Harbourfront Centre Unveils The '05 Side Of Dance

TORONTO, Canada (Harbourfront Centre) Harbourfront Centre offers up an outstanding series of dance performances for the second half of Harbourfront Centre Dance 2004-2005 season. The '05 half of the season kicks-off with O Vertigo's celebration of 20 years on Tuesday, February 15 and concludes with Dancemakers Metamorphoses, Friday, May 20.

This second installment of the season features a varying array of talented companies representing leading contemporary dance from Canada, the U.S., Argentina and Italy/The Netherlands. Harbourfront Centre's intimate Premiere Dance Theatre is renowned as Canada's first and only facility designed and built exclusively for the presentation of contemporary dance.

Two of the season's companies, Stephen Petronio Company and Emio Greco|PC are included in and representative of HE, Harbourfront Centre's current, ideas-based programming which runs January through April, 2005. HE - an examination of the changing nature of male identity and men's evolving roles in contemporary society - offers a hypothesis as to the direction of the modern male.

First up for 2005 is the Toronto premiere of Passare, by Canada's O Vertigo. The latest choreographic creation by prolific Quebecois artistic director, Ginette Laurin celebrates her company's 20th anniversary using movement to explore the traces we leave behind as we move through time and space. Described as "one of Canada's most imaginative choreographers" by The New York Times, Montreal-based Laurin worked closely with an astrophysicist to ensure that Passare explores both the "infinitely large and infinitesimally small" elements in life. The end result is a playful but touching dance work that explores themes of time, chaos, dreams and angels and "has moments of shivering beauty that brush the sublime." - Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian. Passare, another shape for infinity runs Tuesday, February 15 through Saturday, February 19.

In March, Stephen Petronio Company brings its internationally acclaimed groundbreaking choreography to Toronto for the first time. The U.S.-based company will perform a mixed repertory inspired by the full-on, urban experience of life in New York City. Works include The Island of Misfit Toys, a series of adult gothic nursery rhymes with music by rock icon Lou Reed and a set design by renowned visual artist Cindy Sherman. City of Twist features a score by Laurie Anderson, while Broken Man is an expressive, emotional solo, evocative of the fears generated by a world in disarray after September 11. Led by renowned choreographer Stephen Petronio, the company is best identified with provocative dances that combine new music, visual art and fashion in a modern collision of movement that powerfully stimulate the senses. As Petronio states, "I used to believe that good dance was only about architecture, making one beautiful and dazzling picture after another. Now I think it's more about flesh and spirit." The Stephen Petronio Company performs Tuesday, March 15 through Saturday, March 19. Stephen Petronio's Broken Man is associated with the HE theme.

In April, the mesmerizing Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company makes its Toronto debut with a spectacular gravity defying performance led by Argentina's leading choreographer Brenda Angiel. Hailing from Buenos Aires the troupe performs its entire program suspended in the air, producing an evening of dance that is described by The New York Times as "hauntingly beautiful and full of subtle surprises." Suspended by ropes and harnesses, the dancers effortlessly twist, hang, tumble and soar mid-air giving audiences a mesmerizing perspective on the body freed from traditional constraints in spaces generally untouched by traditional dance companies. The Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company performs Tuesday, April 5 through Saturday, April 9. NOTE: 2 p.m. Saturday matinee performance has been added.

Also in April, Toronto Dance Theatre presents a world premiere by celebrated Canadian choreographer and Artistic Director, Christopher House. Known for his uniquely stimulating and original dance works, House constantly pushes the boundaries of movement and dance and is described by The Globe and Mail as a choreographer whose success is derived "from his willingness to keep moving forward in a process of continuous rebirth." Founded in 1968, Toronto Dance Theatre has had a profound influence on the Canadian dance scene and is currently dedicated to the creation of original works that celebrate the power of the human imagination. Toronto Dance Theatre performs Tuesday, April 12 through Saturday, April 16.

Italian choreographer Emio Greco and Dutch theatre director Pieter C. Scholten have dazzled audiences and critics with their unique and edgy collaborations since 1995. In May, Emio Greco|PC makes its Toronto debut with Rimasto Orfano, a powerful creation that fuses gutsy with almost tribal classical forms of movement. Rimasto Orfano, literally meaning Abandoned Orphan, echoes the first seven years of collaboration between Greco and Scholten. Set against a dramatic backdrop of grey silk the work is a synthesis of past explorations but also a new beginning in which the dancers dramatize the struggles between body and mind, harmony and chaos. Described by The London Times as a performer who " is in command of one of the most exciting, original and eccentric dance vocabularies of anyone in contemporary dance!" Emio Greco|PC is known for its use of movement to communicate a wisdom of the body that needs no added explanations. In their performances dance is not used as a medium to convey a message or decorate theatrical space, but instead, is seen as having an intelligence of its own. Rimasto Orfano runs Tuesday, May 3 through Saturday, May 7.

Rounding off the season, Canada's Dancemakers celebrates its 30th anniversary with Metamorphoses, a work that highlights the company's signature energy and unique style.After three decades of evolution Dancemakers has developed into an impressive company that remains on the leading edge of contemporary dance. Metamorphoses features new Ovid-inspired works choreographed by award-winning artistic director Serge Bennathan and company artists Julia Aplin, Susie Burpee and Shannon Cooney - artists who continuously push the boundaries of expression, physicality and emotion - "the joie de vivre on stage is irresistible." The Globe and Mail

Metamorphoses combines dance, voice and music to produce a spectacular result that is expressive, athletic and poetic. Dancemakers will perform Tuesday, May 10 to Saturday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 18 to Friday, May 20 as part of the city-wide Metamorphosis Festival, celebrating transformation and the arts.

The popular DanceSpeak series continues throughout the second half of the season in its Wednesday night time slot. This popular post-show question and answer period allows audience members to interact with the choreographer and company members and learn more about the creative process of dance.