Longing
A Collection of 3 Short Dance Films
Commissioned by Fujiwara Dance Inventions
Available for a limited time May 2 - 11
Vestiges by Brodie Stevenson
Yellow is the Color Of... by Jen Hum
Bleu by Sylvie Bouchard
Longing is a product of human aspirations. It can arise out of adversity, aloneness, overload, as well as pleasure. Buddhists consider longing to be a manifestation of attachment, the prime source of human suffering, but it is also an expression of hope, inspired by love, compassion, curiosity and the desire to create a better life and world.
In the midst of the pandemic, we asked dance artists associated with Fujiwara Dance Inventions to respond to the idea of Longing and commissioned them to make short solo dance videos.
The three creative choreographers featured here took very different perspectives and locations in response to the challenge. We hope you will share in our delight with their continued creativity and resourcefulness in this time.
VESTIGES
Choreographed and Performed by Brodie Stevenson
Filmed and Edited by Zhenya Cerneacov
Post-Production Assistance Jonathan Lawley
Music Fur Alina: 2, composed by Arvo Part, performed by Alexander Malter from the album, Part: Alina - Spiegel im Spiegel.
ABOUT THE FILM
Vestiges: A surviving trace; a memorial. (The Oxford English Dictionary).
This solo takes as its starting point an attempt to embody the act of forgetting, of loss, of
remembering. In the impossible task of trying to show what is no longer present all that is left
is the accumulated bric-a-brac of memory, details of what was, and the continued attempts to find again what has been lost.
BIO
Brodie Stevenson comes from the village of Wuikinuxv on British Columbia’s central coast and now calls Toronto his home. As a dancer Stevenson began his career at Toronto Dance Theatre under the direction of Christopher House and has since worked with a diverse range of choreographers and companies in the contemporary dance milieu. As a choreographer, his interests are centred
around the rigorous practices of collaboration and collective decision making. Stevenson has
been creating and performing as part of the award winning trio, Throwdown Collective, since 2008. He is a Dora Award winning performer with The Dietrich Group as well as a recipient for outstanding choreography with Throwdown Collective.
BLEU
Choreography and performance by Sylvie Bouchard
Cinematography and editing by Rodrigo Michelangeli
Music composition by Rodrigo Michelangeli
Production assistant: Jade Silman
ABOUT THE FILM
Inspired by Miro’s Blue Triptych, Bleu follows a woman determined to share her secrets, truths, and heart. Accompanied by sky, she attempts to bridge her inner cosmos with the outside world, and the outside world with her inner cosmos, defying the borders that sometimes divide these two spaces.
BIO
Sylvie Bouchard (elle/she/her) is originally from Montréal, where she began her dance training. She joined Toronto Dance Theatre in 1985 and performed nationally and internationally with them for five years. Sylvie worked closely with many choreographers including Denise Fujiwara, Gerry Trentham, the late Tedd Robinson, Lina Cruz, Yvonne Coutts, Susie Burpee, Marie-Josée Chartier, Sashar Zarif, Serge Bennathan, Peggy Baker and Roger Sinha. Sylvie regularly performs with Fujiwara Dance Inventions and Pounds per Square Inch, and has performed with Kaeja d'Dance, Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers and Dancemakers.
Throughout her artistic career, Sylvie Bouchard has continued to forge original concepts in both the creation and the presentation of dance. In 1993, she created Dusk Dances, a festival that presents dance in public parks. In 1997 she formed the company CORPUS with artistic partner David Danzon. Between 1997 and 2008, Sylvie co-created eight works with Danzon that toured nationally and internationally in street theatre festivals, on stage and in schools. In 2008, Sylvie formed BoucharDanse, a company that serves as an umbrella for her artistic endeavors. Bouchard co-created and performed in the popular series Four Square at Tree House TV.
YELLOW IS THE COLOUR OF...
Choreographed and Performed by Jen Hum
Filmed and Edited by Henry Mak
Music & Sound Design by Yobi Allen
ABOUT THE FILM
What is it to Be in longing?
What is it to be Longing to Be?
There is a deep longing to belong.
There is a glimpse of understanding
if I do not resolve my internal being,
I will never belong
I will always be longing.
I am searching for what is inside me. I move through the world as a child of immigrants, grappling with traumas passed on, straddling Eastern and Western worlds. It is painful to acknowledge the accumulating years and the potentials not being realized. Perhaps today though, I am a tiny bit closer to being.
BIO
A Toronto based independent dancer, creator and performer, Jen Hum uses her multifaceted background to create performances that seek to challenge the status quo. She is constantly searching for the meaning in things and ways of communicating these findings through her art.
Her curiosity has resulted in solo projects and the opportunity to work with a diverse collection of individuals and groups including Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Redsnow Collective, Polynomials Dance, J9 Dance Projects, Alias Dance Projects, Anandam Dance Theatre, and Xing Dance Theatre. She has performed in Dance: Made in Canada, Dusk Dances, Dance Matters, Toronto Fringe Festival, The Reel Asian Film Festival, Nuit Blanche and the Guelph Jazz Festival. She has trained locally and abroad is always excited about what future artistic investigations will bring.
Part of her current focus is on creating alongside the members of Returning River; an artistic collective dedicated to the exploration of space, place, technology and how they are linked to each other and each members’ cultural background, ancestry upbringing and present day experiences.