MOonhORsE Dance Theatre to Present 'DANCE & DESIGN: Old & Young and Reckless Together #35,' 5/14-16

Artistic Director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre Claudia Moore has commissioned 6 young choreographers to create an evening of short, original works in collaboration with art students from the Toronto School of Art (TSA). Under the artistic advisory of multi-disciplinary creators, Marie-Josée Chartier and Gerry Trentham; Amanda Acorn, Amanda Davis, Tina Fushell, Jasmyn Fyffe, Andrew Hartley and Emily Law will premiere new works for DANCE & DESIGN: Old & Young and Reckless Together #35, May 14-16, 2015 at Dancemakers Centre for Creation.

Toronto School of Art (TSA) has partnered with MOonhORsE Dance Theatre to create a course focusing on collaboration, mentorship and multi-disciplinary approaches to art making for students at all levels of study. Under the guidance and mentorship of TSA faculty Tina Oehmsen-Clark, TSA design students Shabnam Afrand, Mary Ambrose, Renee Castonguay, Thomas Hendry Louise Kiner, Cathryn Macfarlane, Lisa Meschino, and Sacha Walter will explore sculptural concepts and design specifically for contemporary dance artists.

Jasmyn Fyffe & Lisa Meschino are exploring the idea of skin - its layering and shedding. Playing on themes of revealing and concealing, a hanging set of opaque painted sheets fragments the bodies of two dancers into abstract shapes in the space.

Amanda Davis & Thomas Hendry are exploring the extension of the natural lines of the body through pieces that elongate the arms and head. Using a series of long branches paired with translucent paper a set of large wings and a headpiece have been created. Davis and Hendry are investigating themes involving images found in nature as well as images of flight.

Emily Law & Louise Kiner both draw their inspiration from Sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction books, films and television. Iconic films and TV shows such as: Dr. Who, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Japanese monster films are used as points of reference.

Old & Young and Reckless Together was incorporated into the Older & Reckless series in 2010. Presented in the spring, Old & Young and Reckless Together features "intergenerational programming'" - older artists working with emerging artists, with a fluid exchange of mentoring and learning processes. Old & Young and Reckless Together is a forum for integrating generations, to illuminate and challenge younger artists by offering them the chance to perform in masterful choreography, and educate audiences about the richness of the Canadian dance canon.

Audience engagement is an essential part of Old & Young and Reckless Together, with multiple opportunities for audiences to get firsthand experience at each show. Audiences are invited to participate in a pre-show warm-up where they have the opportunity to explore their own movement and physical connection to dance, and then mix and mingle during a post-show reception.

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