18 days until #DanceWeekend21!

Meet Kaitlyn Seibold: an emerging artist and dance educator currently completing her Master of Fine Arts at York University for Dance, Choreography & Collaboration having recently recieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Performance Degree from Ryerson University. Kaitlyn will be showcasing her film Meeting at R9, a contemporary dance film featuring four versatile and expressive performers. “There are so many possibilities for utilizing film to inspire and enhance choreographic endeavours. Although the pandemic has brought many struggles to the performing arts, I believe we can learn from these experiences and grow to find something meaningful in work being created in this uncertain time.”

You won’t want to miss this one! Be sure to tune in on Fri Apr 30. #ComeDanceWithUs Read more here:

Can you tell us little bit about yourself/your company/collective/school?

As an artist, researcher and performer, I strive to share with other the limitless freedom of self expression and understanding of the body through movement. My practise involves experimenting with boundaries between physicalized theatre and contemporary movement styles.

What will you be sharing at DanceWeekend’21?

Meeting at R9 is a collaborative investigation between sound, movement and film. I am so excited to be sharing this contemporary dance film featuring four versatile and expressive performers. This film investigates acting techniques of theatre methodist Jacques Lecoq. He believed that the body was able to be a basic means of communication with out spoken word or sound. He researched, studied and practiced the idea of physicalizing emotion. This film serves as an exploration of physical impulse and character exploration using Lecoq’s theory of the Seven Levels of Tension.

What interests about film as a medium and how does if differ from a live performance?

Film as a medium offers many possibilities that differ from live performance. With film you are are able to control what lens the witness sees the performance in, quite literally. It’s an act of collaboration and communication between technology and moving body. There are so many possibilities for utilizing film to inspire and enhance choreographic endeavours. Although the pandemic has brought many struggles to the performing arts, I believe we can learn from these experiences and grow to find something meaningful in work being created in this uncertain time.

How has the pandemic shifted your work as a professional dance artist?

The pandemic has definitely created a shift my work as a professional dance artist…. and as a human in general. As a movement artist, I believe my work/ practise and everyday life really does blend together. Through my research and creation process I use everyday experiences to fuel, inspire and influence my movement vocabulary. Creating work today I reflect on meaningful interactions that happen on the stage, in the studio, on the street and every day life. I realize how powerful these moments are and focus on cultivating new experiences over this virtual world we are currently living in.

Please share what you are most looking forward to at Dance Ontario’s first virtual DanceWeekend?

Dance Ontario’s first virtual DanceWeekend is something I am very proud and excited to be a part of. I look forward to sharing the screen with so many diverse and inspiring artists. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with many generous Toronto based performers and musicians to explore and research this movement vocabulary using film as a medium. It is so wonderful to have a platform to support and showcase these discoveries.

In 1 or 2 sentences, what does dance mean to you?

Dance is story telling….. An art form that relies on the act of collaboration and understanding of the moving body as a means of communication.