Amanda Acorn is an independent dance artist based in Toronto. She is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s Professional Training Program. Supplementing her professional training, Amanda has pursued a diverse path, training on scholarship with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary, through an independent study in Montreal in 2005, at the ImpulsTANZ Festival in Vienna and with anoukvandijk dc, in Amsterdam. She has collaborated with Emily Law and Brodie Stevenson under the name, Octamerous, since 2006. Their work has been presented at Nuit Blanche ('06, '07, '08, '09), Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival ('08) and Dance Ontario Dance Weekend ('09). Amanda was a part of the DSW Dance Lab in Calgary, in the spring of 2010, interpreting the work of Helen Husak and Jason Stroh. In Toronto she has worked with Meryem Alaoui, Susie Burpee, Event Horizon Dance, Kaeja d’Dance, Lady Janitor, Julia Male, Kate Nankervis, Elke Schroeder, Heidi Strauss and Cara Spooner. She is the co-founder of the Toronto Dance Community Love-In, alongside colleague Eroca Nicols. She has been working closely with filmmaker, Yoann Malnati developing dance films and will be creating a Bravo!Fact with director Zachary Finkelstein in June, 2011.
Kate Nankervis is a Toronto based contemporary dancer, choreographer and teacher. She hold a BFA in Dance from York University. As a performer she has worked for Heidi Strauss, Dave Wilson, Susan Lee, Elke Schroeder, Eroca Nicols/Lady Janitor and international artists Sashar Zarif, Maxine Heppner , Bluemouth Inc. and artist Tino Sehgal. She has been featured in BravoFACT dance films SLIP (Yvonne Ng, Chelsea McMullan) and Beyond the Surface (Radek Pacanowski). Ambitions in choreography and dramaturgy led her to her current internship position and rehearsal assistant role for Heidi Strauss /adelheid dance projects. Her works has been presented at Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Nuit Blanche, Hamilton Site- Specific Dance Festival and Dance Ontario’s International Dance Day. Most recently her Intersection Project (co-created with Priscilla Guy), a large group 10 month site-specific project, makes artists visible is urban landscapes and proposes arts potential to animate city landscapes throughout Toronto. (intersectionproject10.blogspot.com/) Kate is a recipient of the IMASCO Performing Arts Award and the Spedding Memorial Award for Choreography. York University magazine named her dance artist “destined for fame seen first at YorkU” in 2008. She is a member of the Toronto Dance Community Love- In.
Elke Schroeder has been training and performing in various disciplines of dance and theatre for over 20 years, and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Ms. Schroeder has performed at fFIDA, the Junction Arts Festival, In a White Room, the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Equity Showcase Theatre and Nuit Blanche. She has worked with Darryl Tracy, Andrea Nann, Heidi Strauss, Susie Burpee and TILT Sound + Motion and has been teaching her FloorWork(ed) classes for over a year. She continues to dance independently and manages Ahimsa Yoga Centre.
Original Sound Score
Linedrawing is known for uniquely distorted takes on a variety of electronic music, his signature sound is often infused with elements of dub, pop and ambient experimental sounds. It combines arrhythmic structures with aleatory elements and sensual, layered textures. Born in remote Montreal. His early training as a DJ is now transmuted – endlessly reinterpreted and twisted into new forms while retaining a fundamental rhythm orientation. By the mid 1990s he had begun incorporating electronic textures into his group collaborations as he gradually taught himself to use samplers and drum machines through experimentation. Eventually, he found more satisfying results could be achieved going solo with his equipment than staying with any band, so he sold his elaborate acoustic kit and went underground to work on music in seclusion. He began producing and performing live in Toronoto in the late 90s working through various pseudonyms and today works under the moniker Linedrawing.
Christopher Willes is a composer and interdisciplinary artist living in Toronto. Through concerts, exhibitions, performance and theatre events his practise explores the intersection of sound and collaborative processes. His work as a composer and sound artist has been presented at the Music Gallery, the Nuit Blanche Festival, and Labspace Gallery in Toronto, and he has participated in residencies and workshops at the Banff Centre, STEIM foundation in the Netherlands. Since 2008 he has been working with dance maker Julia Male contributing music and advice for several of her solo dance performances including two short works presented at Tangente in Montreal. Christopher has also collaborated on several group projects in theatre and dance which have been shown at the Harbourfront Centre, the Toronto Fringe Festival, Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, and Studio 303 in Montreal. More recently he created the sound design for a monologue written by performance artist Myra Davies in the 2010 X-avant festival at the Music Gallery in Toronto, and performed at the 2010 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the UK with Contact Contemporary Music Group Projects in the works include: 'The feeling of being connected', a solo operatic performance created in collaboration with soprano Charlotte Mundy; 'Everyday' a solo with electronics for bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson to be presented in summer 2011; and 'Field Models' an ongoing performance research project investigating collaborative processes in music and dance. He studied music at the University of Toronto and is currently studying dramaturgy with Jacob Zimmer through and internship at Dancemakers in Toronto. He likes noodles.
Set /Costume Design
Shannon Lea Doyle is a young designer, sculptor and curator. She is entering her fourth year at OCAD University in the fall where she will continue developing a sculpture and installation based practice concerned with the body, space, and performance. Her work has most recently been shown in group shows at Function 13 and XPACE Cultural Centre. In the past few months she has curated and produced two group sculpture exhibits, “Remains” and “Proof”, which showcased the work of her peers. ab intra has been an exciting challenge. Shannon has enjoyed exploring her fascination with the way the body relates to everyday objects. This has been an opportunity to work on her feet with the contrasts of fluidity and structure. Her past design credits are for “i”, a one woman show by cassie walker, and an installation curated by Tyrone T-RexXx Edwards for Canadian Stage’s “UnScripted” event. Shannon is in the process of designing for Combat which will play at this year’s Summer Works Festival. Shannon is currently shadowing Lorenzo Savoini and would like to thank him for his generosity.
Lighting Design
Kevin MacLeod has had the pleasure of wearing many hats while working on many
independent dance productions such as Ink to Flesh (JD Dance), The Drowning Anthology (Crazyfish Collective), Older and Reckless (Moonhorse Productions), and inherencies and other disorders (Darryl Tracy). Kevin worked for many years with Second City as stage manger and has been the technical director/production manager of various companies throughout Canada. Kevin recently completed work on Priscilla Queen of the Desert (National Artists Management Co. & Mirvish Productions) and is the A/V Technician at Canadaʼs National Ballet School. Design credits include: The Whole Shebang - assistant (Dreamwalker Dance), Symphonia (Silhouettes Dance Company), Choreographic Marathon (Across Oceans), Project: Protection (JumpIn Stage Prod.), and One World, Our World (Sampradaya Dance Academy).
