REAson d'etre dance's MEN'S CIRCLE to Explore Men's Therapy Group

REAson d'etre dance productions proudly presents the world premiere of Men's Circle, a new dance-theatre work that delves into the stories of men in a therapy group.

Choreographed and directed by Artistic Director Kathleen Rea, an award-winning choreographer and Registered Psychotherapist, and co-created with dramaturge Tristan R. Whiston, songwriter Ariel Llama and the talented ensemble of seven male dancers, Men's Circle runs November 3-5 (previewing November 2) at the Betty Oliphant Theatre.

Rea combines her 15 years of experience as a therapist in private practice with her skills as a choreographer to create a story that follows seven fictional characters as they meet weekly in a therapeutic support group. Additionally, each of the brave dancers in Men's Circle - Bill Coleman, Allen Kaeja, Kousha Nakhaei, Rudi Natterer, Deltin Sejour, Harold Tausch and Mateo Galindo Torres - use their own personal life stories as a jumping off point into the character they play.

Rea explains, "There is such bravery and beauty that occurs behind a therapist's closed door. In this piece, we take this usually private process and let the audience see what can occur. My main inspirations are my many male clients over the past 15 years. So many men have been taught to shut down their emotions in order to "be a man" and this hurts their ability to find joy. Others try to fit into the stereotypical male role and struggle with feelings of inadequacy. The suicide rate in men is much higher than with woman. In Canada 75% of all suicides are men and it is the leading cause of death for men ages 15 to 39. It is an epidemic and I think that's because it's hard for many men to ask for help or even begin to admit they're struggling."

In this story - told using text, dance and music - six men meet in a group therapy session, each harbouring intimately personal stories of trauma, shame and denial. Michael, their disillusioned therapist (performed by Harold Tausch, who in real life has been co-run men's group for the past 25 years), has recently returned to practice after the death of a client. He struggles to believe that what he is doing can help anyone. When Michael unexpectedly takes ill, the men find themselves on their own. Together they journey into their vulnerable places.

Audiences will meet:

Joe (Allen Kaeja) - the Deflector; always smiling and joking, but slowly coming to realize his relationships lack connection
Hercules (Deltin Sejour) - the Down Trodden Hero; once on top of the world, now worn into a state of numbness from racism, profiling, and baseless judgement
Kevin (Kousha Nakhaei) - the Failure to Launch; a gifted musician who hides his light and withdraws from the world
Matt - (Mateo Galindo Torres) the Anxiety-ridden Drug User; abandoned by his father, cast adrift, searching for stability
Frank - (Bill Coleman) the Existential Crisis; feeling powerless in the face of the failure of mankind, he tries to find meaning to his life
Rick - (Rudi Natterer) the Suppressor; an emotionally repressed musician with a dark secret

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IF YOU GO:

REAson d'etre dance productions presents the World Premiere of Men's Circle

- A new dance-theatre work that delves into the stories of seven men in a therapy group -

Created, Choreographed and Directed by Kathleen Rea

Dramaturgy by Tristan R. Whiston

Co-created and Performed by

Bill Coleman, Allen Kaeja, Kousha Nakhaei, Rudi Natterer, Deltin Sejour, Harold Tausch and Mateo Galindo Torres

Previews November 2, Opens November 3 and runs to November 5

At the Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2G

Thursday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 3pm

Tickets: Preview November 2: Pay-What-You-Can at the door;

November 3-5: $20 in advance; $30 at the door.

Advance Tickets are available at www.reasondetre.com

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100 Volunteers Needed! REAson d'etre dance productions seeks 100 people who currently identify or have identified in the past as male to take part in Men's Circle. Volunteer performers will sit in the audience watching the show and come onto the stage as a group three times during the show. They will return to their seat when not performing. They need to commit to two weeknight evening rehearsals (October 30 & November 1 from 7pm-10pm) and at least one performance. No previous dance experience is necessary. To sign up or to receive further details, emailkathleen.rea@reasondetre.com.

