January 9th marks International Choreographers Day! Today we celebrate the hard work and incredible talent of choreographers, and thank them for the dedication and artistry they contribute to bringing art to life.
In honour of this year's International Choreographers Day, we've invited a few Equity choreographers to share what this day and choreography means to them:
"As a choreographer, I investigate the wondrous folly, poignancy, paradoxes and humour of human behaviour, and create ways of exposing the secrets concealed in our bodies through movement, in performance. The tumult in the world today overwhelms with sources of material. It also deepens the practice of dance as a contemplative journey and a potential path to insight."
- Denise Fujiwara
"As a choreographer, the challenge and reward of meshing movement to music, the spoken word or even complete silence has always inspired and fulfilled me. Dancers come in all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities, and I’ve had the great pleasure of working with thousands of them. The innate need and passion to express oneself is truly limitless, and I celebrate every human who has the desire to follow this path."
-Brenda Gorlick
"I didn’t even know us choreographers had a day! What joy! It is a rare breed that find the turn of a head, bend of a knee, twisting of a spine so ripe with potential. But it is the choreographers, the designers of the embodied experience that help us ‘feel’ the meaning words cannot reach.
High fives to all my fellow choreographers! What you do is so challenging and so very important."
-Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg
Celebrate with us by checking out resources from the Dancer Transition Centre, an organization dedicated to helping dancers make necessary transitions into, within, and from professional performing careers
here, and don't forget to thank a choreographer!