Michael Caldwell

Core Member

Michael is a Toronto-based choreographer/performer. A graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, he has interpreted roles for many of Canada's esteemed dance creators and companies, including Peggy Baker, Sylvie Bouchard, Danny Grossman, Guillaume Côté, Maxine Heppner, Sasha Ivanochko, James Kudelka, Louis Laberge-Côté, Tedd Robinson, William Yong, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, Corpus Dance Projects, Dusk Dances, Kaeja d’Dance, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Signal Dance Theatre, among others, and has performed across Canada and the United States, in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Michael was an interpreter at Le Groupe Dance Lab, studying with the iconic Peter Boneham. He has also initiated a solo-commissioning project, performing in the work of established choreographers – Conrad Alexandrowicz, Danny Grossman, and Karen Jamieson.

Michael is quickly emerging as a skilled, and critically acclaimed choreographer. His recent works include: Ash Unravel, an acclaimed solo based on his journey to Vietnam, The Horologium, a whimsical group piece created for Dusk Dances, Boogie Back, a community work for non-dancers in Porch View Dances, and Mary, a dynamic new solo for Stéphanie Tremblay Abubo. With a bachelor’s degree in film and art history from Syracuse University, Michael seeks to incorporate cinematic sensibilities in all his work. Upcoming, Michael will begin creation on a new group choreography, based on loneliness and isolation, in fall 2013.

Michael’s teaching experience varies from professional level contemporary technique classes to intensive workshops for youth, the elderly, and the disabled. He has taught at various locations in Toronto, and across Ontario.

He currently sits on the board of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, is the co-chair of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists – Ontario Chapter, and is the associate curator for Older & Reckless.

Michael has been a core member of Dusk Dances since 2006.

Zhenya Cerneacov

Core Member

Born in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, Zhenya grew up in a household of musicians and from an early age developed a great passion for the arts.  After studying ballroom dance for nine years, he was invited to become a member of Moldova’s Show Ballet Theodor where his versatility in a range of dance styles had a chance to shine. In 2006 Zhenya arrived in Canada where quickly became an active member of the contemporary dance scene.

He has been featured in the works of a number of companies including; BoucharDanse, Coleman Lemieux Compagnie, Chimera Project, Corpus, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Menaka Thakkar Dance Company, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre. 

Fort the past three years he has been a member of Dusk Dances core ensemble.

www.throwdownco.ca

Irvin Chow

Core Member

Irvin Chow began dancing at the Ontario School of Ballet in Toronto. He was then accepted into the BFA Dance program at York University in 2007. Throughout the last few years he has danced in projects by: Angela Blumberg, Sylvie Bouchard, Debra Brown, Susan Cash, Robert Glumbeck, Michael Greyeyes, Terrill Maguire, Yvonne Ng and William Yong.

Irvin has performed as a part of David Earle’s (2011) “Miserere” in the Toronto Heritage Dance project and with Julia Sasso (2012) in her most recent show, “SLoE”, performed at the Enwave Theatre. Irvin was a part of the 2012 Dusk Dances tour dancing in a “Flock of Flyers” and “Tenterhooks”.

MairÉad Filgate

Core Member

Mairéad Filgate is a Toronto-based dance artist and graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. A member of the Danny Grossman Dance Company (2003– 2008), she currently collaborates regularly with BoucharDanse, tiger princess dance projects, and Public Recordings, with whom she toured across Canada and to Belgium, France and England. Recently she has also performed work by Trisha Brown (part of Nuit Blanche), Tino Seghal, Bill Coleman, Barb Lindenberg, Ian Spencer Bell (NYC) and Kaeja d’Dance.

The summers find her touring parks around Ontario and to Vancouver with Dusk Dances in the repertoire of many notable choreographers as well her own work with the Throwdown Collective. Throwdown Collective has created and toured three successful commissions for Dusk Dances and is currently in creation for a full-length stage work.

Mairéad studies Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Toronto.

www.throwdownco.ca

Kate Franklin

Core Member

Originally from North Bay, Kate is a Toronto-based contemporary dancer, choreographer and teacher. Kate received her dance training at the Quinte Ballet School, the Mentor Program at Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver, and as an Intern Dancer at Toronto Dance Theatre.

Over the past decade, she has worked with choreographers Kate Alton, Piotr R. Biernat, Matjash Mrozewski, and Matt Waldie, amongst others, and companies Kaejad’Dance, TILT sound+motion, ZataOmm Dance Projects and ProArteDanza, amongst others. Her choreography has been commissioned by JD Dance, YMI Dancing, the Quinte Ballet School and Dusk Dances. She is the co-artistic director of firstthingsfirst productions with Kate Holden.

