CLOSER @ SUMMERWORKS

CLOSER is inspired by both empowered and oppressive experiences of women.  The work points to some level of progress through the performers determined presence, and yet this progress is incomplete and continuously at risk. This project uses forward motion and depth of field to explore concepts around solidarity, justness, the feminization of space, and a myriad of related experiences from resilience, vulnerability, protection, radiance, anger and exhaustion. 

Moving together, intentionally, forward and in numbers, the work asks that we look closer at ourselves, each other, truth, change, and in turn action.  It calls for equity in our public and private spaces, so that all women can be safe, empowered and can shine in the spaces they inhabit.   

At this time in the pandemic, what does it mean to be closer? How CLOSE can we be? To ourselves and each other. What are our boundaries and our needs for both connection and protection? CLOSER employs movement as a tool for engagement, connection, and clear seeing. Looking closer. Not looking away. Together.

THank you

Toronto Arts Council, Neville, Peter & Sam, Laura, Zita, Wei Qing & the SummerWorks team & all the alleyway neighbours

THE TEAM

JENN GooDWIN | CREATor,CO-CHOREOGRAPHER & PERFORMER

Jenn is an artist, curator, and artistic producer. Much of her practice focuses on temporary art in public space and the choreography embedded in every day life,  in addition to championing artists and communities by way of their art practices. 

She works for the City of Toronto, with a focus on Nuit Blanche and ArtworxTO/ The Year of Public Art. She has a Masters of Curatorial Studies from the University of Toronto, and a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University.  Goodwin has curated performance and exhibitions across Canada and her dance work has been shown in Newfoundland, Vancouver and Montreal,  Australia, Brussels, Amsterdam, Japan, New York City, and extensively in Toronto.  She recently co-founded DoorTODoor Dances during the Covid-19 pandemic with friends Sarah Doucet, Kate Nankervis & Zoja Smutny to deliver dances to the doorsteps of long-term care homes.  Goodwin is one half of the art band MORTIFIED with Camilla Singh, and was co-founder of The Movement Movement with Jessica Rose. 

Jenn has written for the Journal for Curatorial Studies, The Canadian Theatre Review, Anandam Dancetheatre, and The Dance Current and has an essay coming out in the upcoming HOLDING GROUND: NUIT BLANCHE AND OTHER RUPTURES Edited by Julie Nagam and Janine Marchessault.

Sarah Doucet | CO-CHOREOGRAPHER & costume designer

Sarah’s vast and varied career includes professional dancer, choreographer, rehearsal director and for the past several years, costume designer and stylist.

Career Highlights include:

~ Company member, collaborator and costume designer with Dana Gingras, Animals of Distinction and The Holy Body Tattoo;

~ Decades long and ongoing collaboration with Jenn Goodwin, with works including If I Should Stumble, Closer, Still Life With Sand, Wood, Grass and Movement, to name a few recent favourites;

~ Costume designer for 6 full length shows with DJD in Calgary, with shows including FAMILY OF JAZZ, JULIET AND ROMEO and SUSPENDING DISBELIEF;

~ Rehearsal director and costume designer for ONE HUNDRED MORE,a collaboration between Justine Chambers and Laurie Young, premiered in 2019 in Berlin, upcoming Canadian tour in Fall of 2022);

~ Costume design highlights include ‘NEW TRICKS’(Christopher House, TO), ‘RING’ (Ame Henderson, Toronto Dance Theatre),‘ ‘IMAGO DEI’ (Moni Hoffman, Propeller Dance, Ottawa)

FLESH&SPOKE (Renata Seuter, Propeller Dance); SPASTICUS (Elizabeth Winkelaar, Propeller Dance, Ottawa); MULTIFORMS, NO PLACE (Amanda Acorn, TO); FLOOR’D (Holla Jazz,TO); LULU V.7 // ASPECTS OF A FEMME FATALE (The Red Light District, TO); THE WOLVES (The Howland Company&Crowe’s Theatre, Dora Nomination for Outstanding Costume Design 2019 ,TO).

For the past 6+ years, Sarah Doucet has been the representative plaintiff in a class action lawsuit that was brought on behalf of all persons who attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School from 1984 to 2015 who were photographed by Bruce Monk in a private setting, and the dependents of those students. Class Members have until ~FEBRUARY 28, 2023~ to place a claim, if applicable. Please go to https://waddellphillips.ca/class-actions/royal-winnipeg-ballet-class-action/ for information.

FRANCESCA CHUDNOFF | PERFORMER

Fran also known as Franz (they/them/she/her), is a Tkaronto based millennial, with a BFA in performance, and paying rent as a multidisciplinary artist. She is a dance maker, video artist, and photographer who is slowly learning digital illustration & 3D modelling. Their work is in conversation with internet aesthetics and shaping a “social aura”. In 2021 Franz completed a 3 year research residency at Dancemakers Centre for Creation with Driftnote where together they created “FACE RIDER”.

