Description:
Kathleen Rea returns to the stage in this new COVID world to perform Five Angels on the Steps, a solo dance work created by choreographer Newton Moraes. Newton Moraes is a Toronto-based Brazilian choreographer who lives to transform moments that mark life, positive or negative, into dance. Moraes dove into this process, exploring the inner workings of Rea's life experiences as they rehearsed together. He then wove these into an imagistic tapestry of human expression. His creation is a testament to Rea, who as a mature dancer, brings a depth of presence and experience to the stage.
The title, Five Angels on the Steps derives from Rea's near-death experiences in which she floated out of her body and met five angels in the canopy of a forest grove. What she learned from them is one of the main drivers of this dance work. They are forever present in the work, represented by five large yellow and red octagonal cylinders. Inevitably, Rea’s unique perspective from living with Autism also permeates the work. Along for the ride is “Skelly”, Rea's anatomical skeleton that she uses to teach functional movement classes in her work life. The themes explored are death, madness, visions, being neuroatypical, functional movement and anatomy, sensuality, little monsters, love and loss. Be prepared for an intense ride!
Length
Five Angels on the Steps is 55 minutes in length.
Content Warning: It is only suitable for a mature audience (16 plus) due to nudity, and sexual and mature themes that are explored.
Creative Team:
Choreographer - Newton Moraes
Dancer - Kathleen Rea
Lighting Design - Sharon DiGenova
Publicity Photos - Photos - David Hou
Dates:
Friday, November 19 at 8:00 pm (EDT) IN-PERSON IN THE THEATRE
Saturday, November 20 at 8:00 pm (EDT) IN-PERSON IN THE THEATRE
Saturday, November 20 at 8:00 pm ONLINE LIVESTREAM
The Online Livestream is available for Saturday, November 20, 2021, 8:00 pm (EST) show and then replay is available for Livestream ticket purchasers for three days after the performance.
Sunday, November 21 at 2:00 pm (EDT) IN-PERSON IN THE THEATRE
Monday, November 22 ONLINE LIVESTREAM REPLAY of Saturday's show is open until 12 midnight (EST)
Catch the Livestream Performance Time-converter Chart for online ticket purchasers
5:00 PM on Saturday, November 20, 2021 / Pacific Standard Time (PST)
6:00 PM on Saturday, November 20, 2021 / Mountain Standard Time (MST)
7:00 PM on Saturday, November 20, 2021 / Central Standard Time (CST)
8:00 PM on Saturday, November 20, 2021 / Eastern Standard Time (EST) Toronto Time
10:00 PM on Saturday, November 20, 2021 / Brazil Time (BRT)
1:00 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / (UTC)
2:00 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / Central European Time (CET)
3:00 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / South Africa Standard Time (SAST)
4:00 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / Moscow Standard Time (MSK)
6:30 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / India Standard Time (IST)
9:00 AM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / China Standard Time (CST)
10:00 am on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / Japan Standard Time (JST)
12:00 noon on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT)
2:00 PM on Sunday, November 21, 2021 / New Zealand Standard Time (NZDT)
*Replay is available for livestream ticket purchasers for two days after the performance.
COVID Protocol for in the Theatre
There will HEPA filters running in the theatre and only people with up-to-date vaccination status may attend. Masking is also required in the theatre.
Ticket Prices:
$50 - I feel I can give REAson d'etre dance extra support (in-person ticket)
$40 - I feel I can give REAson d'etre dance some extra support (in-person ticket)
$30 - Regular price (in-person ticket)
$20 - Student, Artist, Senior and financially in need (in-person ticket)
$20- Saturday, Nov 20, 2021 8:00 pm (EDT) (Livestream ticket)
Livestream will be created and watchable during the Saturday, November 20, 2021, 8:00 pm (EDT) show and then replay is available for Livestream ticket purchasers for two days after the performance
Location:
T.Y.T Wychwood Theatre, 601 Christie St #176, Toronto, ON M6G 4C7
Wheelchair Accessible
Box Office:
http://FiveAngelsontheSteps.eventzilla.net
Funding:
Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Trillium Foundation
Produced by:
REAson d'etre dance productions
Help us get the word out:
https://www.facebook.com/events/404644631145242/
https://www.facebook.com/reasondetredance
https://www.instagram.com/reasondetredance/
https://twitter.com/REAson_detre
Biographies:
Kathleen Rea danced with Canada’s Ballet Jorgen, National Ballet of Canada & Tiroler Landestheater (Austria). She fell in love with contact improvisation (CI) 21 years ago and has been involved in the CI community ever since. She has choreographed over 40 dance works and been nominated for 5 DORA awards. Kathleen has a learning disability that throughout her life has meant that writing take 4 to 8 times longer than the average person. It is one of life’s great surprises and mysteries for her that despite the struggle she developed a love of writing and is a published author (“The Healing Dance” -Charles C. Thomas Publisher, as well as blog and academic writing). She has a Master’s in Expressive Arts with a minor in Psychology. She has a passion for functional movement and is a teacher candidate of the Axis Syllabus. She is the director of REAson d’etre dance productions a not-for-profit contact improvisation based dance company that produces a weekly dance jam in Toronto, the Contact Dance International Film Festival and dance-theatre productions. Being on the autism spectrum she also identifies as being neuro-atypical and works to educate the world about neurodiversity.