Molly Johnson

Core Member

Molly Johnson hails from the beautiful island of Cape Breton, and is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre.

Molly works with such renowned artists as Susie Burpee, Nova Bhattacharya, and Heidi Strauss, and has performed with the companies Julia Sasso dances, the Irondale Ensemble Project, Zata Omm Dance Projects, and Judith Marcuse Projects.

She is an ongoing collaborator with BoucharDanse, and with Forcier Stage Works, for whom she played 'the young woman' in Sharon Moore’s Dora-nominated Bliss. Molly has spent five summers performing in parks across Ontario and beyond with Dusk Dances, and recently joined Montréal’s le Carré des Lombes, interpreting Danièle Desnoyer’s acclaimed works Là où je vie and Dévorer le ciel in Canada and abroad. She is a recent recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Residency grant, which brought her to Berlin for the purposes of exploration and renewal. Molly is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists and the Dancer Transition Resource Centre.

Mariana Medellin-Meinke

Core Member

Mariana is originally from Mexico and moved to Canada for her dance studies in 2000. She has trained in ballet at La Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza (INBA) and The Quinte Ballet School; and contemporary dance at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Mariana is part of The Dietrich Group, Dusk Dances Core Ensemble, Hogtown, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Monster Feelings and has worked for Trish Beatty, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Tino Sehgal’s “The Kiss” at the AGO, among others.

Her work is heavily based on improvisation and experiments with the public. Some of these have been presented at the Allende Arts Festival, Dancemakers, fFIDA, A Choreographer’s Ball, Series 8:08, and others.

In terms of Theatre, she has been the Rehearsal Director and Choreographer for the red light district, DitchWitch Brigade & the staging of Jean Genet’s Die Zofen for the Hochschule Für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” (Berlin) directed by Johanna Schall and Choregraphed by Brian Solomon. Mariana is bringing much of her focus to improvisation and collaborative experiments with various artists/art realms and the publik.

Mariana became a member of BoucharDanse in 2009 and is very very thrilled to continue to be a part of Bouchard’s endeavours!!!

Brodie Stevenson

Core Member

Brodie Stevenson was born in the small village of Oweekeno on British Columbia’s central coast. After studying theatre for four years in Victoria and Vancouver he discovered dance through the practice of Contact Improvisation. In 2004 Stevenson enrolled in The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and graduated in 2007.

Stevenson has recently enjoyed working with choreographers Julia Aplin, Peggy Baker, Sylvie Bouchard, Darryl Hoskins, and Sasha Ivanochko. He is an active member of the collaborative dance collective, Octamerous. With the Throwdown Collective he co-created One Couch for the 2009 season of Dusk Dances and was very happy to remount the piece for their 2010 season. He spent most of the summer performing in One Couch and Inner City Sirens II around the GTA as part of the Dusk Dances 2010 season.

Stevenson is currently a company member of Toronto Dance Theatre where he has had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Josh Beamish, Deborah Hay, Christopher House, Felix Marchand, and Natasha Torres-Garner.

www.throwdownco.ca

Meredith Thompson

Core Member

Meredith is a native of Huntsville, Ontario who now works as an independent dance artist based in Toronto. Shortly after graduating from York University (BFA/BEd, 2000) she began working with the Danny Grossman Dance Company and soon thereafter, Dancetheatre David Earle. More recently she has enjoyed working with Sylvie Bouchard of Bouchardanse, Yvonne Ng of Princess Productions, and Santee Smith of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, among others.

As a core member of Dusk Dances she has also been performing and touring with the festival since 2007. Her co-choreographic projects have been presented at a number of festivals,and she is currently on faculty at George Brown Dance, as well as Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Brendan Wyatt

Core Member

Brendan Wyatt is an independent dance artist with over twenty years of experience in classical and contemporary dance. Since 2005 Wyatt has been one of the Canada’s most sought after professional dancers, collaborating and performing in over 50 works.

Wyatt trained professionally at Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In 1997 he co-created and instructed an interactive dance program for the postural and spatial awareness of visually challenged students with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Victoria BC.