Kate Nankervis | PERFORMER

Dancing is a constant source of inspiration for Kate. Through performance, installation, exhibition and research-led collaborations, her work creates uplifting dance experiences vital to physical and mental health, community care and placemaking. For more than 15 years, she has performed, taught and collaborated with other artists and choreographers from across Canada and internationally. Working in Community,  she is co-founder of Dance Together Festival, an open-air summer dance program in Mimico, and a member of DoorTODoor Dances, delivering dances to long-term care homes.  Kate is an original member of Toronto Dance Community Love-In (2010- 2019), and co-artistic director (2013- 2016) of hub 14 art + performance, both are collective organizations dedicated to research and artistic development in Toronto.  Kate is a recipient of the Danceweb Scholarship at ImpulsTanz, Vienna (2019), an Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Fellowship in dance curation (2016),  a recipient of the UNESCO performing arts award (2008)  and is supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts on various projects.  She is a graduate of York University’s BFA Dance program. Kate lives in Etobicoke/ Tkaranto with roots in South Porcupine, Northern Ontario. katenankervis.com

DANAH ROSALES | PERFORMER

Danah (She/Her/Siya) is a Tkaronto based cis-queer millennial; second-generation Canadian-Filipin*; a daughter; a dawta; a sister; a sis; a bio mother; a motha of a kiki house; and an artist in which her work encompasses teaching, collaborative choreography and performance. Growing up in Rexdale, hip-hop and community-based culture was a large contributing part of her initial understanding and fascination with expression. It led to her passion and pursuance of dance and culture. Danah was a music and dance major at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, is a graduate of the School of TDT and danced with the company for 3 seasons. She has worked alongside various artists such as Christopher House, Susie Burpee, Peter Chin, Ame Henderson, Kent Monkman, Ralph Escamillan, Justin De Luna, Andrea Spaziani, Francesca Chudnoff, Annie MacDonnell, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Ballet Creole, The Kiki House of Siriano, Mix Mix Collective, James Baley, Dorian Electra, Gia Metric, Hollywood Jade, Matthew ‘Snoopy’ Cuff, Scott Fordham and more.

ESIE MENSAH | PERFORMER

Esie (she/her) is an artist whose creative footprint extends into many genres, disciplines and regions. As a dancer, choreographer, director, educator and public speaker, Mensah's mastery of storytelling is as diverse as her experience. From working with megastars like Rihanna, Drake and Arcade Fire to historic brands like Coca-Cola, TIFF and the Toronto Raptors, this powerful woman shows no sign of slowing down. She was a featured speaker at TEDxToronto 2019, where she spoke about her experience as a dark-skinned dancer and the process of creating her Dora-nominated production Shades. Her short film, A Revolution of Love, opened Toronto History Museum’s ongoing Awakenings initiative to decolonize historic spaces. More recently, Esie announced the world premiere of her newest short film, TESSEL, co-commissioned by Fall For Dance North and Harbourfront Centre. TESSEL is a national call of healing supported by 21 dance organizations from across Canada, streaming online at www.tessel.film.  

She has led equity and inclusion work at Sheridan College, the Royal Academy of Dance, the University of Calgary and is an Artistic Advisor at The National Ballet School.

ANITA NITTOLY | PERFORMER

THEATRE: As You Like It, Public Enemy (Canadian Stage); 2019 Season (Fight Director - The Stratford Festival); The Last Wife, The 39 Steps, Successions (Centaur Theatre); Whole World (Carousel Players); Kitchen Radio, Stag & Doe, 2018 Season (Blyth Festival); Don Quichotte, Die Walkure, Carmen (Canadian Opera Company); Stage Combat Instructor and Fight Director (National Theatre School).

TV/FILM: Stunt Performer/Stunt Actor (selected credits: SEE, Pretty Hard Cases, Enhanced, Teen Titans, The Boys, Dark Matter, Designated Survivor, 12 Monkeys, Murdoch Mysteries).

SARAH SHUGARMAN | MUSICIAN

Sarah (Toronto) is a multi-instrumentalist and award-nominated composer whose music has accompanied dance, theatre, and film. Her commissions for dance have included works for the Limon Dance Company (NY), Toronto Dance Theatre, Kaeja d'Dance, Toru Shimazaki (Japan/Netherlands), inDANCE, Jen Goodwin, Naoko Murakoshi, Maxine Heppner, Dreamwalker Dance Co., the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, and Reiko Matsuoka Ballet (Japan). Her music has been danced to on renown stages in New York, Miami, San Francisco, LA, Japan, throughout Mexico and Canada, at the Redcat Disney Hall (LA), SummerStage (NY) and Jacob’s Pillow Festival (MA). Sarah has worked as musical director for theatre and dance and has recorded and performed across a wide range of music genres with musicians ranging from Ron Hawkins to Paul Anka . Sarah’s playing can be heard in numerous Canadian art films and documentaries including The Corporation and most recently, Edward Burtynsky’s In the Wake of Progress.

CARINA REEVES | MUSICIAN

With pizzicati called "kisses" by Rostropovich, and “Fresh as paint” by the Times Colonist, Carina Reeves is a cellist always reaching for new forms of creative expression. Born in Vancouver, educated at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and now living in Toronto, her classical roots of string quartets and symphonies have grown into rock concerts, meditation portals, improv, and a movie score which went to Cannes.

BRIANA BROWN | CREATIVE PRODUCER

Briana has worked with a breadth of arts organizations, from grassroots collectives to large-scale institutions including the Canadian Stage Company (Metcalf Artistic and Producing Intern), Seventh Stage Productions (Associate Producer), Paprika Festival (Artistic Programs Manager), Brave New Play Rites Festival in Vancouver (Artistic Producer), Nova Dance (Administrative Producer) and is currently the Artistic Producer of ĀNANDAṀ Dancetheatre. This past winter she co-created and produced Digital Now! a festival for weary hearts, which resourced over 50 theatre artists who were able to expand their craft by exploring modes of storytelling in a digital space. She is a graduate of UBC's Creative Writing program (MFA), a Jessie-nominated playwright and practicing theatre director. @that.artsworker.life