Youth Moves
A series of exciting and eclectic works performed by dancers under the age of nineteen.

Co-operators Hall, River Run Centre, Guelph, Ontario

GUELPH YOUTH DANCE TRAINING PROGRAM [Guelph]
Hopscotch Rosie (Premiere)
Choreographer: Janet Johnson

Hopscotch Rosie is a upbeat piece about childhood play set against a background of nostalgic and timeless rhymes and riddles.

Janet Johnson is formerly from the Toronto dance community but has for the last twelve years resided in the Guelph area where she has helped to build a strong dance community. Janet co-founded and is co-artistic director of the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival (1998) as well as the Guelph Youth Dance Training Programme (2005) both of which educate, enhance and support local and national contemporary dance activity. Janet is also an avid teacher through out the Guelph, K/W area as well as a company member with the elegant and pivotal DanceTheatre David Earle.

TBA (Premiere)
Choreographer: Suzanne Miller

In creating this choreography for the GYDPT, I was interested in introducing these young dancers to the challenges of performing synchronized movement in-unison, contact and partnered structures, including organic systems where dancers negotiate themselves in time and space within closed and open group formations. As the choreographer, I was given four rehearsals with the young company to impart all the information involved with making this dance. The original music score by Allan Paivio begins and ends with the sound of the ocean. These oceanic sounds symbolize vast experience where the imagination of the interpreter (both dancer and member of the audience) can wonder without any apparent limits, such as the boundless ocean of eternity

Since 1985 Suzanne Miller’s dance productions and performance installations have toured throughout Canada, Québec, the United States, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico and Venezuela. She has participated at international festivals and residencies as a dance artist and has received numerous awards and commissions for her productions. Her primary collaboration with composer/musician Allan Paivio has given rise to over 30 works and has propelled them into international contemporary dance and music circles. Together, they co-direct a contemporary dance company Suzanne Miller & Allan Paivio Productions. Her extended interest in music, visual art, performance and technology has influenced her choreography and collaborations with artists.

CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL OF DANCE - DANCEWORKS [Waterloo]
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (Premiere)
Choreographer: Caitlin McArthur

Oh, the Places You'll Go! will take you on an adventure around the world from the rainforests of South America to the tundra of the great white north. Hold on tight because you never know where you're headed next!

Caitlin McArthur has 18 years experience in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and hip hop, and is a Registered Teacher and Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. As a CSD student, Caitlin obtained her Advanced 2 level ISTD Jazz & Tap exams (Honours), and her RAD Intermediate & Grade 8 ballet with Distinction. She was an active member of company, performing at many events, including the GCDF! Caitlin recently finished her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo and will be pursuing further education in Physical Therapy next year. She has been a faculty member at CSD for 5 years.

KINESIS DANCE COMPANY [Kitchener]
In the Moment (Premiere)
Choreographer: Janis Price

We all strive for the elusive moments of calm and stillness; times when we are protected from the chatter and relentless pursuit of life’s business. These moments are fleeting, as we get caught up, again and again, in the rush, the stress, and the disconnectedness of the world. Stop and breathe. Live in the moment.

Janis Price is a dance specialist currently teaching at Eastwood Collegiate, home of the Waterloo Region Integrated Arts Program. She is a founding member and past administrator of the program. Presently, she is artistic director of Eastwood Traveling Troupe, a children’s theatre touring company, founding director/choreographer for Kinesis Dance Company, director of Eastwood Musicals and Gala and founding sponsor of Kinetic Cohesion, a biennial dance festival for Ontario high school dance students. It has also been her pleasure to work with Theatre and Company, Carousel Dance Company and the School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In her spare time she continues to learn from the martial art of Aikido.

MOTUS DANCE SCHOOL OF ST. MARY'S [St. Mary's]
Looking (Premiere)
Choreographer: Rory Scofield

Looking is the story of young women searching for all that they long for. The fabric provides shapes through which they peer, it represents the fluidity of time frames in which the movement events unfold.

Rory Scofield began working with children 15 years ago after leaving Toronto to raise her own three children in rural St. Mary's, Ontario. The Motus Dance School of St. Mary's has given over 1500 children a place to dance. They enjoy a non-competitive environment that nurtures their self-esteem and teaches them how to present their physical selves to the world in a simple, upright way. All of the dance studies at Motus embrace the principles of the Mitzvah Technique.

SWANSEA SCHOOL OF DANCE [Toronto]
Impressions (Premiere)
Choreographer: Michelle De Brouwer

If you could take the photos off your wall and have them tell their story through movement what would they say. This piece has been inspired by my grandmother. A picture of her and her twin hung on our living room wall for years looking at me.

Cobbler’s Dream (Premiere)
Choreographers: Michelle De Brouwer and Sunny Horvath

This piece is a journey into a strange cobbler’s shop that seems to have created a very unique shoe.

Michelle De Brouwer is a co-founding member of Company Blonde and Founder/Director of Swansea School of Dance. Michelle works and lives in Toronto. Michelle is excited to have her students perform in a festival that she supports and greatly respects.

YMI DANCING [Toronto]
Small Detail (2002)
Choreographer: Julia Aplin

This piece was created for the dancers of YMI in 2002. This new cast of dancers brings its own attention to small things to the work, those achingly beautiful things that will be missed unless we look.

Julia Aplin is a dancer, choreographer and teacher based in Toronto for the last 15 years. With Dancemakers, under the Artistic Direction of Serge Bennathan, she performed across Canada and around the world. Julia has been active as a choreographer since 1989. Her most recent works have been collaborations with composers and musicians. Her work has been presented across Canada and in Europe. She teaches technique to the YMI company dancers. Julia practices the Mitzvah technique under the mentorship of Ann Tutt.

CAROUSEL DANCE COMPANY [Waterloo]
Stories (Premiere)
Choreographer: Richelle Hirlehey

TBA

The Carousel Dance Company is a children's performance group currently with 54 members ranging in age from 10-17 years. Dance Company members work with faculty and guest choreographers to create and perform dance works throughout the year. The company performs locally, nationally and internationally and has participated in Dance and the Child International Conferences in Finland, Utah and The Netherlands.