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Events and Workshops


Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada (“DWP”)

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Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada (“DWP”) is a dance and movement program offered for all seniors daily, for free, online, 7 days a week. They provide a high-quality, positive, safe, artistic and sustainable dance wellness intervention that brings participants out of isolation and into a community where they experience connection. Dancing with Parkinson's provide a supportive setting where all seniors can reclaim their humanity and dignity through the joy of moving their bodies to music.

Prior to the global pandemic the organization offered 15 in person dance classes per week in locations throughout the GTA, and since March 2020 began their offering of FREE program everyday, online.


The dance environment provides a safe artistic setting for all levels and abilities and they now have 100 seniors a day taking free daily classes, and making new friends on Zoom. 

Learn More

  

Invitation to Experiment
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In honour of Merce Cunningham's Legacy, Riverfront InterArts presents
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The Cunningham/Cage 
Date to Be Announced

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If you are interested in participating in this experiment/celebration, please contact Riverfront InterArts via email (info@riverfrontinterarts.ca) for further details and to receive a formal application.

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The Cunningham/Cage is an annual event based on Cunningham’s use of collaboration and of chance and randomness as a creative tool. This experiment involves inviting local composers, choreographers, and dance/movement theatre practitioners to perform live, together, and for the first time in a venue chosen by Riverfront InterArts. Selected compositions and choreographies/movement works will be paired at the beginning of the evening using the roll of a die and first time collaborative performances will occur immediately after. Participants are allowed one “restart” to attempt a successful “pairing”.
 
The Collaborator
In the 1940s, Merce Cunningham and his life partner, composer John Cage, developed a radical new concept: music and dance could exist independently within the same performance. The dancers’ movements would no longer be tied to the rhythms, mood, and structure of music. Instead, all forms of art could stand alone, simply sharing a common space and time. This idea would become a cornerstone of Cunningham's artistic practice and frame his collaborations with a range of visual artists, composers, filmmakers, dancers, and designers, whom he brought together in this generous spirit and encouraged to experiment and create.
 
The Chance Taker
One of Merce Cunningham’s most influential strategies was his use of chance and randomness as a creative tool. Cunningham would often flip coins, roll dice, or even consult the I-Ching to guide the way he structured his choreography. This strategy, also favoured by John Cage, challenged traditional notions of storytelling in dance. Cunningham described randomness as a way to free his imagination from its own clichés, counterbalancing his own rigorous creative process with unexpected moments of wonder.
More on Merce Cunningham

Application Requirements
New or “In Creation Process” Original Compositions (5-6 to be chosen)
  • 6-7 minute excerpt from a new work/composition
  • Music must be played live and there can be no lyrics. Human voices can be used but lyrics cannot be a part of the composition performed.
  • All genres and cultural styles of music accepted. (Experimental, traditional, and cultural styles get special consideration.)
  • All time signatures are accepted.
 
New or “In Creation Process” Original Choreographic or Dance/Movement Theatre Works (5-6 to be chosen)
  • 6-7 minute excerpt from a new work
  • No words can be spoken during the work. Human voices can be used but words cannot be a part of the performed work.
  • All genres and cultural styles of dance accepted. (Experimental, traditional, and cultural styles get special consideration.)
  • All time signatures are accepted.

This is a Pay What You Are Able (PWYAA) publicly accessible, all-ages event.
Header photo of Vox by David Hou

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  • Home
  • About
    • Staff & Board
    • Interview with the Director
  • Events
    • Upcoming
    • Past
    • Community Education
  • Call for Submissions
  • Resources
  • Contact