Bloodsongs and Tamar Ilana

PERFORMANCE

Bloodsongs and Tamar Ilana

Date: Wed, Nov 07, 2018 08:00PM
Price: $30, $27 Friends, $22.50 students and seniors
Duende Festival Packages:
Save 15% if you purchase tickets to three or four performances
Save 20% if you purchase tickets to all five performances
50% parking discount available if you purchase tickets to three or more performances

Integrating elements of Yemeni and Arabic dance with exquisite music of the Middle East – from Islamic and Judaic sources, Bloodsongs is a theatrical performance about humanity, community, courage, sensuality, celebration, and love.

 

“We live in tumultuous times, where divisiveness prevails, and even eclipses, tolerance of diversity. Can we humanize the ‘other’ through the depiction of both discord and beauty? Can dance and music make a positive difference? If I did not think the answer a probable ‘yes,’  I would not be continuing the quest, challenging as it is.”

—Terrill Maguire, choreographer of Bloodsongs

 

Powerhouse vocalist and dancer Tamar Ilana also performs a mix of reimagined Mediterranean melodies and flamenco grooves, and contemporary interpretations of ancient ballads with original compositions.

 

Flamenco is an art form built on three Abrahamic faiths and the musical expressions of three continents — at first glance, these traditions and contexts seems disparate and irreconcilable. But flamenco is the ultimate example of what happens when artists look beyond limitations imposed by the outside world. The dance form continues to evolve and is shaped by scenes across the planet, as you will experience during the performances and film screening at our fourth annual Duende: Flamenco Festival: Artists demonstrating what awaits on “the other side of fear.”


Bios:

 

Tamar Ilana began her flamenco studies with Toronto’s Esmeralda Enrique, and went on to study and perform in Barcelona, Paris, and Seville at the prestigious Fundación de Cristina Heeren. She has studied cante with such masters as Rocío Márquez, Encarna Anillo, Esperanza Fernández and Arcángel, and baile with Rocío Molina, Javier LaTorre, Juana Amaya, and Adela Campallo, among others. She has performed at flamenco festivals across Canada and the U.S. with numerous companies including Esmeralda Enrique, Fin de Fiesta Flamenco, Flamenguitos del Norte, Jorge Miguel, Caroline Planté, and her own ensemble, Ventanas. Ilana has been nominated for and received several awards including OAC Emerging Artist, CFMA Traditional Singer of the Year, Dora Mavor Moore and Helen Hayes Awards for her theatre work.

 

Bloodsongs’ choreographer Terrill Maguire is an award-winning dancer, teacher, and artistic director who teaches part-time at York University. She is the recipient of numerous choreography commissions, grants, and awards, including the Jean A. Chalmers Award in Choreography, a Dora Award nomination, and an OAC Chalmers Arts Fellowship. Primarily a western contemporary dancer, she has been inspired and informed by the dance styles of many cultures: among her fruitful collaborations have been those with Menaka Thakkar Dance Company (for whom she has also acted as rehearsal director), Persian/Canadian choreographer Sashar Zarif, and Troy Emery Twigg of the Blackfoot/Blood Nation in southern Alberta. 

 

Toronto dancer Danielle Baskerville is an award-winning performer who has worked across Canada and Europe with DTDE, Adelheid Dance Projects, Trish Beatty, the Art of Time Ensemble, and Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie.

 

An active Canadian percussionist and music educator (current faculty member with the Toronto District School Board, Humber College, University of Toronto, and Springboard to Music, Derek Gray has travelled the world studying, performing and teaching - including time spent in Ghana, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S.A. At home in Toronto, Derek works extensively as a bandleader, composer, and performing musician (drumset, Batá, cajón, djembe, Tibetan Singing Bowls, amongst other sound makers) with a variety of projects. In partnership with his wife, vocalist/violinist Kelly Lefaive, and brother, bassist/producer Justin Gray, Derek tours internationally with Georgian Bay (2016 Polaris-nominated bilingual contemporary folk duo/mini-orchestra), Gray Matter (2016 Julian Award runner-up contemporary-jazz quintet), Franco-Ontarian family band Ariko, Indo-jazz chamber ensemble Synthesis, and the trans-Mediterranean group, Tamar Ilana & Ventanas (4X Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated). Derek has shared the stage with: Dave Holland, Amos Hoffman, Ingrid & Christine Jensen, David Liebman, Tony Malaby, Pat Labarbera, Vincent Herring, Darya Dadvar, Esmeralda Enrique, amongst many others. For more info, please visit: www.derekgray.ca.

