Finding Helix
When you lose a part of yourself and then find it but it was changed and grown and this makes it uncomfortable, wonderful, and scary. “Finding Helix” is A quirky look at connection within self and with others.
This is an informal studio showing (no lights and costumes) with a chat with the creators afterward.
DANCERS/COCREATORS: Luke Anderson and Jayeden Walker
CHOREOGRAPHY: Kathleen Rea
MUSIC: Cheryl Ockrant
TICKETS: $10 (the audience will be masked)
TRAILER: Coming soon
FACEBOOK EVENT:
https://www.facebook.com/events/513804027570407
DATE: Sunday, March 19
TIME:
Doors open at 4:00 pm
The show starts at 4:30
LOCATION:
Redwood Theatre
1300 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 1Y7
Please see access info for descriptions of the level of wheelchair accessibility.
ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHIES
Luke Anderson (he/him/his) has a background in civil engineering which helped him foster a respect for the importance of quantitative science in our external world and it’s part in helping create an environmentally and socially healthy planet. In 2015 he left his structural engineering gig and took on the role of Executive Director of Toronto’s StopGap Foundation, which he co-founded, working with communities across the country to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility, inclusion, and barrier-free spaces. That same year he was introduced to the world of Contact Improvisation and soon developed a deep respect and interest in the somatic realms of our qualitative human experience. Luke identifies as someone living with a profound physical disability and uses a wheelchair to aid his mobility. Luke’s lived experience working with and gaining wisdom from his own physical and emotional pain, encounters with systemic inequity for people with disabilities, and personal suffering fuels his desire to contribute to the well being of various communities including the Toronto Contact Improvisation community. Finding joy, weirdness, mystery, and massive amounts of hilarity are some of Luke’s personal and professional daily intentions. Luke’s movement practice at home and at jams incorporates a playful mix of his passions for dance, nonviolent communication, focusing, harmonica, and didgeridoo virtuosic aspirations.
Jayeden Walker (she/her) is a queer neurodivergent circus artist with a specialty in aerial arts. She has been performing circus for over a decade in both corporate and creative settings, finding contact dance in 2019. Healing from a series of traumatic brain injuries guided Jayeden to shift her focus toward creating inclusive, trauma-informed movement spaces and disability arts. Her most recent act, Pirate Tails, has toured a number of pride festivals and was recently shown at the Harbourfront CoMotion Festival for Deaf and Disability arts. Jayeden currently lives, plays, and creates as a white treaty inhabitant in Toronto where she runs recreational circus classes and social circus programming for Queer and Trans youth.
Toronto cellist Cheryl O (she/her) is a dedicated multi-media collaborator blending her acoustic and electronic improvisations with live theatre, dance, lm, circus arts, text, poetry, painting, and electronica. She is a regular performer at Contact Dance as well as working on sound for lm, dance, and theatre. Cheryl is currently in the last semester of her Masters in Musicology at York University, focusing her research on free improvisation post-trauma through a lens of Polyvagal Theory. Her thesis is on creating new neural pathways to creatively move forward from trauma, backed by both science-based research and own traumatic experience in music educationCheryl works from her off-grid Tiny House studio in a secret location. She has two rescue cats, both black
COVID PROTOCOL
All current COVID Gov’t protocols will be followed.
Masking is required by the audience.
Performers will be unasked and will do a Rapid COVID test prior to performing
All levels of vaccination or non-vaccination are welcome.
There will be HEPA filters on the location
ACCESS INFORMATION
Location:
The address is 1300 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 1Y7
The nearest intersection is Greenwood and Gerrard.
The building is accessible by bus from Greenwood station, as well as the 506 College/Gerrard streetcar.
There is street parking available as well as bike lockups in the surrounding neighborhood.
It can be hard to stop on Gerrard street directly, so for easier drop-offs, we suggest turning onto Redwood Ave (a one-way street going North) and getting dropped off next to the building.
The building is accessible by bus from Greenwood station, as well as the 506 College/Gerrard streetcar. Greenwood station is only barrier free at the street level and is not accessible by subway. The nearest accessible subway is Coxwell Station.
The Building:
The entrance to the building is off the sidewalk, a set of double doors, that open manually (no push button).
There is no lip on the door. There is a moderately steep ramp from the entrance into the main space. It goes up from the street level, and then back down into the main space, at a grade that is not to code and has no railings. Wheelchair users may need physical assistance to go up this ramp. The main space is level. The floors are a mix of concrete and wooden dance floor.
The space is lit with overhead track lighting, with minimal windows. It does have air conditioning and an updated H-Vac system for air filtration.
Washrooms:
There is a single-user washroom on the main space floor.
The washroom has enough space for a manual wheelchair but would be too small for a powerchair user to turn around comfortably. There is no automatic door opener there is a grab bar, but the placement isn’t great. Handles to the bathroom door were knobs not levers. The faucet may pose access barriers to folks with limited mobility as it needs sustained pressure to function.
ASL of audio description:
There is no ASL or audio description as we do not have the funds to supply these. Please note there is no speech in the dance work.
FUNDING BY:
Toronto Arts Council
Ontario Arts Council,
Canadian Heritage Foundation
Vernal Wisdom 