Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is thrilled to announce Toronto dance collective ILL NANA/DiverseCity Dance Company as the winner of the second annual Buddies Queer Emerging Artist Award. The group will accept the award at an event held at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre on Thursday, June 17th.
The Buddies Queer Emerging Artist Award seeks to recognize and encourage the achievements of queer artists who are founding careers in the arts while engaging with the community. ILL NANA was selected by a panel of adjudicators comprised of the current and former Artistic Directors of the company: Brendan Healy, David Oiye, Sarah Garton Stanley, and Sky Gilbert. The group will be presented with a $1,000 cash prize in recognition of their work. This award was made possible by a gift from the Estate of John Alan Lee.
“The jury was impressed by ILL NANA’s commitment to making impactful change in our community while upholding a high standard of artistic excellence.” said Buddies in Bad Times’ Artistic Director, Brendan Healy.
Buddies audiences will remember ILL NANA from their 2013 Rhubarb piece, FIRE, in addition to many other performances in the space and around the city. ILL NANA is a queer positive, multiracial dance company made up of kumari giles, Sze-Yang Ade-Lam, and Jelani Ade-Lam. ILL NANA and their dance company, DiverseCity (DCDC), look to change the landscape of dance by providing more accessible education and performance opportunities for marginalized groups. The company envisions a dance community where LGBTTIQQ2SA people, people of colour, varying body types, class backgrounds, and abilities can be who they are, are accepted as equals, have access to dance based education, and see themselves represented in dance performance on stage and in media.
The group was formed in 2007 with the desire to challenge the popular conception of dance as an exclusive, inaccessible “high art” form. Its members look to affirm the identities, experiences and histories of movement of communities not traditionally represented in mainstream dance and to provide these communities with access to professional dance training, mentorship and performance skills. Utilizing both classical dance techniques and urban dance forms of Hip Hop, Ballet, Jazz, House, Vogue, Step, Latin, Contemporary, Modern, Wushu Kung Fu, and Dancing in Heels, ILL NANA/DCDC facilitates workshops and creates dance works with a completely unique style.
ILL NANA/DCDC currently hosts the Making a Stage For Our Stories Annual Dance Conference and Showcase, Right To Dance: free affirming drop-in dance classes, and a two month dance intensive. Since their inception eight years ago, ILL NANA/DCDC has worked collaboratively with culturally diverse communities, youth and various community groups in order to increase equitable access to dance, movement and performance spaces in the city of Toronto.
ILL NANA’s dedication to increased accessibility and representation for marginalized groups has made them an essential part of Toronto’s queer community. It is with great pleasure that Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents the group with the 2015 Queer Emerging Artist Award and looks forward to their future endeavours.
Photo: ILL NANA.
2015-06-17
Toronto: ILL NANA named recipient of 2015 Buddies Queer Emerging Artist Award