The 2008 Junction Arts Festival was a great success! Visit here for news and updates about site changes, thejunctioncity.com for continued programming throughout the year, and otherwise enjoy reading about the artists and performers that made this year's festival such a blast.

Street Performances

Throughout the festival footprint, local, national and international dance and theatre groups, musicians and more presented site-specific and roaming performances animating the Junction streetscape. Some groups would just appear, do a flash performance and disappear just as quickly. Over 50 artists thrilled and engaged audiences throughout the day and into the evening.

Dance & Performance Groups
Toronto Aerial Dance

Biography

Toronto Aerial Dance (TAD) and the children’s company, Les Petits Aerialists, were created in 2005 by Fernando Escoto. A non-profit organization of professional dancers, aerial artists and musicians, members of TAD draw on diverse international backgrounds in disciplines such as classical ballet, contemporary dance, aerial contortion, theatre, music, martial arts, fire dancing and multi-media visual arts. The diverse scope of experience lands texture to collaborative work created by the company.

About the Performance

TAD is extremely proud to present “Century”, a performance art piece retelling the story of the Junction Triangle Toronto. Inspiring aerial choreography is woven with innovative modern dance, to a back drop of projected images and original visual arts depicting the region. We retrace the steps of three transformative eras: The ongoing consolidation of an integrated community, the expansion of urbanization and finally, the first sparks of industry. A live visual artist paints onstage, creating improvisational pieces in response to each era representing the ongoing history, growth and diversity of the area. Recorded music will be accompanied by live instrumentation.

torontoaeiraldance.com
Bain & Bernard

Featuring

Warren Bain & Matthew Bernard

Biography

Bain & Bernard is a recently formed comedy duo hailing from Toronto. Having a keen interest in vaudeville comedy they exercise a mandate to create new vaudeville styled material and resurrect classic scripts and famous sketches. The duo have been influenced and model themselves after the writings and styles of John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Bud Abbot & Lou Costello, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, and The Marx Brothers. The have been involved in the Toronto comedy scene for the past five years and have played various venues including The Bad Dog Theatre, Bathurst St. Theatre and The Bloor Cinema.

About the Performance

Are you tired? Losing hair? Or frustrated with other miracle elixirs that just don’t cut it. Well “Bain & Bernard & Son’s” has the cure for you. We’ve traveled all across Canada, and some parts of lower Brazil, to bring our wonderful “This Thing, That Thing, Everything Anything Elixir” to YOU! Just stop by our Wooden Wonder Cart for explanations, demonstrations, samples and more! Sure to excite!

myspace.com/bainandbernard
Prairie Sky Productions

Featuring

Kate Stashko, Catherine George McLaughlin

Biography

Prairie Sky Productions is an independent dance collective consisting of Catherine George McLaughlin and Kate Stashko, both originally from Alberta and graduates of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Their combined performance and choreography to date includes: Series 8:08 Choreographic Performance Workshop (Toronto, 2008), Alberta Dance Explosions (Calgary, 2008), The Free Flow Dance Theatre’s New Dance Series (Saskatoon, 2007), The Big 40 (Toronto, 2007), Toronto International Dance Festival (2006) and the Athabasca Country Fringe Festival (2005, 2004). Lucy’s Living Room is an improv-based piece inspired by urban green space and a game of Boggle.

About the Performance

Lucy’s Living Room is a structured improvisation, based around the central idea of urban green space, inspired by a game of Boggle, and created specifically for an outdoor setting. The choreographers used this game to randomly come up with words that related to the idea of greenery and nature within an urban environment, and subsequently generated movement based on these words and phrases. The final outcome is Lucy’s Living Room, in which the dancers play with words, and interact with small moments of inspiration to be found in the oases of greenery within a city.

Larchaud Dance Project

Featuring

Performers: Robyn Alfonso, Jase Cozmic, Markus Laczko, Mayumi Lashbrook, Jennifer Robichaud.

Youth Performers: Dylan Harding, Kacy Temple, Sidney Temple.

