TECHNICAL RESIDENCY - 2017/18

Anisa Tejpar was Dancemakers` 2017-2018 Technical Resident Artist and she was in the Theatre Studio in November 2017 working on in time, a full length, contemporary dance solo for Anisa, choreographed by acclaimed choreographer Hanna Kiel, with an original score by John Gzwoski, video design by Jacob Niedzwiecki, set design by Joe Pagnan, and lighting design by Simon Rossiter.

This reverse coming of age story, explored the ideas of aging, adulthood, memory, family and legacy. The unfolding of in time questions how we can look back at our own history while continuing to move forward into our uncertain future, and still own and celebrate the present moment. 

Anisa Tejpar- Performer/Producer

Originally from Toronto, Anisa Tejpar is a graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School. As a child, she danced and toured with The National Ballet of Canada, and danced with Toronto Dance Theatre as an intern. She has performed works by Matjash Mrozewski, John Neumeier, Ginette Laurin, Mauro Astolfi, Robert Derosiers, Robert Glumbek, Roberto Campanella, D.A. Hoskins, James Kudelka, Christopher House, Valerie Calam, Hanna Kiel, Jacob Niedzwiecki, and Malgorzata Nowacka. She has appeared in films such as Steppin’ Up: Save the Last Dance 2, Moze Mossanen’s From Time to Time, the BravoFACT Swan Song and has appeared as a vampire on Guillermo del Toro’s show The Strain. Tejpar has been nominated twice for a Dora Mavor award for outstanding ensemble performance; once in 2011 for Campanella and Glumbek’s “…in between…”, and the second for Hanna Kiel’s “Project L, The world that you created” in 2014. Tejpar is also Co-Artistic Director of the dance entertainment firm Hit & Run Dance Productions Inc. for which she has choreographed works for The Rolling Stones, Ferrero Rocher, Telus, Warner Bros., Fashion Cares, M.A.C. Cosmetics, CTV, PUMA, Mobilicity, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Golden Globe winning feature film Barney’s Version. She is also the pilot choreographer of Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” and co-choreographer on Ubisoft’s video game “Far Cry: Primal”, and is the co-choreographer of Casa Loma’s acclaimed Halloween haunt, “Legends of Horror”. “in time” is Anisa’s first solo show endeavour, and she is so happy to have the support from Dancemakers and their Technical Residency.

Hanna Kiel- Choreographer

Hanna Kiel is from Seoul, South Korea and moved to Vancouver in 1996. Since then, she has been pursuing her goal as a choreographer.  Hanna’s work has been presented at 12 Minutes Max, PlanB Singles and solos Festival, Dancing on the Edge Festival, Asian Heritage Month Festival, Pulse at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver. She choreographed and danced at the Centre A collaborating with Yoko Ono. Hanna moved to Toronto in 2008 where she continues her dance career as an independent dance artist. Her work has been presented at Series 808, Dance Matters and Ontario Dance Nuit Blanche. She was commissioned by Maindance School, Choommy dance group in Vancouver, George Brown Dance, Cadence Contemporary Ballet Company, Canada’s Ballet Jorgen Ryerson Dances, ProArteDanza and Kenny Pearl's Emerging Artist Intensive, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre in Toronto, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary and Garion Contemporary Dance Company in South Korea. Hanna is also the 2012 winner of Northwest Dance Project ‘Pretty Creatives’ international choreographic competition in Portland, Oregon and the winner of Ontario Dance Weekend Commission 2015. Hanna Kiel presented her full evening work in December 2013, Project L – for which she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in the Best Choreography category. She was selected as an E-choreographer in 2015 for Springboard Danse Montreal.

Jacob Niedzwiecki- Video Design

Jacob Niedzwiecki is a choreographer, filmmaker, and creative technologist whose work fuses movement, media, and code into inventive new forms. He trained as a classical and contemporary dancer and performed for several years with the National Ballet of Canada. His live choreographic works include commissions from the TorQ Percussion Quartet and Chung-Ang Arts University in Seoul as well as his app-based immersive work Jacqueries, Part One, which received the Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation at the 2014 SummerWorks

John Gzowski- Composer

Composer, sound designer, musician, occasional foley artist and instrument-maker John Gzowski has played banjo for opera in Banff, studied Carnatic classical music in India and played oud and guitar in jazz and folk festivals across Canada and Europe. His theatre work has won him six Dora Mavor Moore Awards for companies like Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Luminato Festival, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre,  Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Arts Club Theatre Company, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper, Dancemakers, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre and Young People’s Theatre in about 200 productions. Gzowski has played on numerous CDs, with recent releases with Patricia O’Callghan, Tasa, and Autorickshaw as well as a Juno Award nomination with Maza Meze. 

Joe Pagnan- Set Designer

Pagnan's work has had the pleasure of seeing his worked mounted around the globe. As a production designer he has had the pleasure of creating for companies including Magnus Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, Aim for the Tangent, Theatre Sheridan, Hart House Theatre, Suburban Beast, Sawitri Theatre, Sampradaya Dance Creations, Eventual Ashes, Living Arts Centre, City of Mississauga, Small Arms Society, Frog in Hand,  Art Gallery of Ontario, Birdland Theatre, Talk is Free, Highland Arts, and Harbourfront Centre to name a few. Actively engaged in exploring emerging performance practice and theory, he was an assistant curator of the 2011 Canadian Exhibition for the Prague Quadrennial of Space and Design (Czech Republic). He holds a BFA Honours from Ryerson University and is an Associated Designer of Canada. Once a member of the Young Centre's emerging artist program, he has since participated in intensive master classes with Universitat Weimar / Theatre Bauhaus (Berlin), OWOW Project (Poland), and Rimini Protokoll (Berlin). His current research hopes to answer the question: Can we define performance space in an unstable or degenerative organic world influenced by technology? By fostering innovation through sustainable approach aimed toward eco positive solution, he believes performance through experience is vital in understanding the other. More of his work can be seen at www.joepagnan.com 

Simon Rossiter- Lighting Design

Simon Rossiter is an award-winning lighting designer based in Toronto, Ontario. He has collaborated on more then three hundred productions since 2003 with a variety of companies throughout Canada, including more than two hundred original designs. Simon has received seven Dora Mavor Moore award nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design, receiving the award three times, and has twice been nominated for the Ontario Arts Council’s prestigious Pauline McGibbon award in design. Simon is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada, and sits on the organization's Board of Directors. Simon is a member of the Board of Directors for the Associated Designers of Canada, a professional association advocating for the rights and working conditions of theatrical designers.

Image: Anita Tejpar in her work ìn time`. Postcard design and photograph: Francesca Chudnoff