Guest Curator Rumi jeraj
Rumi Jeraj performing at Dusk Dances in 2023, accompanied by Adrian Russouw on Bass and David Hodgson on saxophone. Photo by Dahlia Katz. [Image Description: Rumi wears a grey suit jacket and blue slacks with a multicolour pastel hat and his tie swings with the motion of his body. His body is mid-dance as he balances on one leg on a wooden floor board. To his right, stand musicians playing the upright bass and the saxophone. The trio are set in a park in front of a paved path with grass on either side of it.]
From Rumi:
"As Guest curator I'm interested in doing a deep dive into one of the most personal tools of my craft: My tap shoes. I'm planning on using this opportunity to do some research into the history of tap shoes and their innovation over the last 50 years in order to dream up and create some Tap shoes of tomorrow. With the help of designers, shoe makers and members of the Canadian tap dance community I will explore other artists' dream shoes or what they think the tap shoe of the future might look like.
The project will document the creation process of these shoes and showcase the artists who have dreamed them up. I'm hoping this process will be a chance to collectively dream and expand the ways we see our instrument."
CALL TO ARTISTS
Photo inside graphic by Kendra Epik [Image Description: Black waving borders frame a photo of two legs and a beige tap shoe in motion. Text on the top border reads “Dancemakers Guest Curator Rumi Jeraj Presents: Shoe Dreams.” Text on the lower border reads “Call to Artists | Seeking proposals from professional Canadian Tap Dance artists to pitch their designes for the ‘tap shoe of the future’. deadline: February 1, 2025” The Dancemakers logo is in the bottom right corner.]
Rumi is seeking proposals from professional Canadian Tap Dance artists to pitch their designs for the "tap shoe of the future." Selected dancers will be paired with a local shoe maker, as well as another crafts person, designer or technician (depending on the proposed shoes) to collaboratively bring proposals to life! We currently have the capacity to select 3-4 Tap Dancers for this project.
The creation process will culminate with a small performance to show off what you have created and the shoes will be yours to keep. Dancers involved will be compensated for approximately 25 hours combined rehearsal and consultation time and for at least one performance all at CADA East standards.
About rumi
[Image description: Rumi sits in front of a brown background wearing an orange t shirt with a green, black and white graphic on the left breast and a pastel multicolour hat. He smiles candidly.]
Rumi Jeraj is an Ismailli muslim hailing from Sherwood Park Alberta (the world's largest hamlet). A Graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University Rumi has worked for dance artists including Hannah Kiel, Daryl Tracy, Heidi Strauss, Maxine Hepner and Eilish Shin-Culhane. His creative projects include Space and Spectra; a collaboration with Aidan McConnell which aims to create collaboration between contemporary dancers and musicians, Nature Boy; a collaboration with Bharatanatyam Dancer Purawai Vyas which explores how tap dance and bharatanatyam can intersect, You Can Transform Me an immersive dance VR experience and more. His work has been featured at Dusk Dances, Fall For Dance North's IPP Independent showcase, Citadel Compagnie’s Night Shift, and various fringe festivals across Canada. As a dancer Rumi recently had the pleasure of performing In Human Body Expressions work Body which toured to South Korea. He is currently in creation for a body percussion work which brings together percussive dancers and musicians from various forms. He aspires to create and be a part of work which mixes forms in order to better tell stories. He believes there is a perfect balance between words, music, and movement which can communicate intellectually, emotionally and viscerally all at once. He aspires to find this state on stage.
Watch Rumi perform Rhythm Playground from Dusk Dances 2023:
Banner image: Rumi Jeraj performing at Dusk Dances in 2023, accompanied by Adrian Russouw on Bass and David Hodgson on saxophone. Photo by Dahlia Katz. [Banner Image Description: Rumi balances on one foot with the other leg and arm outstretched. He wears a grey suit jacket and bkue slacks with a multicolour pastel hat and his tie swings with the motion of his body. Behind him stand musicians playing the upright bass and the saxophone. The trio are set in a park in front of a paved path with grass on either side of it. Rumi wears beige tap shoes and is moving from one wooden platform to another.]