Biography

Founded in 2004, Larchaud Dance Project combines break dance aesthetics with contemporary technique to create repertoire based on strength, agility, and gravity-defying movement. Originators of this hybrid dance form, their highly stylized partnering is now recognized as Larchaud Technique. This Toronto based company guarantees to captivate audiences with high-voltage athleticism and captivating presence. Under the Artistic Direction of Jennifer Robichaud, Larchaud Dance Project has been recognized for its vibrant workshops, cutting edge choreography, and multimedia performances. Their performance credits include Shanghai Fringe, Nuit Blanche, TIDF, fFIDA, Wintercity Festival and Larchaud Productions Stript Bare/05, Shinjiru/06, CAUTION/07.

About the Performance

Punk culture originated as a movement of shock, rebellion, and discontent. Punk ideologies often see modern day societies as placing extensive limits on humanity. Larchaud Dance Project imagines what would happen if individuals of this movement were to travel back in time to influence the future and formation of society. A class field trip, a portal to the past, misfits, and electrifying pas de deux, make this a performance not to be missed! Complete with acrobatic duels, high flying lifts, and emotionally charged choreography, Larchaud succeeds once again in entertaining and astounding all audiences with their extreme physicality and unstoppable presence.

larchaud.com
rad

Featuring

Laura Bolender, Julie Grant, Ivana Matovina, Liisa Murray, Zita Nyarady.

Biography

Since its creation in May 2007, rad (random acts of dance) has been involved in various festivals including: Patio Plays, Junction Arts Festival, and Nuit Blanche. This spring we performed in Dancercise with a full forty-piece wind ensemble, invaded Dundas Square during Dance Umbrella’s International Dance Day event, and turned heads at The National Ballet’s Mad Hot II Fundraising Gala. We continue to perform on the subway regularly and are attempting to create a relationship with people who are not usually exposed to dance in a fun and interesting manner by working with themes that are accessible to all audiences and performing in unconventional locations.

About the Performance

Any Woman, Any Time. rad (random acts of dance) will be serving a taste of female etiquette and it's evolution over the past century choreographed by Laura Bolender. With three female dancers, historic intention and modern flare in the movement dialogue and costumes, we invite you to view four different comical vignettes. Catch rad perform at random places on the street or check out the life-size rooms built by artist Robert Hilts to see a site-specific work.

randomactsofdance.com
Jay9 Dance Projects

Featuring

Jannine Saarinen, Anton Pasquarella , Tara Roberts, and Jeff Stevenson

Biography

Jay9 Dance Projects was created by Jannine Saarinen to choreograph/produce dance that is versatile and expressive. Her work has been performed in shows such as Artists’ Play, In a White Room, Talent Defined, and Eros Thanatos and the Avant-garde. Jannine graduated from the George Brown College Dance Program and has worked with several excellent choreographers; including Donna Greenburg, Marlee Cargill, and Viv Moore. She has performed in fFIDA, Dance Ontario Weekend, Artist’s Play, Nuit Blanche and many other venues. Jannine is excited to be working with the talented Anton Pasquarella, Tara Roberts, and Jeff Stevenson for the 2008 Junction Festival.

About the Performance

Come one! Come all! Come check out the amazing automatons in Wound About. You’ll see life-sized wind-up toys come to life when audience members are invited to wind them up. They are so realistic you’ll swear that they are real live people! You’ll then enjoy a formal demonstration as you watch these fantastic automatons dance about. Jay9 Dance Projects is excited to show off this wondrous technology that historically has been reserved for the very rich. These magnificent machines will be exhibited two days only and I guarantee you won’t want to miss the opportunity to see them in action!

Octamerous

Featuring

Amanda Acorn, Emily Law, Jennifer Lecuyer, Brodie Stevenson.

Biography

The members of Octamerous first came together in the Fall of 2006 under the banner of the Nuit Blanche festival. Focusing on a collaborative approach to choreographing and performing they created, rehearsed, and performed a piece within twenty-four hours. The basis of the project was that everyone would choreograph a small section and that the surroundings would be incorporated into the piece in some manner. Following this recipe for creation, Octamerous has performed many times now at such events as International Dance Day at Pearson International Airport 2007/08, Nuit blanche 2006/07 and The Junction arts festival 2007, and Vernissage-danse #136 Nu-Nude.

