York dance instructor Megan Andrews (BFA ’93, MA ’01) performs the world premiere of her solo Stone at the fifth annual Dance: Made in Canada/Fait Au Canada festival of contemporary Canadian dance beginning tonight at the Winchester Street Theatre in Toronto.
Left: Megan Andrews
Andrews, an independent dance artist and course director in York’s ballet program, will also perform two solos excerpted from Watermark: Visible When Held Against Light, choreographed by Michelle Silagy.
The festival, this year called Elémentale: Made in Canada/Fait Au Canada, is presented by 1987 York dance grad Yvonne Ng’s Princess Productions in association with Danceworks CoWorks. Showcasing emerging and established artists, the festival runs until Oct. 7.
Andrews’s solo, Stone, arises from a structured improvisation using a visceral and sensory movement palette to explore states of balance and imbalance. The work draws on the notion of intersubjectivity and embodies the search for a resonant harmony with the natural world.
The solo excerpts within Watermark created for Andrews explore the relationship between water and wings. Watermark features music by R. Murray Shafer for Solo One and A. J. Kernis for Solo Two. The Globe and Mail‘s Paula Citron described her 2003 performance in Watermark as "achingly beautiful".
A versatile performer, Andrews has performed ballet, modern, dance theatre, dance sound, contact improvisation and highland dance, and her choreographic works have been presented in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. In 1998, she founded the Canadian dance magazine, The Dance Current, and continues to serve as its publisher and editor. She was awarded the Toronto Emerging Artist Award for Dance in 2002.
Festival performances start at 8pm Oct. 5-7 at the Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St. (north of Carlton, east of Parliament). Tickets are $16 in advance, $20 at the door (cash only), $14 for seniors and students. For tickets, call the box office at 416-366-7723 or visit the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts Web site.