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Peggy Baker, one of the most outstanding and influential dance artists in Canada, will be in creative residency in Kingston this month. The City of Kingston has collaborated with the Kingston School of Dance to present a series of free workshops and performances at the Tett Centre from Aug. 24 to 29. This program is supported by the Ontario Arts Council's Ontario Dances program.

"The Peggy Baker creative residency offers Kingston dance artists and enthusiasts a unique opportunity to learn from, collaborate alongside, and participate with Peggy and each other," says City of Kingston community engagement and education manager Annalee Adair.  "In conjunction with the workshops, Peggy will also be working daily on her own dance practice in the studios at Kingston School of Dance." 

Through the creative residency program at the Tett, the City is able to support the creation of new work by Canadian and internationally renowned performing artists, and enhance the local dance sector – including Kingston's own dance artists and organizations through workshops and performance.

Workshops

1. Dance workshop on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 10 a.m., Tett Centre, 370 King St. W.

Students, pre-professional dancers and professional dance artists are invited to kick-off the 2015-16 dance season with an exceptional artistic development opportunity. Join Peggy Baker and Sahara Morimoto as they teach a master class devoted to learning a brief excerpt from Peggy Baker's choreographic repertoire. Free but RSVP is required using this link: http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-events

2. Flux session on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m., Tett Centre Community members who like to move and create and are invited to join Peggy Baker, as she leads a Flux session. Using a simple set of guidelines for travelling and stopping, Peggy will set a group of people in motion, creating ever-evolving, constantly recalibrating, gloriously eventful group choreography. Flux is a fun and fascinating adventure in action and interaction for ALL abilities: pedestrians, wheelchair or walker users. No previous dance experience or training is required! Free, but RSVP is essential: http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-events

3. Workshop for arts educators and practitioners, Friday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m., Tett Centre Dance teachers, educators, choreographers, creators and performance artists are invited to expand their artistic practices and invigorate their creative tool kits in this workshop. Join Peggy Baker and Sahara Morimoto as they lead a brief warm-up to prepare your body, followed with a creative practice session with Peggy focused on movement-based approaches to artistic exploration. This workshop is a wonderful way for arts educators and practitioners to find fresh inspiration for future work! Free, but RSVP is essential: http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-events

Public Talk

1. Figures in Motion, Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m., Tett Centre Figures in Motion is a lecture presented by Peggy that explores how we can examine and appreciate dance as a visual art form. Peggy shares a huge array of photographic images that reveal intriguing parallels between contemporary dance and the major visual arts movements of the 20th century.  Peggy illuminates some of the ways in which the style, structure, and subject matter of Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Modernism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Post Modernism, and Expressionism are reflected in developments and trends in choreography. Free, but RSVP is essential: http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-events

Performance

2. move, Saturday, Aug. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Tett Centre move is a dance installation featuring Kingston community dancers that allows the audience to watch, contemplate, connect and change perspectives. move features 16 local performers who engage in a choreographic event that distills and illuminates fundamental dualities of caregiving and also of dance practice: touching and being touched (a basic modality for teaching and learning in dance); watching and being witnessed (the essential relationship between teacher and student, audience and performer); movement through the body and that same body's movement through space. Free, but RSVP is essential: http://kingstongrand.ca/learning-events

Peggy Baker is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding and influential contemporary dancers of her generation. Most recently, Baker won the George Luscombe Mentorship Award and was named Best Choreographer by NOW Magazine's Best of Toronto Reader's Choice (2014). Among her many honours are the 2010 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, a Governor General's Award for Lifetime Achievement (2009), the 2006 Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, five Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Toronto Arts Council's 2002 Margo Bindhardt Award, Honourary Doctorates from the University of Calgary and York University, and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

This program was made possible with the support of the Ontario Arts Council's Ontario Dance program.