About the Performance

Octamerous is an ongoing project that uses a group choreographic process, site-specific situations, and a healthy dose of chance to create new, unusual, and entertaining pieces. This installment is entitled, Everything Ordinary. In it a group of strangers arrive in an alien culture and must learn how to make their way in this new environment. Time is limited, there is a mission to accomplish and nobody really knows how to get from A to B. Will our group of intrepid adventurers succeed or will they fail? How would anyone even know the difference? Come and find out.

NAGBOT – New Age Ghetto Ballet of Toronto

Featuring

Eroca Nichols, Kristina Udegbunam

Biography

Kristina Udegbunam is an active member of the Toronto Dance Community through her associations with the Toronto circus company Cirque Sublime, a Brazilian dance company, Newton Moreas Dance Theatre, and Kaesha Dance Company to name a few. She also continues to present her own work in Toronto through presenters such as The Junction Arts Festival and Series 8:08. Udegbunam currently teaches at numerous schools and dance studios across the city where she shares her passion and knowledge in ballet, hip hop, jazz, street/ funk dance and modern.

About the Performance

Beat Impromptu. Superhero’s of rhythm, the original kings and queens of the dance floor have united into one tribe and will make their way as nomads across the universe taking over one street corner at a time. Their motto? “Sound, beat, feel, go!”

Véronique MacKenzie's "Citizens"

Featuring

Veronique Mackenzie, Lisa Phinney, Susan Cook, Melissa Lively, Jacinte Armstrong, and Kim Kraushar

Biography

Veronique Mackenzie a well known in the dance community for her many choreographic explorations that dare to be different. She has created works for the Halifax Comedy Festival, Charlottetown’s Late Night Festival, the Local Currents Dance Festival, and Festival Antigonish. She has created full-length productions both for the stage as well as for the street including Citizens and her most recent Kinetic Studio site-specific piece entitled, Invisible Dancers. She also has a number of screen credits to her name including CBC’s new children’s show entitled Bo on the GO! She currently teaches currently teaches movement at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University) and Dalhousie University as well as Halifax Dance. Veronique is the most recent recipient of the Susan Jackson Award (Dance Nova Scotia), as well as the Dianne Moore Scholarship (Live Art Productions). “V” lives in Halifax.

About the Performance

Citizens is inspired by the “Flash Mobbing” or “Spontaneous Choir” projects currently happening around the world where large groups of people gather in an undetermined location perform some brief action, and then quickly disperse. As quickly as people realize there is something going on, the performance will have scattered only to reappear somewhere else. Citizens is generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Nova Scotia Tourism and Culture, and the Halifax Regional Municipality.

ASM Dance

Biography

ASM Dance (As the Spirit Moves) was founded in September 2007 by Jasmyn Fyffe. This company performs modern-contemporary dance. We seek to do all our creative work with artistic integrity in the hope that it will awaken the hearts and minds of its audience. Attentive to the depth and diversity of human experience, sensitive to social issues it is art which is able to impact the human spirit through its meaning and transforming power. We recently performed in Squigg Fest 2008 and the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse this past June.

About the Performance

You don’t want to miss ASM perform their new work! This piece explores the meaning and idea of materialism which is the preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values. It addresses the societal norms and behaviours associated with the obsession of material things. Using contemporary movement, text/poetry and songs the idea of obsession and possession over material goods is displayed. There is a constant stream of satire that flows through the piece, which makes this dance not one to be missed!

Portable Gallery Project

Biography

PGP or Portable Gallery Project, is a series of scaled down transportable art galleries, modeled after select established and interesting Toronto art spaces. They are fully equipped to show all mediums in a small, easily moveable unit. The first gallery in this series is the Olga Korper Edition.

PGP is a curatorial artist project by collaborators Heather Phillips and Ashley Grenville. They are both currently living and working in Toronto, spending their free time walking around town and sharing the PGP with the city. Heather Phillips has a BFA in studio art specializing in sculpture from York University. Ashley Grenville is currently completing her MA at York University specializing in museums in the miniature.

About the Performance

Childhood games hold a special place in everyone's memory. P. Roch Smith explores the “architecture of memory” through his installation The Gordie Howe Trick. Reclaimed metal hockey figurines are strategically arranged to evoke the emotions associated with play and competition. This nostalgic piece highlights the popular Canadian pastime and allows the viewer to reflect on the integral role that play has in the development of character and gender roles.