BEAR
Sept. 29, 2022 | 1:30 - 2:30pm
Orillia Opera House
Pay what you can (suggested fee $10)
Coffee, tea, and snacks provided
BEAR is a one woman show in development through the trials of parenthood, a global pandemic, and a journey back to health. This work recounts the connection our bodies have to a larger universal reality and how we are a singular part of the rhythms of space and a system that is ongoing. See this work in development and speak to the artists about creative practice and its intrinsic connection to self - care. Created and performed by Allison Cummings and designed by Valerie Calam as part of Arts Orillia’s Dance & Design Artists-in Residency program.
Artist Biographies
Allison Cummings is a performer/choreographer/art maker, who operates under the umbrella name Sore for Punching You. She is based in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been presented at venues and festivals across Canada since 1996 including The Theatre Centre, Hysteria, Edgy Women/Montreal, Toronto Dance Theatre’s ‘Four at the Winch’, SummerWorks, M:ST Performative Art Festival, 7a -11d, Canada Dance Festival, Fluid Festival, Moving Pictures Festival and Trinity Square Video, Older and Reckless, School of the Toronto DanceTheatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Porchview Dances, Bright Nights (Citadel et Cie) among many more. Internationally her work has been presented in Accra, Ghana, and Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. She has self produced her own multidisciplinary full length works, Quiver ’02, Clutch ’06, Devouring Lions ’09, Final Savage Land ’13 and Exhale ’18 in Toronto.
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Current projects include dramaturgy for Kashedance Company and the Wind in the Leaves Collective and a solo commission for Toronto dancer and fellow cancer thriver Christy Stoeten. Allison's new self solo Bear is scheduled to be presented as part of Bright Nights 23/24 Season at Citadel et Cie in Toronto.
Valerie Calam is a Toronto-based dance artist interested in finding pathways to refresh and support herself. She works with fabrics, patterns, sound, editing software, the nervous system and the body.
Valerie umbrellas much of her work under the name Company Vice Versa and is currently collaborating with dance artist Allison Cummings on a sound score and production design for "Bear". She recently completed a dance film with Kate Franklin and Paul Shepherd supported by Digital Originals, and a dance film with Diane Borsato as part of ProArtDanza's VirtualTO program.
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Valerie has had a long and enriching history with Toronto Dance Theatre, where she is a company member. She has been either a full company member or guest artist since 1999, under the Artistic Directorship of Christopher House until 2019 and currently under AD Andrew Tay.
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She has worked with Danny Grossman, Jeanine Durning, Diane Borsato, Tedd Robinson, Bill Coleman, James Kudelka, Guillaume Cote, Prorate Danza, Serge Bennethan, Jenn Goodwin, Allison Cummings, Are Henderson, Joanna Kotze, Adam Paolooza, Amanda Acorn and others. She has been nominated for nine Dora Awards and is a KM Hunter Award winner.
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She completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree 2014 at York University where she researched state and imagination-based choreography and composition.