 

Tyler Gledhill trained at The National Ballet School in Toronto, Het National Balletacademie in Amsterdam, and The Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, and toured throughout Europe and Asia. He has performed with The Göteborg Ballet, Opera Atelier, The Chimera Project, among others.

 

Dancer Nicole Rose Bond is a guest artist with Toronto Dance Theatre and taught at the York University Department of Dance. She has performed in works of Patricia Beatty, Coleman Lemieux and Company, Dance Theatre David Earle, Danny Grossman Dance Company, and Christopher House.

 

Canadian dancer and choreographer Brendan Wyatt began his contemporary dance career in Toronto working for Zata Omm Dance Projects, The Chimera Project, Proarte Danza, and DA Hoskins/The Dietrich Group. In 2009, Wyatt became a core member of Dreamwalker Dance Company, and performed in The Thirst for Love and Water by Cinetic Creations commissioned by the 2015 Pan American Games.

 

Dancer Robert Kingsbury is a multi-disciplinary artist practicing somatic and conceptual approaches to choreography. A graduate of York University’s Fine Arts program, Kingsbury works in the fields of videography, music composition, and dance.

 

Musician and music director Roula Said is a Toronto-based singer, instrumentalist, dancer, and actor of Palestinian heritage who has appeared on many theatre and festival stages across Canada. The director of Om Laila Studio, she is also the vocalist, dancer, and percussionista of the funked up Arabic-Roma JUNO Award-nominated band, Nomadica.

 

Andrea Nann is a Toronto-based contemporary dance artist and the founding artistic director of Dreamwalker Dance Company. Andrea creates works for the stage, film, and outdoor sites.  A graduate of York University's Department of Fine Arts in 1988, Andrea was a full-time member of the Danny Grossman Dance Company for fifteen years from 1988-2003 where she created, performed and taught major roles from the works of Mr. Grossman and guest choreographers. Her long-time creative collaborators include dance artists Brendan Wyatt and Sarah Chase, visual artist Elysha Poirier, musician Gord Downie, and writer Michael Ondaatje. Andrea has received seven Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominations, one of these she shares with Brendan Wyatt for their work Beside Each Other. Andrea frequently appears as a guest artist with Peggy Baker Dance Projects and Astrid Dance. From 2012-2016 Andrea devised and produced a grand scale 4-year/4-city multi-arts collaborative project, The Ontario Shebang, with major productions in Guelph, Burlington, St. Catharines, and Kingston. She also created and produced 9 editions of The Whole Shebang Toronto (2004-2015).  Andrea is a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® trainer.  In 2016 Ontario Contact recognized Andrea as Artist of the Year for her contributions to the Performing Arts touring sector in Ontario.

 

Ernie Tollar is a multi-faceted musician, composer, and educator with extensive experience in classical, jazz, new, and world-music realms specializing in wind instruments. He has frequently been nominated for JUNO Awards, honoured multiple times for his film scores. A member of various ensembles including Maza Meze, Tasa, Trichy Sankaran Trio, Michael Occhipinti and Holly Cole bands, Tollar has collaborated with Peter Hinton, George Kollar, Daniel MacIvor, B.H. Yael, Bageshree Vaze, Shannon Cooney, Terrill Maguire, and Hari Krishnan.

 

In Mugham, the dance tradition he developed, internationally renowned musician and dancer Sashar Zarif integrates storytelling and music. During the last two decades and across 32 countries, Zarif has worked to promote cultural dialogue and has received awards and fellowships including OAC Chalmer’s Arts Fellowship, and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

 

Matt Sellick is a flamenco guitarist and composer from Thunder Bay. He has performed as a featured soloist with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Consortium Aurora Borealis, played with Jesse Cook, and accompanied Esmeralda Enrique. Matt is working on his third solo album, and has recently composed a suite of orchestral arrangements for guitar. mattsellick.com

RELATED PROGRAMMING

FILM
VENGO WITH PERFORMANCE BY CARMEN ROMERO

Saturday, November 3, 2018, 3pm

PERFORMANCE
FLAMENCO ARABIA

Sunday, November 4, 2018, 6:30pm

PERFORMANCE
QUDUD FLAMENCO

Friday, November 9, 2018, 8:30pm

PERFORMANCE
MANUEL RAMIREZ WITH SPECIAL GUEST RENKA FEATURING JOSE VEGA

Sunday, November 11, 2018, 4pm




With support from


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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.


Produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council


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