NO FUN Comes to 2016 SummerWorks Performance Festival

Following sold-out performances at the 2014 Montreal Fringe Festival and a critically acclaimed run at Tangente Danse during Pop Montreal in 2015, choreographer Helen Simard hits Toronto audiences this August with NO FUN: an interdisciplinary dance performance inspired by the music and movement of punk icon Iggy Pop.

This rockstravaganza laughs in the face of failure, reaches out and strangles people, and doesn't take itself too seriously. For 45 minutes, three dancers and four musicians hit you full force with a giant wall of movement and sound, leaving you feeling somewhere between "F*ck yeah!" and "What the hell just happened?" Grab some earplugs on your way in and leave your expectations in the lobby. We will have a real cool time tonight.

WARNING: This show contains coarse language, bad attitudes, awkward silences, blinding lights, wailing guitars, underpants, and absolutely NO FUN.

IF YOU GO:

NO FUN

Created and Choreographed by Helen Simard

Performed by Stephanie Fromentin, Justin Gionet, Emmalie Ruest, Rémy Saminadin, Todd Tolls, Roger White and Ted Yates

Lighting Design by Benoît Larivière

Set Design by Loïc Woehrel

Rehearsal Direction by George Stamos

Stage Management by Holly Greco

Thursday August 4th 9:00PM - 9:45PM

Friday August 5th 10:30PM - 11:15PM

Saturday August 6th 4:15PM - 5:00PM

Sunday August 7th 1:15PM - 2:00PM

At Factory Theatre Mainspace (125 Bathurst Street)

Tickets $15, or save up to $30 with a 3-Show, 7-Show, or 10-Show Pass. Available online, over the phone (416-320-5779) or in person.

ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER

Helen Simard is inspired by the beauty of failure and the absurdity of everyday life. From 2000 to 2011, she was co-artistic director, co-choreographer, and performer for Solid State Breakdance, with whom she participated in the collaborative creation of nine choreographic works, which toured around Quebec, Canada, and Europe. Working as an independent choreographer since 2011, Helen has developed a choreographic signature inspired by punk rock aesthetics that is sometimes honest and intimate, sometimes aggressive and difficult to understand. Her works On the Subject of Compassion (2011), Last Song: Live Version (2013), NO FUN (2014), Twenty One Angus Young (2014), and Mouvement sans/100 manifestes (2014) have been presented at Tangente Danse, Studio 303, Quartiers Danses, the Montreal Fringe Festival, and the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival. She is a member of the Body Slam improv collective, and has worked as an interpreter for a number of dance and theatre companies, including: Les Néos (Théâtre néofuturiste); Marta Marta House of Pride; Wants and Needs; Tusket Dance; Andrée Martin; and Cirque du Soleil's special events department. Helen holds a BFA (Concordia, 2000) and an MA (UQAM, 2014) in contemporary dance, and is currently pursuing a PhD in études et pratiques des arts (study and practice of arts) at UQAM.

Founded in 1991, SummerWorks Performance Festival is Canada's largest curated performance festival of theatre, dance, music, and live art. Learn more at www.summerworks.ca.

Photo Credit: Yannick Meilender

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