Workshops Winter/Spring 2012!!!

Justine Chambers Workshop January 2011, photo by Yoann Malnati

Just a brief post to announce our Winter and Spring Workshops for 2012 before you completely lose your mind with holiday cheer and rum and egg nog! We have a  great line-up for the next few months and we are excited to be hosting a mix of local treasures and teachers from afar... We will be officially announcing news and the line-up for Summer Love-In 2012 in January as well so stay posted for that goodness! Trust us, you do not want to miss this!


January 16- 20th  Eroca Nicols and Yves Candeau Partnering Workshop
February 6-10th Susanna Hood
March 12-16th Jennifer Dallas
March 26-30th Kira Kirsch Axis Syllabus Workshop
April 2-6th Kelly Keenan Axis Syllabus Workshop
May 7-11th Farley Joahnsson


Full workshop descriptions, instructor bios and registration details will be available soon!
To register for any workshop please email tolove.in@gmail.com

Up next!! Love-In Workshop with Stephen Thompson

December 5 - 9, 10am to 12pm at Dovercourt House

$50/5 classes, $12 to drop-in tolove.in@gmail.com to register!! Full description below. Stephen Thompson’s class attempts, negotiates and passes through techniques and tools to assist movers in awakening for the challenges of the day while maintaining individualism (autonomy), honing physical skill, curiosity, well-being and "being" together. The class is aimed towards movers/performers interested to not only prepare their body to “dance” but to sublimate (through redefining, redirecting and refining) our choices. By observing patterns and recognizing a practice we can shift our perspective, expand our vocabulary and augment who we are and what we do. The dynamic of the class is self-administered with guidance to correlate to the needs of the individual. Fundamental principles are accumulative however each day will offer new material. Stephen Thompson is a dancer/choreographer/pedagogue originally from Calgary, Alberta. His initial experience as a performer started as a competitive figure skater where he competed at the 1998 Olympic Trials. He received a Bachelor of Kinesiology with a minor in Contemporary Dance at the University of Calgary. Stephen has worked as an interpreter, collaborator and co-choreographer with numerous companies and artists across Canada and Europe including Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Nicole Mion, Foundation Jean- Pierre Perrault, Le Groupe de la Place Royale, Production LAPS (Martin Bélanger),Par B.L.eux (Benoit Lachambre), Lee Su-Feh, DANS.KIAS (Austria), Fabrice Lambert (France), Fabrice Ramalingom (France), Dick Wong (Hong Kong) and Antonija Livingstone and Jennifer Lacey in Impulstanz festival in Vienna (2009). He has authored several choreographies, This may contain… (2009) ________+ NOW and a little bit before (2007), Garden Variety (2006), Minor Fantasy (2005) and *You aRe HERE has been presented in Montreal OFF.T.A. (2009) and Fluid Festival Calgary. He has taught workshops and classes in Canadian and European schools, communities and Universities.

Coming Up!! House Workshop with Emily Law!

House Workshop with Emily Law (Toronto)
November 7-11, 10am to 12pm
$50/5 classes or $12 drop-in
Dovercourt House
tolove.in@gmail.com to register

This all style street dance class will explore concepts from house, waacking, popping, contemporary and breaking. Through these dance forms we will practice isolations, grooves , musicality and footwork. The class will be informed by the rich history of street dance and the social and cultural context and movements that influenced these many dance styles. Through the isolation work we will try to liberate varying sections of our bodies to explore new avenues for movement. Each person in the class will be encouraged to investigate their own style and take on the movements shared in class.

To the sounds of some funky tunes we will waack, pop, jack and skate through the space. 

Please bring running shoes.

Emily Law was born in Toronto and started dancing while attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts in 2000. She has many passions including contemporary dance, various styles of street dance, and visual art. She is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, where she formed two collectives. One with Masuyo Higashide, and Jennifer Lécuyer called cube3 and another called Octamerous. She is also a founding member of the Toronto house dance crew Warehouse Jacks and the street dance/ theatre dance company Gadfly. These past few years Emily has Enjoyed working with Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, The Chimera Project, the Parahumans Dance Theatre, Event Horizon Dance, Piotr Biernat and was a resident artists at Sound Travels 2006.

