Travis Knights Brings THE MARS PROJECT to Théâtre Maisonneuve

Danse Danse will present The Mars Project, a show by tap dance virtuoso Travis Knights, from January 15 to 18, 2025 at Théâtre Maisonneuve. Through a skilful blend of artistic disciplines, this show promises an immersion where dance, music and science fiction meet.

Trained from the age of 10 in Montreal by Ethel Bruneau, “Miss Swing” herself, Travis Knights has devoted his career to exploring and reinventing tap dance, an emblematic dance form in North America. With The Mars Project, he pushes the boundaries of this art form even further, creating a show in which the frenetic rhythm of dance merges with theater and aerial arts, but above all with live music that accompanies the audience from start to finish.

An international cast brings together five of the world's finest tap dance artists from Canada, the USA, Japan and Australia. Accompanied by four live musicians and two singers, they bring to life a collaboration between music and movement, enhanced by additional choreography by Lisa Latouche.

Inspired by the red planet, The Mars Project transforms the stage into a futuristic exploration space, inviting audiences to immerse themselves in a captivating experience where rhythm, imagination and innovation unite to create the contours of a vibrant future.

About Travis Knights

In 2006, he was tapped to be the principal dancer in the video game adaptation of Warner Brother's Happy Feet. In 2007 and 2008, Travis participated extensively as a Tap Dance consultant for Cirque du Soleil. He had the privilege of performing in Tandem ACT Productions' Diary of a Tap Dancer at the Apollo Theatre, and the touring show Wonderland: A Tap Tribute to Stevie Wonder, created by Ayodele Casel and Sarah Savelli. Knights was a featured Tap Dancer in the Opening Ceremonies to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the same year he toured North America with the raucous and rowdy internationally acclaimed Australian Tap Dance show, Tap Dogs.

From 2010 to 2013, Knights jumped into the dance company world as a principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, Texas under the artistic direction of Acia Gray. During his time there he was awarded the Austin Critic's Table Award for best dance artist in 2011 and 2013. In 2014, he embarked on a self-produced world tour, The Tap Love Tour filming his web series entitled The Interviews featuring celebrated pioneers in the tap dance world. In 2015, he debuted new works in Thomas Marek's show NOLA in Hamburg, Germany.

In 2018, he worked once again with Cirque du Soleil in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Later that year, he acted as the Artistic Director for the 2018 Vancouver International Tap Dance Festival. In 2019 Knights finished a two-year community development residency at the Tranzac Club in Toronto hosting the Jazz United Jam, a weekly jazz jam session aimed at connecting live musicians with dancers. He was the 2020 recipient of the Jaqueline Lemieux Prize for outstanding contribution to dance in Canada.

In 2021, in partnership with Anandam Dance Theatre, Travis debuted an original work Ephemeral Artifacts, a 4 channel video installation, with original sound design, lighting and sculptures of bells onto the historic building of Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. In December 2021, in partnership with Dance Immersion, Travis, along with renowned Tap Dancer Lisa Latouche, created and directed Legacy Series: Tap Dance Symposium which aimed to re-introduce Tap Dance to the local Black community in Toronto. In 2022, Travis toured 4 international cities with Ephemeral Artifacts, won a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance Immersion's Tap Legacy Concert, and became a Slaight Family Music Associate at Soulpepper Theatre Company.

He currently lives in Brampton, Ontario and hosts The Tap Love Tour Podcast, available on spotify, soundcloud and apple podcasts, featuring interviews of a myriad of inspiring tap dance artists.

To post a comment, you must register and login.