Performance Dance students take the stage with international choreographers for SPRINGWORKS
Third and fourth-year Performance Dance students brought the stage to life during SPRINGWORKS, an annual showcase created in collaboration with Performance Production students across all years of study. This year, SPRINGWORKS featured choreography by the National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Associate, Guillaume Côté and award-winning, two-time Dora Mavor Moore award nominated, Esie Mensah, with lighting design by Arun Srinivasan. With evening performances over the course of three days, the shows garnered interest from over 700 people.

SPRINGWORKS took place from April 9 to 11 and garnered over 700 audience members
This year, SPRINGWORKS was produced by Performance Professors Tanya Evidente and Vicki St. Denys, who guided students through the entire process of rehearsing to performing on stage. They expressed their gratitude for the opportunity for students to work with such renowned choreographers and the impact it will have on their careers for years to come.
“We are honoured to have had Guillaume Côté, Dora Mavor Moore and Esie Mensah creating work for our 3rd and 4th year dancers. The opportunity to work with renowned professionals is an integral component in the training and artistic development of all students, and it is through the creative process and collaboration that the dancers transform and gain a deep, embodied understanding of their craft,” they said. “Cultivating these relationships facilitates opportunities for emerging dance artists to discover their own artistic voices, philosophies, goals and values.”
Embracing new opportunities
Fourth-year Dance student Demetri Apostolopoulos performed the piece choreographed by Côté, an experience he described as one of his most rewarding experiences. He describes the rehearsals with Côté as being exciting, authentic and pure, led with guidance that’s electric and inspiring.
“This process in particular has enriched our training as dancers in ways that are unlike any other. Côté’s work requires such deep understanding and connection with oneself and within the ensemble,” Apostolopoulos described. “It is physically demanding and is delivered at a fast pace, which drives us to work just as intuitively as he is. As an ensemble, we feel rooted, uplifted and inspired by the work. It feels satisfying to indulge as a collective in this piece.”

Fourth-year students come together to perform To the Ends of the Earth by Guillaume Côté

Fourth-year students come together to perform To the Ends of the Earth by Guillaume Côté
Apostolopoulos also describes SPRINGWORKS as an experience full of community and camaraderie. As the final part of their undergraduate degree, the showcase is their last performance as a cohort.
“As part of the graduating class, truthfully, it has been a pleasure to share such memorable moments with my classmates during this process,” he said. “We, as an ensemble, have been through thick and thin together, and to be able to experience such a powerful and enjoyable process one last time together is a memory that lasts a lifetime.”
Learning new styles of dance
Norey Lau, a third-year Dance student, says the process of practicing for SPRINGWORKS required a lot of self-reflection and an embodiment of a dancing style that she was not familiar with. However, she says working with Mensah allowed her to increase her growth in dance and develop maturity in movement.
“The dance style of The Audition is something very new for the third-year class and it has been exciting to learn how to embody a style we have never performed in,” Lau said. “Throughout this process, Mensah has supported us with her knowledge and experience within the dance industry. Each dancer is playing a character in The Audition, and Mensah has given us the space to discover how we relate to the narrative and how we can extend our experiences through our characters.”

Third-year students take the stage to perform The Audition by Esie Mensah

Third-year students take the stage to perform The Audition by Esie Mensah
Credits
To the Ends of the Earth:
Photos by Jeremy Mimnagh
Choreography by Guillaume Côté
Rehearsal Director Tanya Evidente
Lighting Design by Arun Srinivasan
Associate Lighting Design by Emerson Kafarowski
Assistant Lighting Design by Nolan Cortes
Costume Design by Emma Haynes
Projection Design by Shaan Tahir Mehdi
The Audition:
Photos by Jeremy Mimnagh
Choreography by Esie Mensah
Assistant Choreography by Rosie Harbans
Lighting Design by Arun Srinivasan
Associate Lighting Design by Emerson Kafarowski
Assistant Lighting Design by Nolan Cortes
Costume Design by Daniella Reid
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