Just added!!! Axis Syllabus Fundamentals

Axis Syllabus (AS) Fundamentals - Early Morning Movement Salutations

October 24, 25, 26 8:00-9:30am, $45/ 3 classes or $15 drop-in
Downward Dog Yoga Centre, 735 Queen St West

Facilitated by Kira Maria Kirsch
These three classes will serve as an introduction of the Axis Syllabus to the novice as well as a form of deepening practice for the experienced mover. At a slow pace and in simple motives we will explore ways of getting into, across and out of the floor with more ease and fluidity. We will look closely at safe anatomical architecture to build ramps and structures with and within your body that prevent you from injury, enhance efficiency and increase joy!

email tolove.in@gmail.com to register!

Yoga times!!!

SWAP-IT!! this Sunday at Dancemakers!

Fundraiser for the amazing Marjory Smarth

Uniting over one woman’s battle with cancer, an encouraged dance arts community wishes to raise funds for Marjory Smarth, internationally known professional dancer and dance teacher, on August 28. The event will include food for sale, great raffle prizes, and a house dance workshop at Gotta Dance at 3581 Dundas Street West, Toronto, 7PM- 11PM. Suggested donation for the event is 10$.

“We hope Marjory can continue teaching ‘till she’s old and grey- she would continue to give through her talent and spirit,” says ‘Fly Lady Di-‘ Diana Reyes, a former pupil of Marjory’s and the teacher leading the dance workshop at the fundraiser.

For the past two years, Marjory has been battling cancer, and as she lives in the United States, medical care is not cheap. That is why members of the Toronto house and hip hop dance community are being summoned to raise money for this amazing woman. Between cupcake sales and tickets for raffle prizes such as private dance classes, the goal is to raise -either meet or exceed-  $500 for Marjory.

Marjory’s skills, like most early house and hip hop dancers, were taken from the streets and developed in the underground club scene. In the late 1980s, she danced professionally with music artists including Diana Ross, Heavy D and CeCe Peniston, among others. After numerous dance tours, four documentaries and teaching internationally, she is continually considered to be a major figure in the dance and historian communities. Today she enjoys focusing on helping people find their own freedom of expression. 

“I just open the threshold, that’s all,” Marjory says. “They have to find their own eloquence.”

Raffle Prizes Include But Are Not Limited To:

• Art work by Terrance Es
• Massage with Ceinwin Gobert
• Private 60 minute classes from six or more seasoned house and hip hop dancers
• Music/entry pass for Soul Custody

Hope to see you there!!!

Announcing our Fall/Winter programming!!

Stephen Thompson workshop, Feb 2010. Photo Jeremy Mimnagh

The summer marches on but we have been planning ahead...!! Lucky you! We are thrilled to share our fall/winter 2011 programming with you. We will be visited by some old favorites and have the pleasure of hosting some new teachers as well. Please visit the ' Fall/Winter 2011 Workshops' page for teachers bios, class descriptions and pre-registration information! To register for any workshop email: tolove.in@gmail.com

September 19-23: Deconstructing Cages Workshop with Liz Kinoshita (Brussels)

September 26-30: Break Fusion Workshop with Emmanuelle Le Phan (Montreal)

October 24-28: Elastic Perspectives, Axis-Syllabus Workshop with Kira Kirsch (Germany/USA)

November 7-11: House with Emily Law (Toronto)

December 5-9: Workshop with Stephen Thompson (Canada/France)

Happy Summer! 

The Love-In team

Summer Love-In: a success story

9 days, 1 BBQ, over 30 dancers, lots of sweating and of course, lots of loving times....
I knew I wouldn't believe that we had pulled it off until I saw it with my own eyes. My first day in Frey's class, I had a moment recalling taking the Dynamic Geometry class at Impulstanz with Eroca last year and I could hardly believe, there we were, a year later hosting Frey and Francesca in Toronto. There was maybe a small tear.... We couldn't have been happier with how things went!!! Over the course of the intensive, we welcomed dance artists from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. We were so pleased to have artists to represent so many communities, as we so rarely get to dance together. We hope that this will inspire new collaborations, friendships and projects in the future. 


