my battery is pure love

For over 20 years COBA (Collective of Black Artists) has been passionately forging a path of "traditionally innovative dance and music" in Toronto and beyond. This quote is found on their website homepage, and I can't think of a better way to describe what they do. While engaging some traditional aspects of African dance aesthetics, their work always grabs hold of the now with vitality. No doubt this drive is spurred onwards by the current artistic leadership, co-founders Charmaine Headley and Bakari I. Lindsay.  COBA is one of the companies to performing in the Dance TO Showcase  this fall and Bakari graciously and succinctly answered my questions with that same kind of energy you feel in COBA's work.  Bakari I. Lindsay by Michael Chambers LUCY: Why was COBA founded? How has that shifted over the years? BAKARI: COBA was founded first and foremost to create a platform for the original founders, (Charmaine Headley, Junia Mason, Mosa (Kim) McNeill...

I had the pleasure of being part of a Little Pear Garden Collective show, Four Beauties, in 2010. It was an ambitious project exploring the epic four beauties of Chinese legends, each beauty choreographed by a different creative mind with very different ends. I danced a solo by William Yong using paper and bowls and paint, nestled between traditional dance works, poetic narrative and another contemporary dance work. With Emily Cheung fairly new -- at that point-- to artistic directorship of LPGC, it was clear that she had an expansive and inclusive vision for the company. It was also clear that she is one of the sweetest people you can imagine.  (I use superlatives a lot in these interviews, but our community is full of some truly great people and it is worth saying.) Little Pear Garden Collective is one of the showcase performance companies in the Dance TO Showcase programming Sept 28-Oct 1, 2015.  photo of Emily Cheung courtesy of LPGC I interviewed Emily ...

Dance TO Showcase is a group of six Toronto presenters who wanted to create events, performances and chances for Toronto dance artists to come together during an exceedingly exciting and busy time Sept 28-Oct 3, 2015.  In the flurry of national and international activity through a new festival, conferences and auxiliary events,  the Dance TO Showcase wants to celebrate the dance talent that's right here in Toronto. You may have seen our first interviewee's company recently in Dusk Dances: Lua Shayenne's work is bright, optimistic, engaging and unwavering....just like Lua. In the spirit of the Dance TO Showcase purpose, I asked her some questions about inspiration, staying inspired, how we can grow artistically and professionally and most importantly about the art itself. I tried to replicate these questions for all the interviewees to follow, as a way for us to compile and compound our ideas and dreams. I thank Lua deeply for being the first to...