For one week every summer, front porches become performance stages for everyday dancers.
Presented by Kaeja d’Dance, Porch View Dances (PVD) is a site-specific outdoor dance festival in Toronto’s historic Seaton Village neighbourhood. This year’s edition of the beloved summer community dance project runs from July 17-21, and is the first programmed by Mayumi Lashbrook, a multifaceted Japanese-Canadian artist whose practice spans performance, choreography, production, and education. She brings a unique vision to this year’s event, which features new works by Toronto choreographer Sid Ryan Eilers, Fer Camacho, and Zita Nyarady – all centred on the healing power of play and joy.
Lashbrook describes herself as a dance artist who works in multiple ways to create, produce and showcase dance. “I think a lot about the experience the audience has when they watch dance. And I balance that with considering the experience for those creating and performing the dance. I think of this as my work: to create healthy ecologies for dance to thrive in. These are the things alive in me when I’m choreographing, performing, producing or curating dance works.”
Her diverse roles in the dance community reflect her commitment to creating inclusive and introspective dance theatre that challenges systems of oppression. As the Artistic Director of Aeris Körper, a practitioner of Dreamwalker Dance’s Conscious Bodies methodology, and the Creative Producer of dance: made in canada’s The ‘D’ Word Podcast, Lashbrookhas continuously pushes the boundaries of what dance can achieve. Her journey to becoming the curator of Porch View Dances began last fall when Kaeja d’Dance approached her. “I was thrilled,” she recalls. “I know Porch View Dances to be an exquisite example of the transformational power of dance. It brings folks together that don’t identify as dancers to delight in and celebrate their bodies as conduits of connection and joy.”
And as Lashbrook has experienced the community’s enthusiasm, her excitement for the project has only grown . “A festival so rooted in connection will undoubtedly have support from the community, but I have been surprised time and time again with how generous folks are. From the choreographers nurturing their participants as they navigate performance nerves, to the homeowners offering their porches for rehearsals, the abundance of love, support, and care continues to impact me.”
Selecting the choreographies for this year’s PVD was a meticulous process for Lashbrook. “When reviewing the applications for the festival and considering who I felt would engage the community, I sought works that had an understanding of the moment we’re in now, both locally and globally,” she explains. This year’s PVD will launch at Seaton Village’s London Street and Porch View Dances Lane, recently renamed by the City of Toronto for the event.
Guided by theatre artist Kunji Ikeda, audiences will explore Seaton Village streets, homes, and spaces. Highlights include:
- JOY is a Home with Many Rooms, choreographed by Sid Ryan Eilers, featuring parents and children embracing gender fluid expressions. (Eilers also leads TRANScenDANCE, a creative-movement class for gender non-conforming children, in partnership with Canada’s National Ballet School)
- Fer Camacho’s Everyone Knows How to Play Tag delves into universal childhood experiences
- Zita Nyarady’s Counting Smiles combines dance and clown work to evoke joy
- Audiences will also encounter three vignettes by choreographer Esie Mensah, focusing on joyful discovery
- On Saturday and Sunday, the event will premiere a performance by long-time PVD collaborator and Indigenous creator Jim Adams and Heryka Miranda, retelling the Indigenous origin story of Sky Woman through dance, storytelling, and the creation of a turtle shell, reconnecting audiences with the natural world.
- The event will also feature the return of PVD’s cherished interactive finale Flock Landing, an audience-inclusive gentle movement installation led by Kaeja d’Dance dancer Mio Sakamoto.
In discussing her curation process, Lashbrook stresses the unique contributions of each choreographer: “Fer spoke to the universality of games across different countries and languages. Zita recognized the impacts still present from the pandemic and offered a way of initiating reconnecting. Sid celebrated queer joy and its need to be shared widely. Esie recognized the need for passing knowledge intergenerationally, reconnecting to lineage and celebrating the cycles of life. With Heryka and Jim, I’d witnessed their artistic chemistry in last year’s show, and was excited for them to offer an installation that activates our senses and relationship to land.”
In each artist, Lashbrook saw a desire for release from worldly tensions and commonality in the joy of movement. “The understanding of our place in the world is impactful to collective harmony. I am honored by the works each of these creators offered, that recognize themselves as a part of the greater whole.” And this year’s theme of playfulness and the healing power of play is especially close to Lashbrook’s heart. “I had taken a dance class where participants ranged from age 4 to into their 70s. I’d watched as the adults in the room retreated as they realized who they were sharing space with. The hesitation was palpable,” she recounts.
However, as everyone began to move together, it was clear that bringing disparate ages together allowed for something new to arise: “Adults dropped their self-criticism and accessed childlike joy. I was reminded that with the hardships of the world around us, it can be difficult to lighten our outlooks. Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously! I know I need that reminder. And I welcome others to, as well.” In this vein, Lashbrook hopes that the theme of play will resonate with diverse audiences, encouraging them to find joy and connection through movement and community.
Lashbrook concludes our conversation by reflecting on the significance of movement in our lives. She observes simply that “we are always in motion. And motion is communication. We can’t engage in dialogue without movement!” And this universal truth shapes the annually-renewed essence of Porch View Dances: this unique neghbourhood festival “gives voice to folks in the performance who don’t identify as dancers. and welcomes those witnessing – who might think they don’t understand dance – to a space to delight in the choreography of life.”
This year’s PVD festival runs July 17 – 21, 2024 in Toronto’s Seaton Village. Visit kaeja.org to reserve tickets.
© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2024