Big thanks to the amazing faculty; Frey Faust, Heidi Strauss, Justine Chambers and Francesca Pedulla.


Many many thanks to Dancemakers for generously helping us out with the space in the final hours.

Stay tuned for updates about our Fall and Winter programming to be released very soon!!!

Floorwork(ed) Workshop with Elke Schroeder!!

May 16-18 : 10am to noon
June 13-16: 10am to noon


Monday-Dancemakers, Tuesday and Wednesday-Dovercourt hOuse, 1st floor!

Floorwork(ed) with Elke Schroeder

Practice techniques for getting in and out of the floor with speed and grace. Jump, dive, fly low... Learn how to condition the body to perform these movements safely. A grounding and invigorating dance practice for professional and pre professional dancers.
Floorwork(ed) trailer: 

What to bring?
*kneepads
*danceable sneakers
*long pants and sleeves for sliding

12$ to drop-in or $30 for 3 classes (May) or $40 for 4 classes (June)
tolove.in@gmail.com to register

About Elke:

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. Her teaching has been influenced by her studies with Inaki Azpillaga, David Zambrano and Ted Stoffer.

first home grown workshop in a while!

Monday May 2-Friday May 6, 10am-12noon $60 for 5 day workshop or $15 drop in (because we have 2 instructors) pre registration strongly encouraged to pre register email: tolove.in@gmail.com Momentum-based Floorwork into Partnering  Eroca and Yves’ class will explore the parallels between momentum-based floorwork and momentum-based partnering. Internally, we will develop our awareness, clarity of intention, and refine our use of the foundations of movement in the body: such as the structural support provided by the skeleton and the flow of muscular tone that creates movement. Externally, we will explore and strengthen specific movement patterns, using spirals to move in and out of the floor, both with a partner and solo. We will continue this dynamic use of the spiral as we move through space; expanding our perception and the physical possibilities towards a spherical appreciation of space, where movement can take place in any direction. Linking the skills we already have in floorwork or contact will provide us with a base for creating a greater ease in moving with and accessing momentum when dancing with another moving body. Eroca and Yves having been dancing together for 3 years and are eager to share the discoveries of their research with the Toronto dance community. Yves Candau has a background in science and was doing a PhD in Cognitive Sciences when he discovered dance. Gradually, his interest shifted from the abstract to a more embodied research, which he has been passionately pursuing ever since. As a movement artist he is fascinated by how internal dynamics of mind and body give rise to manifested external movement. He aims to share his fascination with others through performance and teaching. He has performed solo work in France, Italy and Canada. As an interpreter Yves has worked with a number of choreographers in Toronto: Rebecca Todd, Eryn Dace Trudell, Malgorzata Nowacka, Newton Moraes, Holly Small, and most frequently Peter Chin, for whom he has had the pleasure to dance over a span of 10 years and six different pieces. Yves’ teaching has been nourished by a number of past and present practices: Vipassana meditation, Steve Paxton’s Material for the Spine, and most importantly the Alexander Technique. Yves has taught Contact Improvisation since 2001, giving classes and workshops in France, Italy, Germany, Canada and the USA. He is also an overtone singer and a teacher of the Alexander Technique. After earning her Honors BFA in Film/Video/Performance and Sculpture from California College of the Arts (San Francisco and Oakland, CA), Eroca Nicols artistic practice shifted to dance and movement. She studied in the professional programs at both Ballet Creole and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre before pursuing further training in release-based and improvisational dance forms. She is currently a Toronto-based dance artist and educator. Her choreographic work through her company, Lady Janitor, has appeared at: Nuit Blanche, Toronto, The Cube (Bristol, UK), Dance in My Backyard, Toronto's International Dance Day, Dance Matters Performance Series, Fresh Blood, Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival and The Young Centre for the Performing Arts. In addition to her own work, Eroca also performs in the work of others among these artists are Pam Johnson, Les Imprudanses, Kaeja d'Dance and Andrea Nann. Eroca is Co-Founder of the Toronto Dance Community Love-In, with fellow dancer Amanda Acorn. She teaches contact and contemporary dance as well as Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. Eroca’s teaching and training are deeply influenced in her continued study of the Axis Syllabus.

