Hombros
(Choripán Theatre)
Studio Theatre
Genre: Theatre
Juan Pablo recruits his friend José to work with him as an “hombro.” Those aren’t their real names and what they do isn’t entirely clear. We get sparse details: they are supporting men in crisis with a Latine approach – “we don’t always know what the clients want, but they like it when we speak to them in Spanish.” It’s a dark comedy, a hangout play, and a satire on the gig economy.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Nawi Moreno-Valverde is an award-winning Latino playwright and director based in Toronto. His plays have been produced in various festivals, including La cama cósmica at Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS Festival, Tactile Maladies at Seven Sibling’s Future Theatre Festival, and Success Horizon at the 2021 Toronto Digital Fringe Festival. His newest play The Foot Doctor premiered at the 2022 Hamilton Fringe Festival.
CREDITS
Nawi Moreno-Valverde: Writer/Director
Micah Champaign: Lighting designer
Ruchi Wigwe, Rayhan Jabbar: Performers
Maya Aguayo: Stage Manager
Mirror
Mainspace
Genre: Dance
Mirror (Una mirada a mi interior) is a choreographic journey that explores the perception of self and societal influences in a world dominated by social media.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Erika Suarez is a professional dancer and anthropologist from Javerina University in Bogotá, Colombia. With a focus on the interplay between corporeal expressions, dance, and culture. She conducted her thesis in San Basilio de Palenque about African heritage and corporal expressions. Erika has gained experience at renowned dance academies like Portales and Montessori School. She was honoured with the “Artistas Jovenes Talentos” award in 2017, leading to an artist residency in Madrid, Spain. Erika was a member of Ballet Creole and a dance instructor at different academies. Currently, Erika teaches Pilates at various Toronto studios. Her diverse background and passion for movement make her a valuable asset to the arts and wellness community.
Isabel Estrada was born in Guatemala and moved to Toronto in 2010 to pursue a career in dance. She graduated with a BFA in Dance (Cum Laude) from York University, Toronto in 2014. She has performed internationally in works by Laurie Johnson, Andrea Siekavizza, Ruben Ornelas, Victoria Mata, Holly Small, Darcey Callison, Carol Anderson and John Henry Gerena. In 2013 she participated in “Rite Redux” as a member of the York Dance Ensemble. She considers this one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of her artistic career. She performed in Alejandro Ronceria’s “Amalgama”, part of the 2015 PanAm games, and was “The Face of Guatemala” in Young World Faces of PanAm by photographer Robert Young. Isabel has been a guest to teach dance workshops at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City. Isabel is a certified teacher in the conditioning program for dancers C.I Training created by Donna Krasnow and in the teaching technique of modern dance Jose Limón. She is a firm believer in following a daily practice that promotes physical, mental and spiritual care. A practice that will prevent injuries and improve quality of life in and out of the dance practice. She is an independent dance artist in Toronto, dancing actively with different collectives and collaborating in projects. Isabel is an active dance teacher and choreographer for kids, teens and adults. Her expertise is creative dance, technique, hip hop and contemporary. Currently Isabel is writing a book, “Dancing With Epilepsy” which draws on her experience in dance since she was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2012.
Cheryl Chan graduated from the George Brown Dance Performance Studies Program and studied a year at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She is in her seventh season with KasheDance, having toured multiple works throughout the Caribbean, Canada & USA. She has performed for the Pan Am Games, TDSB Prologue, and festivals such as Nuit Blanche, SummerWorks, Luminato, Dance Ontario, Moving Inspiration Dance Festival (Winnipeg), and others. Cheryl has performed with companies like Little Pear Garden Dance Company, The Chimera Project, The Parahumans, Impromptu Movements, and various independent artists as well. She has danced in short films and music videos such as The Grey, Wind Dancer, and Her & Her which has been awarded at various film festivals. Cheryl has presented her first work in progress with Michael Mortley, co-creator of MC². She has also debuted in Trilogy of BEing as a Rehearsal Assistant.
