hard wire
September 13-16, 2023
8pm @ The Citadel
[55 minutes]
choreography and performance: Jane-Alison McKinney and Emma Kerson
developed in residency at Shawbrook Resedential (Ireland, 2019), The National Ballet of Canada (Toronto, 2022 and 2023), and Arts Orillia (2023).
supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Toronto Arts Council.
part psychological thriller, part study of human nerve and frailty, hard wire follows two scientists in an embodied study of rocks and permanency. felt through the lens of two millennial-ish women, they observe not only the climate crisis itself, but more so, humanity’s inaction and deflection in the face of determining how and if we move forward.
themselves
[1 hour]
Life pushes us together and pulls us apart; we are constantly living in a state of change, however subtle. Hanging in the balance of me versus we, themselves weaves amongst four people in search of place and connection, and asks if we can ever fully know someone else, let alone ourselves. Building a world of redefined relationships, themselves questions our willingness and ability to be permeable.
presented by Citadel + Compagnie (Toronto, 2022)
creation: Emma Kerson in collaboration with the performers
performers: Rhonda Baker, Drew Berry, Molly Johnson, Sierra Chin Sawdy
sound design: Valerie Calam / Company Vice Versa
lighting design: Noah Feaver
outside eye: Susie Burpee
stage manager: Helin Gungoren
production and artistic collaboration: Jane-Alison McKinney
supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Mocean Dance, adelheid, MOonhORsE Dance Theatre, Peggy Baker Dance Projects + Canada’s National Ballet School, The National Ballet of Canada’s CreativAction Programme, Lindy Green + Sam Chaiton, Citadel + Compagnie
this little cut that grew a mountain
[7 minutes, film]
choreographer: Emma Kerson
dancer: Denver Scott
sound designers: Robin Fraser and William Kerson
director of photography and editor: Dario Lozano-Thornton
lighting: Maximillian Athen Cooper-Flint
commissioned and presented by The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto, 2021)
presented by Shifting Tides: Dance Films from Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, 2021)
full film (7 minutes) available upon request
this work was created with deep gratitude in Mi’kma’ki on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people.
TRACK
[30 minutes]
A one-on-one physical and auditory experience exploring the boundaries between inner and outer selves. Leaving traces yet covering her tracks, we watch her crumble; we see her root. She is spectacle, she is removed, she invites you in.
choreography: Emma Kerson
dancer: Sahara Morimoto
supported by the Ontario Arts Council
I'm shrinking, sorry
[11 minutes]
An embodiment of the learned gendered behaviour of shrinking and its relationship to one’s sense of entitlement in the world. Walking the line between the absurd and the darkly humorous, the work looks at what it is to live in a state of apology as courtesy. Inspired by the slam poetry of Lily Myers.
choreography and performance: Emma Kerson
music: Arvo Pärt
outside eye / mentorship: Trish Beatty
presented by Dance Matters (Toronto, 2015), Wild Rabbit Dance Projects (2014)
Sehnsucht: I can't find it for you
[20 minutes]
Sehnsucht, a German word with no literal translation, can loosely be interpreted as an addiction to searching for what is intensely missing.
choreography and performance: Ana Groppler and Emma Kerson
presented by Nextfest (Edmonton, 2014), Dance Matters (Toronto, 2013)