Workshop with Davide Sportelli (Italy/Berlin)

March 28 to April 1, 10am to 12pm
Dovercourt House, 3rd Floor 
$50 for 5 day workshop or $12 drop in
pre registration strongly encouraged
to pre register email: tolove.in@gmail.com


Davide Sportelli (Italy, 1976) is a choreographer, performer and movement teacher active in Europe and overseas. After music and theatre, he studied dance in Rome and at the Accademia Isoladanza, Biennale of Venice, with choreographers and pedagogues such as Carolyn Carlson, Malou Airaudo, Raffaella Giordano, Nigel Charnock, Bill T. Jones, Iñaki Azpillaga, Frey Faust, Ivan Wolfe, Susanne Linke, David Zambrano. He has danced for Sasha Waltz, William Forsythe, Caterina Sagna, Ingo Reulecke, Michäel D’Auzon, Giorgio Rossi a.o.  Based in Berlin, he carries out his personal research on performance creation and on the craft of writing, as well as collaborating with sound and visual artists and other young choreographers.


The classes will start with a thorough warm-up, through which we will establish an organic and alive dialogue between our own anatomy and the space. We will focus on gravity, clarity and freedom, aiming for the achievement of a honest and generous physicality, able to deal with different degrees of speed, power, amplitude, accuracy of the movement.
Through the conscious use of weight as the fundamental motor of motion, with a combination of guided explorations and given material, we will work on the connections within the body and with the space.

Body as experience, communication, transformation.
Space as environment, direction, action.
Moving on the thin line between surprise and control, in a game of intentions and reactions, we will try to make our phrasing more organic and intimate, and at the same time able to project and suggest.

Masterclasses with Sarah Chase

Co-presentation with Dreamwalker Dance
The Whole Shebang Community Festival Masterclasses
Dates: March 7-10, 2011 from 10am-1pm daily
Location: Dovercourt House, 805 Dovercourt Road 1st Floor
Fees: $100. Registration with Natasha Frid:dreamwalkerdanceoutreach@gmail.com


Masterclass Description: Sarah Chase will be teaching a master class in different techniques of combining storytelling and movement. The class will begin with an extensive warm-up, designed particularly to enable to participants to tap into the unique co-ordination necessary to successfully combine spoken word and movement. The class will explore how two lines of concentration - the body and the mind - can weave together in random patterns, creating chords of meaning. The warm-up exercises centre on cross-patterning exercises that Sarah has created or adapted from other sources; the aim of these exercises is to get both sides of the brain bright and alert as the body moves and are very specifically focused on integrating the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
Other parts of the class will concentrate on biography and techniques Sarah has developed to stimulate memory and to find patterns and symbols embedded in biographical stories. The course will give the participants new ways to view their own creative work and will provide practical techniques on how words and movement can cross-pollinate to create unexpected and rich material.

happy V day from the Love-In

banner by Revel and Riot.for more LGBTQ valentines visit http://revelandriot.com/downloads

This is the time of year that we celebrate the Love-In's inception.... This year we have been too busy loving and dancing to organize a party but we figure it is not in vain! Thank you to everyone in the community at large for your contributions and supporting what we are trying do to. Fighting the good fight, spreading lots o love and trying to inspire each other to be better in dance and in life. Can't escape the fromage on Valentine's Day!! The Love-In loves you!!!

friends doing cool shit

Witness what happens when we go past the point of mental and physical exhaustion. Through a series of weirdo meditation techniques, rockstar ambitions and a willingness to be uncomfortable, Alicia Grant presents an endurance challenge for a constantly changing world.Concept by: Alicia Grant
Created and Performed by: Alicia Grant and Andrea Spaziani


February 16-19, 2011 at 9pm, North Chamber
Evening starts at 8pm

so fresh, so clean....

photo and design by Jeremy Mimnagh

The Toronto Dance Community Love-In is thrilled to announce it’s inaugural intensive! Summer Love-In will be held in Toronto from June 24th to July 3rd, 2011. Bringing together world-renowned dancer, pedagogue and artist, Frey Faust (USA/Berlin), Francesca Pedulla (Italy/Berlin) and two of Canada’s brightest talents, Heidi Strauss (Toronto) and Justine Chambers (Vancouver), for nine days of research, investigation and creation.