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MOVEMBER! The November 3 Opening Night proceeds of Men's Circle will support the Movember Foundation, which runs a global Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Campaign. Visit ca.movember.com/programs/mental-health for more information.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Director/ Writer / Choreographer
Kathleen Rea danced with Canada's Ballet Jorgen, National Ballet of Canada and Tiroler Landestheater (Austria) and teaches Contact Dance Improvisation at George Brown Dance. She has choreographed over 40 dance works and been nominated for five DORA awards for Long Live and the Velveteen Rabbit. Her film Lapinthrope won the Gold Award at the Festival Der Nationen (Austria). Kathleen is a recipient of a K. M. Hunter Choreographic Award and is also a published author (The Healing Dance, Charles C. Thomas). She is a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) with over fifteen years in private practice. Kathleen is a candidate teacher of the Axis Syllabus. She is the artistic director of REAson d'etre dance productions, which produces both the Wednesday Dance Jam and the Contact Dance International Film Festival. www.the-healing-dance.com

Dramaturge
Tristan R. Whiston is a multi-disciplinary artist who has worked in Toronto's arts community for over 25 years as a director, dramaturge, writer, performer, and community artist. Tristan has written and directed five audio documentaries for CBC; most notably, his work, Middle C, won the 2007 Premios Ondas Award for International Radio. As the Artist-in-Residence at Central Toronto Youth Services (2004 to 2010), Tristan directed Gender Play, a theatre project working with LGBTQ youth exploring experiences of gender identity. Tristan recently collaborated with Moynan King on an integrated art and sound performance piece called trace, which toured Canada in 2015. In 2016, Tristan travelled to England where he was dramaturge and performer on Hush, a new musical written by Alex Bulmer which was presented at the London International Festival of Theatre and at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Songwriter
Ariel Llama is a musician, songwriter, improvisational dancer, kinetic sculptor, video artist, poet and educator. He has written over 200 songs, given dozens of performances in living rooms and venues around Toronto, and recorded the album If You Wanna Know with his band The Dull-Eyed Llamas. Using a hot glue gun and dollar store junk, he built a machine that opens his balcony door when he presses play on his CD player. This three-minute chain reaction, recorded in the video The Door Opener, was a brief viral sensation on YouTube, garnering 300,000 hits in its first week. Currently Ariel teaches Kindergarten, presenting his class with a new song each week.

Dancers / Co-writers / Co-creators

Bill Coleman has danced with Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Toronto Dance Theatre, Tere O'Connor, Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault, Wiesbaden Ballet, William Douglas Danse and currently Tedi Tafel and Dance Theatre David Earle. He regularly collaborates with diverse groups and communities in the creation of one-of-a-kind theatrical events. He is the co-founder of Bill Coleman & His North American Experience with composer John Oswald and Coleman/Lemieux & Compagnie with Laurence Lemieux. Most recently Bill created Hymn To The Universe performed with the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, Inverted Mountains with John Oswald, Emile Morin in Banff National Park and OutSideIn, a 3D film by Anne Troake with Carol Prieur which was screened at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Bill's solo work Dollhouse, a collaboration with composer Gordon Monahan, was presented as part of Toronto's Canadian Stage 2016/17 season.

Allen Kaeja is an internationally recognized and award-winning Dance Film Director and Choreographer, who has created over 160 stage works and choreographed for 27 films. Allen is Co-Artistic Director of Kaeja d'Dance with Karen Kaeja, runner up of NOW Magazine's BEST DANCE COMPANY award and he is co-founder of the CanAsian Dance Festival. His stage and film works have been presented in festivals around the world. Allen has received dozens of national and international commissions, teaches Kaeja Elevations and Dance Film master classes worldwide/ Allen's awards include the prestigious Clifford E. Lee, K.M. Hunter, and Paul D. Fleck Choreography Awards (Canada), the Bonnie Bird Award (UK), a UNESCO citation, and the Moving Picture Award for best performance (Canada) and was recently nominated for Ontario's Arts Education Award and received the Katheryn Ash Award for Choreography 2016. Allen also co-developed many site-specific and audience interactive engagement performance strategies with Karen Kaeja over the past 30 years. Allen and Karen have completed a full company tour to Mexico and were just in Newfoundland, Vancouver, Moncton, UK and Japan. Allen and Karen have just completed CONSUMED a new choreography for The Edge in UK (2017) which toured Europe for four months.

