Necessary Velocity June 21, 2007

Independent choreographer Michelle Silagy is proud to present the world premiere of her new full-length choreography, Necessary Velocity, a striking, personal exploration of the human body and the natural world that runs June 21-23 at the Winchester Street Theatre, featuring gifted interpreters Megan Andrews, Andrea Nann and William Yong ¬(who were collaborators with Silagy in the year-and-a-half long creation process).

Silagy intriguingly explores the terrain of the body and its connection to the natural world as she delves into a space-time continuum that travels the arena of how we influence each other, inform each other and need each other to survive.

Profoundly influenced by the natural world, Silagy explains that Necessary Velocity “mines forces beneath the surface to reveal the underpinnings of the body and who we are and can be for each other. I seek to create a time and space to explore the weight of one's experience, in living and in love, to convey some of what we carry, and all of who we become, in the presence of each other ¬¬where time is reflected in the measure of a breath, or the pulse of a heart.”

Dance artist, teacher and writer/editor Megan Andrews has danced for many independent choreographers in Toronto and Vancouver. She is publisher and founding editor of The Dance Current magazine and a part-time faculty member of George Brown Dance/Ballet Jörgen Canada and York University’s Department of Dance. Andrea Nann has collaborated with an array of artists including Michael Ondaatje, Gordon Downie and Veronica Tennant to create dances that have been presented from coast to coast. She has performed over thirty-five original roles with choreographers such as Peggy Baker, Peter Chin, Kate Alton and Bill James, among others. Nann was a member of The Danny Grossman Dance Company from 1988-2003 and continues to appear as a guest artist with the company. William Yong studied dance in his native Hong Kong and in London, England. In Canada, he was a highly regarded company member of Toronto Dance Theatre from 2000-05 and has performed with CORPUS, Chimera Project and Blue Collar Dance Company as well as in the works of choreographers Matjash Mrozewski, Peter Chin, Julia Sasso, Yvonne Ng and others.

Necessary Velocity brings together an intimate ensemble of collaborators from other mediums as well for this deep exploration of the human form in all its stages of development. The new original score for percussion, cello and bass clarinet by composer Brian Barlow will be performed live on stage by himself and Verne Dorge plus another musician tba. Set designer Kai Chan, lighting designer Roelof Peter Snippe and costume designer Annie Thompson join forces to create a visual world of reflective surfaces and light through which the performance unfolds.
Michelle Silagy is Toronto-based independent dancer, choreographer, and teacher noted for her intimate and well-crafted dances made in the presence of dynamically charged interpreters. Her work, spanning 17 years, has been shown at venues such as The EnWave Theatre, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Museum of Textile, Dusk Dances and The Distillery District and at Series 8:08, which she co-founded. She works extensively with youth across the country and recently, in England; forging new territory that reveals art- and dance-making as joyfully essential. Her choreography is a unique blend of movement vocabularies, with an overarching goal to portray the beauty of the human form - leaving audiences feeling refreshed and inspired. Silagy is the inaugural recipient of the Toronto Dance Award for choreography from the Toronto Community Foundation.

“In these troubled times choreographer Michelle Silagy is a balm for the soul…. An exquisite paean to humankind’s fragility in a cruel world.” – The Globe and Mail on her 2003 work Watermark

"Silagy cradles and nurtures her creations until they are polished gems… and invariably succeeds with intimate and carefully crafted pieces.” –Toronto Life

Michelle Silagy presents the World Premiere of her new full-length choreography
Necessary Velocity
June 21 to 23, 8pm nightly
At the Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street
Tickets: $20 ($15 for students, seniors and CADA)
Reservation Line: Dance Umbrella of Ontario 416-504-6429 ext. 26

Event Partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council

Official Website: http://www.danceumbrella.net/necessary_velocity.htm