Harbourfront Centre announces the return of TORQUE, an international contemporary dance series showcasing some of the most exciting emerging and established choreographers today. Following a successful first year, TORQUE’s second installment features six world, Canadian and Toronto premiere performances. With the 2019/20 season, Harbourfront Centre will explore international perspectives and cultures and foster a global-local dialogue through multidisciplinary dance performances, some heightened with theatrical elements and live music. 

“From intimately personal narratives, to investigations of emotion through intense, visceral experience, each choreographer selected for the 2019/20 season of TORQUE has a strong voice that will stir an emotional or physical response with their memorable performances,” said Nathalie Bonjour, Acting Director of Performing Arts. “In presenting each of these pieces, we are broadening our exploration of the power of dance as a way to communicate ideas and emotions.”

TORQUE 2019/2020 SEASON PERFORMANCES:

• Simulacrum, winter guests (Norway) – October 18-19, 2019, 7:30 p.m., Fleck Dance Theatre
  CANADIAN PREMIERE:  Norwegian company winter guests presents Simulacrum, a striking juxtaposition of the formality of Kabuki (classical Japanese dance-drama), the energy of Flamenco and the emotion of contemporary dance theatre. The performance is based on the real-life experiences of two legendary award-winning dancers: eighty-year-old Shôji Kojima, who moved to Spain from Japan to train and become a master of Flamenco, and Argentinian Daniel Proietto, who travelled to Japan to study the female role of Kabuki. Choreographed by one of Norway’s most exciting artists, Alan Lucien Øyen, the two-man show displays the personal and intercultural complexities of the characters who started life in adversity. Themes of memory, passion, identity and mortality make this performance a sincere and mesmerizing tale.
   
• Split, Lucy Guerin Inc. (Australia) – November 8-9, 2019, 7:30 p.m., Harbourfront Centre Theatre
  TORONTO PREMIERE: One of Australia’s most fearless dance companies, Lucy Guerin Inc, showcases performers Melanie Lane and Lilian Steiner in a choreographed duet of division and intensifying pressures. Through Lucy Guerin’s sharp and elegant choreographic investigations, the women – one naked and one clothed – shift between conflict and reconciliation, as the dimensions of time and space diminish throughout, reflecting the dilemmas of negotiating with oneself and others. Advisory: the performance contains full nudity.

• Mixed Repertory Program, A.I.M. (USA) – February 21, 2020, 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.and February 22, 2020, 7:30 p.m., Fleck Dance Theatre
  CANADIAN PREMIERE: Artistic Director and choreographer Kyle Abraham blends classical, contemporary, hip hop and urban dance in five sensual and provocative works. Grounded in Abraham’s background in classical cello, piano and the visual arts, these expressive interdisciplinary works delve deep into personal identity, capturing the audience’s imagination with a touch of real life and infectious music.
   
• Les corps avalés, Compagnie Virginie Brunelle (Quebec) accompanied by the Molinari Quartet – April 3-4, 2020, 7:30 p.m., Fleck Dance Theatre
  TORONTO PREMIERE: Discover an intoxicating world where chaos and despair live side by side with beauty and poetry in Compagnie Virginie Brunelle’s long-awaited new creation Les corps avalés. The performance explores power relations, inequalities and social upheaval against a backdrop of resilience and hope. Accompanied by the renowned Molinari Quartet with pieces from their classical repertoire, eight dancers will take the stage and master the delicate balance between expressiveness and vigorous physicality, in a portrayal of vulnerable humanity in search of gentleness and community. Virginie Brunelle is one of the rising choreographers of the Quebec contemporary dance scene.

• Love Chapter 2, L-E-V (Israel) – April 30 and May 2, 2020, 7:30 p.m., Fleck Dance Theatre
  CANADIAN PREMIERE: Explore hypnotic and raw emotion with Israel’s L-E-V. Love Chapter 2 focuses on the aftermath of passion, the pain of loss, the possibility of hope and mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. This intense and provocative piece is set to a driving techno score by music collaborator DJ Ori Lichtik. After many years with Batsheva Dance Company as a dancer, Associate Artistic Director and House Choreographer, Sharon Eyal, one of the most exciting international choreographic talents, formed L-E-V in 2013 with Gai Behar.
  
  
• Sky Dancers: Bridges, A’nó:wara Dance Theatre (Montreal, Kahnawake) – May 15 – May 16, 2020, 7:30 p.m., Fleck Dance Theatre
  WORLD PREMIERE: A’nó:wara Dance Theatre’s Sky Dancers: Bridges tells the century-old story of the Quebec bridge disaster of 1907 that killed 33 ironworkers from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake. When the steel bridge collapsed while under construction, the aftermath echoed across generations and across North America. Showcasing its impact through contemporary movement and traditional indigenous dance, the Kahnawake-based dance theatre brings together the past and the present, exploring tragedy, family and community resilience in a visually stunning piece.
  
  The company will take part in Harbourfront Centre’s Creative Residencies program this fall to develop this new world premiere piece. Creative Residencies provide space, time and resources – both financially and through mentorship – for artists in the disciplines of visual arts, craft and design, and performing arts, allowing them to further their professional careers.

Tickets for all performances go on sale June 26, 2019 and are $45/$35 each, $36/$28 for seniors and $20 for those under 30 and students. Discounted ticket packages are available with the purchase of three productions (15 per cent), four productions (20 per cent), five productions (25 per cent) and six productions (30 per cent). Tickets can be purchased online at harbourfrontcentre.com, by phone at 416- 973-4000 or in person at 235 Queens Quay West. Box office hours are Tuesday – Saturday from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
 
Harbourfront Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of their Site Partners, Government of Canada and City of Toronto; Programming Partners Government of Canada, City of Toronto, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts; Corporate Site Partners, Agropur-Natrel and Labatt Brewing Company and individual members of their Patrons’ Circle.
 
#TorqueToronto
Twitter:@HarbourfrontTO
Instagram: @harbourfrontcentre
Getting Here: harbourfrontcentre.com/gettinghere/index.cfm

Photo: Love Chapter 2. © André Le Corre.