux experienced when she visited the site where the infamous Pan Am flight #103 crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland (1988). The solo, originally created for dancer and former Dancemakers A.D., Michael Trent (2001), speaks about landscape, memory and death. The score, "Dream" by John Cage, is recorded by pianist Leslie Dala.

The "wickedly funny" (Dance International) Sara Porter performs an excerpt of her newest solo VerbTenseDance, which plays with our sense of time and identity. Porter presents a fractured world through storytelling, dance, song, costume, film and poetry that explores the tensions inherent in being both a mother and an artist, and a performer and a person. The work, which challenges the distance between reality and the imagination, encompasses strong visual design and Porter's trademark humor.

Beloved Kathak dancer and choreographer Joanna de Souza will unveil a world-premiere solo work Viveka with original music by Andrea Koziol and Ian de Souza. At the recent Kathak Symposium in Toronto, Joanna received the Maya Rao Award for her outstanding contribution to Kathak dance.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Tiina Kiik is a freelance accordionist and teacher from Toronto. She has performed in many diverse musical settings with groups such as the Polka Dogs, Double Wind Cello Trio, Dusk Dances, Audiopollination, Tapestry and Soulpepper Theatre. She has worked with dance artists Susan McKenzie and Corpus Dance Company. She teaches accordion, piano, and chamber music at the University Settlement Music and Arts School. She is a regular contributor of CD reviews to WholeNote Magazine.

Julia Aplin's choreographic work crosses the boundaries of genre. She created the "Halo Ballet" with Toco Loco, "Mirror" with Inter Arts Matrix and with Urbanvessel she created "Voice Box" and "Singing River". Julia was a performer with Dancemakers, under the Artistic Direction of Serge Bennathan for 15 seasons; an experience that inspired and shaped her ever widening view of what dance can be. Her work Inner City Sirens Part 2, (1999) won the 2014 Dusk Dance Audience Choice Award. As an independent artist she has recently performed at such venues as the Sound Symposium, Music Niagara, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the AGO, and Stratford SpringWorks Festival.

Born in Québec City in 1964, Laurence Lemieux is the co-artistic director of Coleman Lemieux & Company. Laurence performed for many years with the Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT); her 1998 performance in House's Cryptoversa earned Lemieux the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Performance in Dance. While dancing for some of the dance world's most prominent choreographers, such as William Douglas, Tere O'Connor, Margie Gillis, James Kudelka, Benoît Lachambre, Bill Coleman and Jean-Pierre Perreault, Laurence has continued to pursue her career as a choreographer and artistic director, and has taught at Concordia University, the University of Quebec in Montreal, l'École Supérieure de Ballet Contemporain and Canada's National Ballet School. Lemieux's satisfaction as an artist comes from sharing her passion and talent with dance audiences and students, and as a deeply engaged and active member of the dance community.

Celebrated for her "daring imagination" (Toronto Star) and being "wickedly funny" (Dance International), Sara Porter is a Toronto-based, multi-faceted artist, choreographer, performer, writer and teacher with a distinctive voice and a broad palette. Porter has performed her work in Canada and Europe. Her iconic solo Opus Ornithologicus (the great bird work) was invited to Edinburgh's Holyrood Palace for Prince Charles at his Royal Garden Party. Porter's commissions include work for Toronto Dance Theatre, Pleaides Theatre (with Toronto Symphony Orchestra), Autumn Leaf (Toronto), and Scotland's National Youth Music Theatre. Also a writer, Porter is the author of Peter in Process: Peter Boneham's sixty years in dance, a biography of the Canadian icon. Porter has been on dance faculty at Edinburgh's Telford College (Scotland) and York University (Canada). Porter is currently Associate Artist with pounds per square inch performance, and is a member of Toronto's Intergalactic Arts.

Coming from a music background, Canadian born Joanna de Souza began her life-long study of kathak under Pandit Chitresh Das in 1978, and was part of the Chitresh Das Dance company from 1981-1985. Under his guidance, in the traditional one-on-one, guru-shisha-param-para context, she received knowledge in all aspects of Kathak dance performance, theoretical understanding and teachers training. During a two-year study period in Kolkata India, Joanna received her Masters Degree in kathak dance through the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad India and studied sarangi with Pt. Ram Nath Misra, father of the famed New York based sarangi master Pt. Ramesh Misra. Joanna's return to Canada, and establishing M-DO, was fuelled by the intent to establish the art form here from her unique perspective as an informed, contemporary, non South Asian, classical Indian dancer. She established Chhandam Dance Company in 2003, and with company members, creates new work for kathak, that deeply respects tradition and has a present-day sensibility.

Older & Reckless, an informal performance series, features work from OLDER artists who continue to grow more RECKLESS as time goes by. Older & Reckless as provides an opportunity for seasoned dance artists to perform short works and a chance for the audience to see some of Canada's most celebrated senior choreographers.

Conceived by Claudia Moore, Artistic Director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre, Older & Reckless is "an intimate exchange for both the performer and the observer; exciting, terrifying, and lots of fun. The performances are followed by a party with music, refreshments, and a chance to talk with the artists about work, process, and whatever else comes up!"

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