my battery is pure love

Jillian Peever is a rhinoceros. She knows I write this with hoardes of love. She is nothing like a rhinoceros -- a voice like silken gravel, a look like a Scandinavian elf, and a dancing body that can do anything -- but she is a powerhouse, a compact of determination and ferocity.  I was lucky to get to know Jillian when she stepped into Denise Fujiwara's EUNOIA in the 11th hour last fall, as one of the original cast fell ill on tour, and the original understudy was very pregnant. Jillian learned the work on site in Calgary with speed and precision.  She was, to me, a rhinoceros: head down, fiercely, quietly getting the work done with impressive power. Rhinos are gorgeous. I was intimidated by her skills, but mostly inspired by her combination of utter sweetness and total confidence.  And I am so happy to present here an interview with Jillian about her show, opening this week, with choreography by the beautiful Sharon Moore (see earlier inter...

As recently as yesterday I retold the story of a professor of the University of Toronto who tried to discredit my research in early 20th century Central European comparative cultural history based on his view that since I was also a dancer, my research was irrelevant as dancers are "automatons who don't think for themselves, but simply do as they are told". I was shocked that in the 21st century I was coming up against this image of the unintelligent dancer. I guess because I so recently retold this story, I am gleefully posting yet another gloriously articulated interview with a fiercely individual, intelligent and rigorous dance artist: Jeanine Durning, the second choreographer involved in the New York/Toronto Project with Toronto Dance Theatre which opens tomorrow night, February 11th at 8pm, at the Winchester Street Theatre. I am so grateful to Jeanine and Joanna (Kotze, whose interview on her portion of the New York/Toronto Project I posted earlier this week...

Photo of Joanna Kotze courtesy of www.joannakotze.com It is almost a cliche now to comment on how intelligent and articulate a dance artist may be. Still, this interview is an immense pleasure to post -- virtually unedited  -- this interview with the hyper-articulate, both in body and in words, Joanna Kotze, one of the two New York-based choreographers involved in Toronto Dance Theatre's New York/Toronto Project this month. Thank you Joanna! LR: How did the commission with TDT come about for you? JK: I got an email from Christopher in March 2014 saying that he was in New York and wondered if I might be available to meet for a coffee. He had heard about me via some common New York friends and told me about the desire to have a New York/Toronto exchange. I was immediately excited about working with him and the company and also to know he was inviting Jeanine Durning to do the project.  I thought it would be wonderful to share the experience with her sinc...