Wyatt has interpreted works for a multitude of companies and choreographers across the country, creating and performing in dances by Andrea Nann, Heidi Strauss, DA Hoskins, Robert Glumbek, Sharon Moore, Sasha Ivanochko and Susie Burpee for Winnpeg's Contemporary Dancers, Kevin O'Day, Emily Molnar, Matjash Mzorwecki, Shaun Hounsel and Roberto Campanella for ProArte Danaza, Yvonne Ng, William Yong, The Chimera Project, Sylvie Bouchard for Dusk Dances, Marie Forcier, Karen Jamieson and Trish Beatty.

Julia Aplin

Choreographer

Julia Aplin career had taken her across artistic boundaries into theatre, music, design and visual art.  Julia has worked with companies such as Tiger Princess Dance Productions, SoulPepper and Dusk Dances. With Toca Loca, she created the “Halo Ballet” choreographed for video game players in cyberspace. With Urban Vessel, she directed and choreographed for actors, singers and boxers to create “Voice Box”. Her work was part of Everyday Marvels, inspired by the poetry of Lorna Crozier.

She was a resident artist with Series 8:08 2013/2014 Creator’s Space Program where she created “Zolla” with accordionist Tiina Kiik. Recently she worked with InterArts Matrix on “Mirror” with visual artist Isabella Stefanescu and singer Helen Pridmore which premiered at the Open Ears Festival 2014.

Julia was a performer with Dancemakers, under the Artistic Direction of Serge Bennathan for 15 seasons. Julia also loves teaching dance and movement to a wide range of communities, from babies to seniors, from beginners to professionals.

Sylvie Bouchard (BoucharDanse)

Choreographer

Sylvie Bouchard is originally from Montréal and began her training there before moving to Toronto in 1983, to study at the School of The Toronto Dance Theatre. She subsequently joined The Toronto Dance Theatre in 1985 and performed nationally and internationally with them for 5 years. Sylvie has also performed with Kaeja d'Dance, Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers and Dancemakers and continues to work for many independent choreographers including Susie Burpee, Roger Sinha, Denise Fujiwara, Marie-Josée Chartier and Sashar Zarif. She was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award for best performance for her solo Cassiopeia, which premiered at the DuMaurier Theatre in 1999.

In 1997, Sylvie Bouchard formed the company CORPUS with artistic partner David Danzon. Until 2008, she co-created and performed in 8 works through CORPUS, touring nationally internationally in theatres, as well as outdoor venues. She also co-choreographed and starred in the popular children’s TV Series Four-Square on Treehouse TV. In 1993, Bouchard created Dusk Dances, a festival that presents dance in public parks. Dusk Dances then grew under the artistic direction of Bouchard and Danzon and through the Company CORPUS, until Bouchard was appointed sole festival director in 2008.

As an interpreter and choreographer Bouchard most recently created La vie for Mairéad Filgate which premiered at Dance: made in Canada / fait au Canada in 2011; presented and performed in Histoire d’amour (choreographed by Susie Burpee, Denise Fujiwara, Louis-Martin Charest and Sylvie Bouchard / Louis Laberge-Côté) as part of Danceworks Series in Toronto in 2012; created L’envol for The Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre which premiered at the Fleck in Toronto in 2012; and choreographed and performed in L’Implorante, created with Le Théâtre La Tangente in 2012. As a performer, Bouchard was most recently part of the cast of Eunoia (choreographed by Denise Fujiwara) as part of Word Stage in Toronto, and performed femme assise, a solo work created by Marie-Josée Chartier, in Older & Reckless in Toronto in 2013. Ms. Bouchard is the recipient of the 2009 KM hunter award for artists in dance, and is the Artistic Director of BoucharDanse, a Company that serves as an umbrella for Ms. Bouchard’s artistic endeavors.

www.bouchardanse.com

Julie Barban

Choreographer

Bio to come

Peter Chin

Choreographer

Peter Chin is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist born in Kingston, Jamaica and based in Toronto. He is active as a musician/composer, dancer/choreographer, performance artist, designer and director. 

Peter was Now Magazine Best of Toronto dancer/choreographer/ designer in 2008. He won the 2006 Murriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Dance at the Toronto Mayor's Arts Award and is a co-winner of the 2005 inaugural Interdisciplinary KM Hunter Award. He has been awarded a prestigious Gemini Award for "Best Performance in a performing arts program" in Nick de Pencier's film Streetcar, for which he choreographed, performed and composed the music. Peter has received four Dora Mavor Moore Awards: "Outstanding New Choreography" for Stupa in 2005, "Outstanding New Choreography" for Northeastsouthwest in 1997, and "Outstanding New Choreography" and "Outstanding Performance" for Bite in 2000. He has also been nominated three times for: Language in 1998, Ghost Train in 2001 and Transmission of the Invisible in 2008. 

www.tribalcracklingwind.ca

Denise Fujiwara

Choreographer

Denise Fujiwara is a choreographer, dancer, actor, dance impresario and teacher with 30 years of professional experience. 

