Dance Collective
Find the Floor
Find the Floor Dance Collective was formed between Jillian Peever and Shannon Roberts as a means to launch the production of Perception; A Way of Seeing & What We Do. Once the collective was formed, in May 2013, they were immediately successful in gaining support from DanceWorks CoWorks to co-produce the project. The collective aims to produce a unified dance performance by linking the work of two contemporary dance choreographers as they examine similar themes.
Their first experience working together dates back to 2002 when, as young ballet students, their dance instructors brought them together to train on occasion. After moving to Toronto to train at separate dance instutions, unaware of each other's career choices, they litterly crossed paths on the street. Peever and Roberts now look on this as the beginning of their unique connection.
Find the Floor Dance Collective is interested in contemporary dance that communicates with our audience intellectually and inspires them physically. We are currently inspired by themes of femininity and our work explores the roles women play in society, how they are perceived, and the struggles they encounter daily. As young women living in Toronto we desire to share our stories, opinions and fears to our audience through dance. Presenting work that explores femininity in this way will allow both the male and females audiences to consider a new understanding of their selves and question the way they interact with each other. We are also inspired by external influences such as images, soundscapes and literature. The Collective is a supportive system that will propel all artists involved further into their careers as dancers and choreographers.
ABOUT
COLLABORATORS
Rhonda Baker is a graduate from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and currently works as an independent artist in both Toronto, ON and Halifax NS, performing for Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie and Mocean Dance, respectively. Upcoming projects for Rhonda include, working with Mocean Dance on a new commission by Sara Coffin, and remounting/further developing a solo choreographed by Toronto based artist, Sharon Moore to be presented in April 2014 for Live Art Dance Production's 31st Season.
Rhonda's interest in improvisation as a means to warm up the body led her to Tel Aviv, Israel in the summer of 2012 to train in the Gaga Movement Language under the direction of Ohad Naharin. Rhonda's growing curiosity with improvisation as performance has lead her to various workshops where she was under the generous guidance of Lin Snelling, Chris Aiken, and Angie Hauser.
Ana Claudette Groppler was born in Toronto. She discovered her love of dance at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, and pursued her training further, graduating from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2011. Since graduating Groppler has danced for Toronto Heritage Dance, Kemi Contemporary Dance Projects, Nancy Latoszewski, Signal Theatre, Parahumans, Pollux Dance, Social Growl Dance and she worked as a rehearsal assistant for Michael Caldwell’s Ash Unravel for Dance: Made in Canada. Groppler performed her own choreography in shows with Dance Matters, the Parahumans and Magpie Dances. She is working with Signal Theatre on their upcoming production A Soldiers Tale to be performed at The Fleck Dance Theatre in February, as well as The Canada Dance Festival in June 2014.
Emma Kerson began her dance training in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She graduated from Dalhousie University in 2008 with a B.A. in Honours English, and from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2011. While at the School she worked with notable artists such as Marc Boivin, Dancemakers, Danny Grossman, Sasha Ivanochko, Sharon Moore, and Julia Sasso. She is currently working as a guest artist with Kemi Contemporary Dance Projects and is in her third season with Niagara Dance Company. She worked with Toronto Heritage Dance in a solo piece by Patricia Beatty, and in 2012 she co-produced and performed in a full-length work by Sharon Moore.
Emma is a founding member of Warm Laundry with whom she works as both a choreographer and interpreter. She teaches in the Young Dancers’ Program at the School of TDT, and received a Metcalf Foundation Internship grant for 2013.
From Montreal, Jolyane Langlois graduated from The School of Toronto Dance Theater in May 2012. She worked with Allison Cummings and Deborah Pearson for The Queen West Project and is a member of Riley Sims' company Social Growl Dance. She danced for Jillian Peever in her piece What We Do at Series 808 and the Chimera Project’s Fresh Blood, and in Eroca Nicols Made to Order at the Canadian Dance Festival. Langlois is collaborating on a video installation with multidisciplinary artist Thom Sokoloski. Recently Langlois joined Corpus and is looking forward to perform Feet in the air, Head on the ground! in schools in November 2013. In October, she will be performing in Night Shift, created by Michael Trent and Brendan Fernandes.
