Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Commitment Issues presents the work of five artists who use their bodies as the primary source material for investigating qualities and dimensions of commitment – to ideas, to performance, to audience, and to themselves. Through play, risk, ritual, and sexuality, these artists transcend fixed social, psychological, physical, and spiritual notions of commitment.
Curator Jess Dobkin states, “Here, commitment is positioned as a subject and a substance that artists can stretch and subvert in the creation of their work, altering terminology, definition, and association.”
In addition, the artists and curator engage in a panel discussion entitled Processing at Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, University of Toronto on November 17 from 7:30-9:30 pm. The panel is co-sponsored by the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama at the University of Toronto and the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto.
FADO Performance Art Centre presents: Commitment Issues
A performance art event curated by Jess Dobkin
PERFORMANCES: Wednesday November 16, 7-10 pm
PANEL & RECEPTION: Thursday November 17, 7:30-9:30 pm
ARTISTS
Heather Cassils (Montréal/USA)
Mary Coble (USA/Denmark)
Alicia Grant (Toronto)
Dominic Johnson (UK)
Dana Michel (Montréal)
and a special appearance by Pole Club (Toronto).
PERFORMANCES
Commitment Issues: An Evening of Performance Art
Wednesday November 16, 7-10 pm (featuring 6 performances over 3 hours)
Oasis Aqualounge, 231 Mutual Street, Toronto
$15 / $12 students/seniors/underemployed
(19+ years of age)
PANEL
Processing: Artists’ Panel & Reception
Thursday November 17, 7:30-9:30 pm
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, University of Toronto
79A St. George Street, Toronto
FREE / open to all
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dana Michel’s work has been presented across Canada and internationally and has already been critically acclaimed, winning Studio 303’s Best Dance Production prize at the Montreal Fringe Festival (2005), Hour's Best in Dance (2005), Best Emerging Choreographer by the Globe & Mail (2006), and Mirror's Best of Montreal (2008 and 2009). http://bandofbless.com/
Dominic Johnson is a Lecturer in the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London. He has performed at festivals, events and clubs across the UK and internationally in Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Slovenia, and the USA. http:// www.dominicjohnson.co.uk
Alicia Grant’s solo and collaborative work has been extensively presented in Toronto and her choreographic work has been presented at the Eastern Edge Gallery, Hart House and Rhubarb Festival.
Heather Cassils’ work has been exhibited in the US and internationally. She is a founding member of the Los Angeles based performance group The Toxic Titties with whom she has been working with for the past ten years. Recently Cassils embarked on a series of solo physical performances informed by Los Angeles body building culture, Greek mythology and experimental film. http://cassils.wordpress.com
Mary Coble’s work has been exhibited across the USA and internationally in Denmark, Bucharest, Romania and Mexico City. Currently Coble lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark where she is a professor at the Funen Art Academy in Odense, DK. http:// www.marycoble.com
Pole Club was established in 2010 by Kitty Neptune after teaching a group of 4 unlikely students how to pole dance, a craft that is part acrobatics and part exhibitionism, with dazzling results.
Curator Jess Dobkin’s work is presented at museums, galleries, theatres, universities and in public spaces around the world. She has toured internationally, and has performed, lectured and conducted performance art workshops in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Belgium, and the U.K. Her Lactation Station Breast Milk Bar received international audience and media acclaim and was named in the “Top 10 Performances of 2006” by NOW Magazine. http:// www.jessdobkin.com
About FADO
Founded in 1993, FADO was established to provide a stable, knowledgeable and supportive forum for creating and presenting performance art works created by Canadian and international performance artists. Fado is the only artist-run centre in English Canada devoted specifically to this form. FADO's activities include presenting performances, artist talks and symposia, festivals, residencies, exchanges and workshops, as well as publishing
Contact: Shannon Cochrane
416-822-3219
FADO Performance Art Centre
445-401 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Canada M5V 3A8
Photo: Dana Michel. ©John Londono.
2011-10-21
Toronto: FADO Performance Arts Centre presents “Commitment Issues” November 16