Click on the Summer Love-In 2011 tab above, for program and registration details!

Dave St-Pierre - Repertory Workshop!

presented by Series 8:08 and Harbourfront Centre

Friday, February 4^th

10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Dovercourt House Dance Ballroom
805 Dovercourt Road, 2^nd floor

$45

To Register please contact ATC Program Manager Tracey Norman – atc@series808.ca

Workshop open to professional dance artists, and dance students in a professional dance training program.

This workshop will offer a technical warm-up to participants before learning the repertoire of acclaimed choreographer Dave St. Pierre.  Rehearsal Director, Daniel Villeneuve will lead off the morning with approximately 1 hour of warm-up class.   This class will focus on simple technique, cardiovascular training, and provide a physical workout to ready the participants to dance the work of Dave St. Pierre.  This class is similar to the one Daniel gives to the dancers before each show – some are trained dancers and some not.

Following the class, two of Dave St. Pierre’s dancers, Karina Champoux and Frédéric Tavernini, will introduce participants to sections of  La Pornographie des âmes and Un peu de Tendresse (this is the work being presented this same week at Harbourfront Worldstage –see details below).  Within these sections are moments of large physicality and its opposite.  Participants will work through and gain insight into the challenging physicality, subtle shifts, and intriguing intricacies of St. Pierre’s choreography.  Participants are asked to bring running shoes and knee pads along to fully engage in the work.

The following week the Love-In is presenting a week of class with company dancer, Michael Watts. See earlier post for more details! To register for Michael's class email tolove.in@gmail.com

it won't be a party without you

BYOB Love-In at Hub 14 and Connect T.O. 
Join us for the first Love-In of 2011, a de-briefing with the ladies of Connect T.O. and the official launch of the registration for our Summer Intensive! Held the day after Connect TO wraps up we would like to encourage you to come down to celebrate and love the community and this exciting initiative.... Awwwwh. 

When: Sunday, January 16th from 5 to 7pm
Where: Hub 14, 14 Markham Street, fire escape entrance! 
This is a BYOB Love-In! We will provide party music, plastic cups and wine openers!


Connect T.O. , a four day festival dedicated to the promotion of the Toronto dance scene to the national and international art market, kicks off this Wednesday, January 12! Spearheaded by blackandblue dance projects, adelheid dance projects, hum dansoundart and Susie Burpee, the festival will include performances, studio showings, cocktail parties and a panel discussion. For a list of all the festivities check out: http://adelheid.ca/cto/connect.html

Just added: Axis and The Art of Dancing on Hands with Kira Kirsch

THE ART OF DANCING ON HANDS

February 14-18th,  10am to 12pm
Dovercourt House third floor


$60 for 5 day workshop or $15 drop in
pre registration strongly encouraged
to pre register email: tolove.in@gmail.com

Kira will be giving a five day workshop exploring entries and exits into dynamic inversions. This is not a class on how to stand on your hands for eternity but how to incorporate upside-down perspectives in your dancing with ease and momentum.
Kira is a performer/teacher/improvisor/choreographer from Berlin/Vienna who is now based in San Francisco. Kira studied at the Conservatory of Vienna, at tanzpool and received a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry for Culture to independently work with master teacher Frey Faust who developed the theroy, analysis and method called the Axis Syllabus. In the realm of improvisation she has had the luck to study with and be inspired by visionary women such as Sara Mann, Meg Stuart and Nita Little. Since 2004 she gets invited to teach technique and contact improvisation internationally at festivals, schools and universities such as ODC & CounterPULSE San Francisco, SEAD-salzburg, Orff-institute, HJS-Amsterdam, Buehnenwerkstatt Graz or Schwelle7 Berlin and was co-organizing & teaching the international annual Nomadic College for 7 years. January 2010 she became resident faculty & affiliated artist at KUNST-STOFF arts, a new space for the performing arts in San Francisco.
for more info on Kira see www.corpiliquidi.com