Ness Lee: Performances with Toronto Dance Theatre

Visual artist Ness Lee and Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) come together to imagine a performance that will gently move through the Biennial’s exhibition space at 32 Lisgar, with seven performers interacting with Ness’ distinctive sculptures and objects. Finding moments of intimacy between their bodies and the plush characters Ness creates, the dancers will animate the gallery through a tender parade, embodying the breath of space as a momentary feeling of one another.

Note: This performance is drop-in. Registration is not required.

–

This program is a part of Your Timing is Perfect: Moments and Movements of Inquiry, a performance series in which artists investigate the body as a living archive, exploring its extraordinary strength and resilience, as well as its tenderness, vulnerability, and limitations.

This program is presented in partnership with the Toronto Dance Theatre and is made possible through the generous support of the Lindy Green Family Foundation.

—

Toronto Dance Theatre is the legendary artistic home, where since 1968, curious creators, ensemble performers, and audiences inspire each other through forward thinking choreography and embodied experiences. Under the Artistic Direction of Andrew Tay, the company plays a pivotal role as an incubator for boundary-pushing contemporary dance and performance, supporting the development of local artists and connecting the Toronto dance scene to national and international communities. Interested in sparking important conversations around dance and performance in society, TDT is unique as one of the rare companies in Canada supporting a full time ensemble of dancers.

32 Lisgar St and Park

View Location Details

November 23, November 29, December 1

2:00pm – 5:00pm
5:00pm – 8:00pm
12:00pm – 3:00pm

This venue is wheelchair accessible. Due to the roaming nature of the program, there may be mobility challenges.

Download ICS file

Add to GoogleCal

Artist Bio

Ness Lee

Ness Lee draws upon the personal history and narratives of their diasporic cultural upbringing and the relationship to the body as a carrier of felt language and lived emotions. With these embodied experiences, Lee creates tender and surreal works that take shape in various mediums, spaces and realms of expression as an effort in seeking comfort, forgiveness and a desire for an end to a perpetual state.Their work has been featured in galleries and institutions in Canada as well as internationally in New York, Los Angeles, India, Mexico, Tokyo and Taiwan.

View Artist Page

Artist Bio

Toronto Dance Theatre Ensemble Members

Andrew Tay is the Artistic Director of Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) and is a multifaceted performance curator, choreographer and DJ.

Millina Fletcher (any pronouns) is a Tkaronto based dance artist who infuses her queer and Barbadian/French roots in both her creative work and her everyday life.

Based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto, Camil Bellefleur is an emerging contemporary dance artist. They wish to make their bodily practice a space for emancipatory healing, liberation, transformation, risk-taking, and a safe space for growing together.

Roberto Soria is the new era no longer restricted by time she walks the earth with patience noticing how all is changing he doesn’t interfere she listens he watches ready for nothing yet it all shows its true colours, the sun and the moon have her life and it’s the random that keeps him alive.

Ryan Kostyniuk is a queer artist born and raised in Sylvan Lake, Alberta and is currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto. They are a graduate from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (2019) and have been a guest artist with Toronto Dance Theatre since the 2019/2020 season.

Megumi Kokuba was born on the southernmost island of Japan, Okinawa. She studied ballet with joy from the age of two. After graduating from College in Okinawa, Megumi came across contemporary dance and was smitten.

Elizabeth Yip 葉倩儀 (b. 2001) is a contemporary dance artist from Vancouver, Canada. Her dance practice is grounded in passion, dynamics, and emotion.

Brayden Jamil Cairns (he/they) is a Toronto-based performance artist, costume designer, and long time lover. Bray left rural Ontario in 2015 to train at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance.

Click through to view the complete artist biographies.

View Artist Page