Newton Moraes
Newton was born in Porto Alegre – Brazil. At an early age he started dancing Samba, and then pursued studies of Physical Education at the Unisinos University in Porto Alegre. Later he studied with Bale with Tony Seitz Petzold at the prestigious Bale Phoenix, Jazz with Anette Lubisco and Edison Garcia, Afro-Brazilian dance with Marcelo do Nascimento and Jose de Anchieta and street dancing.
In 1991 he decided to move to Toronto with the support of his partner world renown Anthropologist Robert Shirley who was a full time professor at University of Toronto. When arrived in Toronto he studied Modern and Contemporary Dance at the Professional Programme at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Newton Moraes had several mentors over the years and amazing artists that influence his work including workshops in Butoh with Natsu Nakajima, Lee Ann Smith, in contemporary dance with Pierre Paul Savoie and Jeff Hall, David Dorfmann, Fiona Marcotti, Chandralekha, and a Master workshop in Choreography with Danny Grossman. Newton’s mentors include Jean Sasportes, Franco Boni, Fred Traugth David Earle, Patricia Beatty, Danny Grossman, Patrick Parson (African Dance – Toronto), Marcelo do Nascimento and José do Nascimento (Brazil). Further studies were made in Releasing Technique with Stephanie Scura, Improvisation with Denise Fujiwara, Kurt Jooss Technique with Fred Traguth, and Afro-Brazilian Spiritual Dance with Pai Beto do Xangó Aganju.
Since his arrival in Canada in 1991, Moraes has choreographed more than fifty works, both for himself and other dancers. Newton has collaborated with choreographer Patrick Parson in “Orixás Voice” (2003) and Dancing Spirits” (2004) two new dances created by the Ballet Creole for their season at the Premiere Dance Theatre at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Newton also collaborated with Terrill Maguire in “Crazy to be born” (2003) at the World’s Fare Festival at Harbourfront Centre and Alexandro Ronceria in “Agua” (2004) at the Planet IndigenUS Festival in the water at the HarbourfrontCentre.
Newton has choreographed and performed for several venues such as, DANCETALK, Arts Week ‘96 – at Damn Straight, the 808 Series and the fFringe in Toronto; and “VERNISSAGE” at Studio 303 in Montreal, plus The Field in New York. His first full evening presentation was “Beauty and Anguish” in 1994 at the George Ignatieff Theatre of the University of Toronto.
In April 1996 he choreographed “Remembering” as part of the Urban Dance Series at the Music Gallery and in November “Brazilian Spirits” at Damn Straight. He often toured to Brazil and showed his choreography at the SOGIPA Festival in that city, and has taught at the Department of Dramatic Arts at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul as well as the Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, Teatro Sao Pedro in Porto Alegre and Theatro Renacenca in Porto Alegre.
Newton Moraes has received support from the Department of Foreign Affairs to tour Newton Moraes Dance Theatre to Porto Alegre and São Paulo in Brazil and created cultural exchanges with Gregorio Trejo Garcia of Ultimo Tren of Mexico City and the noted choreographer Fred Traguth from Germany. In 1997, he founded Newton Moraes Dance Theatre and he was invited by the District Institute of Culture and Tourism of Bogotá, Colombia to choreograph a contemporary dance piece. The work “Juegos de Amor / Love Games” was the result of his three months of work and was presented in the Teatro Municipal Jorge Eliecer Gaitan with a total audience of 3.500 in 4 performances. Moraes recently returned to Brazil were he and his company performed in 14 cities including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The Foreign Affairs Canada, the Canadian Consulate in Sao Paulo, Canadian Embassy in Brasilia, Choreographic Centre of the city of Rio de Janeiro and City of Rio de Janeiro officially supported this tour. His work has received public and critic claimed in Canada, Colombia, Brasil, Germany, Cuba and USA.
Newton Moraes was a board member of Dance Ontario Association for more than six years and is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists (C.A.D.A.). He was in the Faculty at the Ballet Creole school of Performing Arts in Toronto for many years teaching Brazilian, African-Brazilian, contemporary dance and choreography. Newton Moraes has also received the Ontario Arts Council Artist in Education Grant to teach in the schools across the Province of Ontario and Travel Grants from Ontario Arts Council. Newton Moraes studied on 2011/2011 for one year a Master in Fine Arts in Choreography with a scholarship at York University and currently he teacher at The Theatre Department and The Acting for Film and Television Department at Humber College at the Lakeshore Campus as well as his evening African Brazilian classes on zoom during the pandemic. His two collaborations with Pulga Muchochoma in Ashe as part of Night Shift /FFDN and Mitchell Larsen for the International Dance Week in Saskatoon were a huge success during the pandemic months.
His up coming performances “Life Under My Skin” for the Newton Moraes Dance Theatre in the spring of 2022. He is working very hard with Museologist Renato Baldin in their 25th Anniversary Exhibit of Newton Moraes Dance Theatre at the Rotunda at the Toronto City Hall later in the summer 2022. As well as a Documentary Film with Filmmaker Sonya Stefan, Jackie Gallant (Sound Artist and Musician). “Mulheres” for The Free Flow Dance Theatre Company from Saskatoon for their 26th Anniversary Season in August 2022 in Saskatoon. Newton Moraes is deeply honoured and incredible excited for the invitation by the phenomenal kathleen Rea to collaborate in “Five Angel on the Steps” as part of REAson d’etre dance production.
