SaMel Tanz, a Toronto-based contemporary dance collective founded by Samantha Schleese and Melissa Hart, will debut Enter the Avatar State at dance: made in canada/fait au canada (d:mic/fac) 2021 InTO Focus. The biennial dance festival runs September 23 – 25 at High Park Amphitheatre as part of Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park. It features a shared program with Toronto-based contemporary dance artists Blue Ceiling Dance, Patricia Beatty, Kendra Epik, Lua Shayenne Dance Company, and SaMel Tanz. The edition also offers an onsite community exhibition Wish I Was There, 6 series of online dance film screenings, and a new podcast series, The ‘D’ Word with hosts, Britta B. and Mingjia Chen.
SaMel Tanz’s Enter the Avatar State is a duet that channels the four earth elements through a dynamic collaboration of contemporary and hip hop movement. The piece is inspired by the Japanese Anime tv show Avatar – the Last Airbender. Schleese and Hart recently became fans of the series, and the fantasy of channelling the four elements stirred their creativity: “It blended well with our love of fusing different genres of movement in one piece. For each element, we honed in on a specific texture and energy.”
In the dance work, two dancers come together to have a conversation. They face conflict head on and bring balance to their world, uncovering their strength, tenacity and versatility in the process. Schleese and Hart want audiences to understand that this powerful duet explores and connects to the four elements because – as Uncle Iroh, a character in Avatar – the Last Airbender likes to say – “it is important to draw wisdom from many different places”.
Asked about the genesis of the SaMel Tanz dance collective, Schleese and Hart explain that their partnership officially began in 2015, with the goal to entertain and enlighten audiences by creating a company that would skillfully fuse multiple dance forms on stage and share works that reflect important social issues. The company contributes to the dance realm a unique fusion of contemporary movement and techniques with Street and Latin influences. And it hopes to motivate audiences to start conversations in their own communities by delivering works that address current, relevant social issues like identity, female empowerment and mental health. Most recently, SaMel Tanz was a part of the 2019 DanceWorks CoWorks Series, where they debuted their production Mind-ful(l). The work raised awareness of mental illness within the dance community, an exceptionally timely topic, given the mental health challenges that many people are grappling with during the pandemic.
“Being best friends for 14 years, we have developed a genuine and trusting relationship regarding movement,” they explain. Extensive athleticism and experiences in various kinds of movement beyond dance enhance the duo’s choreographic vision. “Melissa was on her way to becoming an Olympic ice skater before her dance career,” says Schleese of her partner. “Before becoming a dancer, Sam was a competitive swimmer,” Hart reciprocates. And “during this pandemic, we stayed in each other’s bubble, and we continued to move and create together, sometimes virtually and sometimes in person – the majority of the time outside.”
Looking ahead, SaMel Tanz is working towards completing a creation grant from the Toronto Arts Council for their upcoming production Championess, which will fuse boxing with different styles of dance (Contemporary, Salsa and Hip Hop) to focus on women’s empowerment, identity and mental health. “The work will be a counter-narrative to what society celebrates as winners and deems losers: reclaiming what strength and beauty are, and how the belief in oneself can transform the outlook on life.” SaMel Tanz aims to create this production as a virtual performance for early 2022.
In the meantime, these rising stars are excited to Enter the Avatar State at in d: mic/fac InTO Focus: “Although this has been a difficult time, mentally and physically, we are thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this festival and to share our love of dance with a live audience.”
The dance festival takes place on September 23 – 25, 7:30 pm ET at Toronto’s High Park. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, and reservations are required. Reserve tickets here.
Click here for complete details of all the offerings at dance: made in canada/fait au canada 2021 InTO.
© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2021