Kousha Nakhaei is a violinist, improviser and composer. He has studied improvisation and classical performance, as well as Persian and South Indian musical traditions at York University where he graduated in 2005. Kousha is also a dancer with a strong sense of technique and his own personal style. He has studied with Venno interdisciplinary creation. He has collaborated with several choreographers, dancers, poets and directors, such as Lucie Carmen Gregoire, Patty Powel, Tracey Norman, Roger Greenwald, and Jean-Michael Malpeux. He has performed at numerous venues in Toronto and many festivals, including fFIDA International dance Festival, Toronto Street Festival, and Under The Azure Dome.

Rudi Natterer travels from Austria to work on Men's Circle. As a young man, his days circled around basketball, rap and jazz, with occasional sparks of classical music and political activities. After graduating from high school and one year of traveling, he tapped into theatre and felt the need to move on and engaged in the studies of philosophy. It was at that time, at age 21, that he encountered CI and Capoeira. A short break from University in order to focus on contemporary dance turned into a four-year full-time training at SEAD, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, where he became acquainted with various contemporary dance techniques. Choreographers and teachers that influenced him are Chrystel Guillebaud (Pina Bausch), Jan Burkhart/Sigal Zouk, Matteo Fargion and Vita Ojsonik. His artistic perspective is grounded in freestyle rap and improvised music as well as capoeira and CI, and a secret passion for baroque piano music.

Deltin Sejour received his early training primarily in martial arts. During adolescence he began training in Theatre as well as Dance at Lois Sieler Academy of Dance, Georgia School of Theatre and Dance as well as Freeport Players Guild. Seeking further training, he attended the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and later Dance Performance at George Brown College. Sejour has also traveled to India to study various aspects of Yoga and Movement. He spends his free time taking workshops to expand his knowledge of the arts, reading, writing, doing calisthenics and extensive research into mind. He is a dedicated artist that's always seeking to learn more about movement, art, the human body and the world at large. As an emerging artist, Sejour seeks to continue his education by collaborating and creating meaningful, thoughtful, physical and engaging work.

Harold Tausch has been a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, a form of movement education, since 1991. In the following year he discovered men's work and contact improv dance. He co-founded and has been a member of a leaderless men's group for 25 years. He has studied contact dance with a variety of teachers including Pam Johnson, Karen and Allen Kaeja, Kathleen Rea, Daniel Burkholder, and Yves Candau. Harold has been a singer/songwriter since the early seventies, and has studied acting with Alex Laurier, Eli Rill, Don MacQuarrie, and Terrence Durant. He is thrilled to be in a production exploring some of the issues men face in our culture.

Mateo Galindo Torres is a dancer and choreographer, with side projects in film, photography and music editing. Torres has trained and performed in Colombia, USA, Cuba, Panama and Canada. His most recent professional experience includes work with Hanna Kiel, Frog in Hand, Jacob Niedzwiecki, Danny Grossman, Janak Khendry, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, William Yong, Kaeja d'dance, Maxine Heppner, Toronto International Ballet Theatre and Olga Barrios. Torres is the artistic advisor and guest choreographer of the newly founded company Form Contemporary Dance Theatre. Torres' work is often politically charged, inspired by social subject matters, and fuses his eclectic movement background.

REAson d'etre dance productions is a not-for-profit, charitable dance company founded in 1999 by Kathleen Rea. Its mandate is to teach and inspire people about contact dance improvisation, dance/theatre and the axis syllabus through the creation and production of classes, workshops, dance jams, performances and festivals that explore current themes in a manner that enables people to benefit from the enlivening powers of expression through movement. REAson d'etre dance productions brings movement-arts to as many people as possible through accessible programming and holds the belief that every person has an artist within them. Since inception, the company has been nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, produced five main stage performance evenings, founded the Wednesday Dance Jam and the Contact Dance International Film Festival, and run over 100 dance workshops.

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