Upon completing an Honours B.F.A. in Dance at York University, she became one of the founders of T.I.D.E. (Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise). She has created and toured six exquisite solo concerts. Sumida River, a haunting Butoh work created for her by acclaimed choreographer, Natsu Nakajima and was presented in New York, Seattle, Washington DC, Vancouver, Calgary, Copenhagen, Colombia, Ecuador and India. Elle Laments, her concert of site-specific solo dances, was a highlight of the Canada Dance Festival, Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge Festival and the St. John’s Summer Dance Festival. Recent works include NO EXIT, Cuenta las Estrellas for the Compania Nacional de Costa Rica, and Brölliner Geists for eXit in Germany.  Her latest work, EUNOIA premiered at Toronto's Harbourfront World Stage and was described as "- one of the best dance events of the season” (Paula Citron, The Globe & Mail).  In 1997 she co-founded and continues as the Artistic Director of the CanAsian Dance Festival in Toronto.

Visit fujiwaradance.com

Julia Garlisi

Choreographer

Julia Garlisi has been performing with Dancetheatre David Earle since 2003. She is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre Professional Training Program. Along with being an active company dancer of Dancetheatre David Earle, she has the pleasure of working with numerous Canadian companies, choreographers, film directors, and music producers.

Independently, Julia has been fortunate to work with Denise Duric, Janet Johnson, Newton Moraes, Suzette Sherman, Lacey Smith, Toronto Heritage Dance, and The Niagara Dance Company. As a choreographer, Julia has created work for the Guelph Dance Festival, Stratford Spring Works Indie Theatre & Art Festival, DtDE and the Suzuki String School.

Most recently her solo work went International this past year touring Italy, Austria, and Germany. Julia also has an active life teaching and passing along the principals of Modern Dance. She teaches adult community classes in technique and repertory at Dancetheatre David Earle. Currently, she is also a faculty member at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts and the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts.

Milan Gervais

Choreographer

Milan Gervais conceives choreographic proposals for Public Space: Sidewalk dancing, Auto-Fiction, Trait d’union, Intersection. Her work has been presented at many festivals in Canada and Europe.

Along with Louliko Shibao she co-directs Human Playground: a creative platform and dance company based in Montreal, that develops new ways of looking at live art forms as powerful creative communication tools. 

www.human-playground.com

Andrea Lithgow

Choreographer

Andrea Lithgow is a dance artist, dance instructor and yoga teacher, currently working in Lindsay, Ontario.  She is on faculty at Kawartha Children's Dance Centre and the Lindsay Dance Studio, and has recently launched her own yoga studio- Fern Flower Yoga.

Andrea is a graduate of the Performance Dance Program at Ryerson University and has performed professionally with various companies and artists in Toronto, since 2009.  She has performed for Peggy Baker Dance Projects in Nuit Blanche 2009, Parahumans Dance Theatre, Ink on Paper, Fleshy Thud in Dusk Dances 2012, and Kate Hilliard for Culture Days 2012.

Most recently, Andrea has branched into choreography, presenting her work at the Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto for the show People We’ll Never Meet, and in Public Energy’s 2013 Emergency Festival at the Market Hall Theatre.

Andrea is most grateful for the opportunity to create for Dusk Dances 2014, sharing a new, artistic experience with her cast of young dancers from Kawartha Children's Dance Centre.

Dan Watson

Host

Dan has created, performed and taught theatre across Canada, Scotland, France, the United States and Japan.

He is Artistic Director of Edge of the Woods Theatre (Nuit Blanche North, Edge of the Woods Theatre Festival) in his home town of Huntsville, a co-founder of the international Theatre company Ahuri Theatre (Yabu No Naka, A Fool’s Life), and a member of Compagnie Houppz! (SplasH20, Mouving-2011 Eloize for Outstanding production). Dan has performed with Theatre Smith Gilmour (Grimm Too, As I Lay Dying), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (The Golden Thug), Theatre Panik (The Finger) and TheatreRun (Pylade).

He has completed a Metcalf Foundation internship with Jumblies Theatre and is the Artistic Producer of one its offshoots Arts4All. Dan is a graduate of Humber College in Toronto and École Jacques Lecoq in Paris.