Falciony Patiño was born in Funza, Colombia. He began his training in Colombian folk dance at the age of seven with the group Zaquesazipa, in Funza. After finishing high school, Patiño got into the Superior Academy of Arts of Bogota (ASAB) to study contemporary dance. During his time at ASAB, he was part of the folk group Orkeseos. In 2009 he moved to Toronto to join Ballet Creole as a student and a company member. In the spring of 2012 Patiño created Cabildo, a group that explores a contemporary approach to Colombian folk dance. In 2013 he was part of Newton Moraes Dance Theatre with the piece Brazil, the Land of Tears and Soul, and in 2016 and 2019 with Testosterone. In 2015 Alejandro Ronceria invited him to be part of a show, Amalgama, in the Pan American games. In 2016 Falciony danced for Kaha:Wi Dance Theatre as a part of The Honoring, and since 2017 he has been doing Mistatim, an unforgettable story of reconciliation for children; a creation of Red Sky Performance. In 2019 he and two other Colombians created the Poporo collective, and in 2019 the Little Pear Garden dance company invited him to be part of All About Meeting You and also Unleash in 2020, an amazing short film. Since he was very young he has been experimenting with different dance styles from folk dance, ballet and contemporary to afro, urban dance, capoeira and parkour. Dance is what drives Patiño out of the ordinary.
CREDITS
Falciony Patiño: Creator, Choreographer
Erika Suarez: Dancer
Isabel Estrada: Dancer
Cheryl Chan: Dancer
La mujer fragmentada
Studio Theatre
Genre: Theatre
La Mujer Fragmentada is a bilingual interdisciplinary theatre piece exploring efforts in mothering within contexts of colonial violence in El Salvador through the use of video projection, sound design, and movement.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
María Escolán is a theatre artist from El Salvador living on the unceded traditional Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Recent work includes live translation performance in Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción with Teatro Linea de Sombra and Assistant Directing/Performance with Nightwood Theatre’s Children of Fire at Aluna Theatre’s RUTAS Festival 2022 in Toronto. Recent workshop showings of her work in development La Mujer Fragmentada have taken place in collaboration with Teatro del Azoro in San Salvador, Intrepid Theatre’s UNO Fest in Victoria, Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS Festival in Toronto, and Rice & Beans Theatre’s DBLSPK program in Vancouver. María holds a BFA Degree in Theatre Performance from the School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University and a BA Degree in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice from the University of British Columbia.
CREDITS
María Escolán: Creator
Anita La Selva: Dramaturg
Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi: Composer
Ilvs Strauss: Video Projection Designer
Alba Agosto: Performer
Irma Villafuerte: Performer
Jessica Zepeda: Performer
(Artist Pictured: Egly Larreynaga)
La Mujer Fragmentada has been supported by rice & beans theatre. @riceandbeanstheatre
Enlazadas Cocoons
Genre: Performance Art / Multidisciplinary Installation
Durational performance installation. An except from “Enlazadas”, a site specific performance inspired by the poem of Octavio Paz, “Dos Cuerpos”. Here, two bodies are entwined inside a suspended Cocoon surrounded by video projection and sound.
Site: Lobby of Factory Theatre
6:30-10pm
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Diana Lopez: Diana Lopez Soto is a multidisciplinary artist integrating aerial arts, ritual, dance and sculpture in a quest for sustainability and regeneration through reciprocity. Lopez’s goal is to create offerings inspired by our Mother Land, breath and movement. Her culture, heritage and relationship to the Earth inform her process and artistic practice. She weaves stories and holds spaces for creation and work with ritual and ceremony.
Victoria Mata: Venezuelan-Canadian settler in T’Koronto. Poly-lingual choreographer, dance artist, director and activist with a background in expressive arts therapy. Mata’s artistic work holds a sensibility to inclusion and border stories due to her eclectic upbringing across three continents before the age of fifteen. Mata holds a BFA in Urban Studies at University of Toronto, a MFA in Contemporary Choreography from York University and most recently Expressive Arts Training at The Create Institute.
CREDITS
Diana Lopez, Victoria Mata: Dancers
Diana Lopez, Victoria Mata: Concept & Creation
Lucia Rojas: Video Production and Lighting
Uche Ama: Camera Assistant
Seth Power: Sound Design and Recording
Eva Maria Lopez Stocking: Vocals