Possibilities of Dialogue
ABOUT
Possibilities of Dialogue is an exchange of energy and awareness. Inspired by the parallels between making a dance and having a conversation, the performance is an emergent, collaborative creative process; moments of listening, curiosity, disagreement and spontaneity unfold through movement and text. We are practising courage, compassion and communication; facilitating a shared experience while holding space for individuality.
“[David and Marielis] spent months exchanging ideas, not just about dance steps but also about their shared philosophies on contemporary art and dance. They want the audience to feel like they belong, although they won’t direct how they should think and feel about the performance.”
“I saw them “playing” by a predetermined set of rules only they knew. Their specificity created suspense; I wanted to figure out the rules. But I couldn’t guess them all. And that mattered less and less than sensing the integrity in their effort...Each time they returned their eyes to each other’s, which also meant they were returning to mine, I felt a fiber of my Zoom fatigue release. Assurance. Grounding... Dialogue happens in the checking in, checking back, and moving on together. David and Marielis and Lilly and Kevin could not have engaged their audience in a more timely experiment.”
Team
Direction, Choreography and Performance: David Norsworthy and Marielis Garcia
Music: Brad Wentworth and Noah MacDougall
Mentoring and Dramaturgy: JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Peter Kyle, Andrea Roberts, Michael Caldwell
Lighting Design and Technical Direction: Gabriel Cropley
upcoming
2022: Touring within the USA and Canada with the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Stay tuned for dates and locations!
MAJOR funding support
We are grateful for the support of the following major funders: Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, and the City of Toronto’s Cultural HotSpot Program.
BOOKINGS
Possibilities of Dialogue (55-65 minutes) is available for touring in 2022.
We offer performances for student and public audiences, plus masterclasses and community workshops.
Presenters with a password may view the full length archival video here, and/or access our electronic press kit here.
For more information, please contact us.
Artistic Statement
Possibilities of Dialogue (PoD) is an iterative experiment led by emerging contemporary dance makers David Norsworthy (Toronto) and Marielis Garcia (New York). Subject to constant interrogation and updating, the project is a living fusion of our current questions and curiosities. It is therefore never more or less finished but rather always a non-linear process. Occasionally the work crystallizes into a public exchange, which invites new information and perspectives. These momentary “arrivals” are necessary for our (and the work’s) continuation: They create an opportunity for destabilizing questions to enter our spheres of consciousness which ultimately triggers the next phase of recalibration and research.
At the present moment, PoD deals with the parallels between making a dance and having a conversation. It is an exchange of energy and awareness; an emergent, collaborative creative process. We are not concerned with solidifying the content of the dialogues/conversations/exchanges that take place. Instead, we are working on methodologies and choreographic scores that support a wide range of possible outcomes. We allow ourselves the liberty to generate, notice and accept action in the moment. There is a commitment to each other, to making and implementing this work together, but there is also a commitment to holding space for individuality and disagreement. We are studying connection and communication via the verbal and physical.
We began this work by dissecting our responsibilities as artists-- to ourselves, to each other and to our community. Fascinated by the question “What makes our work matter?” and concerned with the sociological and political implications of asking viewers to be passive and obedient vs active and empowered, we began to experiment with choreographic scores that could be legible and participatory for an audience; halfway between workshop and performance. New questions continued to emerge as we worked: “How can we take care of an audience, and their expectations?”, “What is the nature of rigor, when dealing with the contingent factors of an audience?”, “How can we transition the audience towards a position of power and autonomy?” and “What is the relation between audience autonomy and audience engagement?”.
Photos by Francesca Chudnoff, AJ Stetson, and Jason Tse.
PROJECT HISTORY
November 2016: Residency in New York, NY, USA supported by Inception to Exhibition, followed by a work-in-progress showing
May 2017: Residency in Carbondale, Colorado, USA supported by Dance Initiative, followed by a work-in-progress showing
June 2017: Residency in Tivoli, New York, USA supported by Kaatsbaan International Dance Center’s UpStream Residency Program, followed by a work-in-progress showing
October 2017: Five performances at high schools in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada through TOES FOR DANCE
September 2018: Residency in New York, NY, USA supported by a space grant from Judson Memorial Church
January 2019: Residency in New York, NY, USA supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, followed by a work-in-progress showing
February 2019: Residency in Saxapahaw, NC, USA, supported by Culture Mill, followed by a work-in-progress showing
March 2019: Technical residency at the Toronto Centre for the Arts / Meridian Arts Centre Studio Theatre in Toronto, ON, Canada supported by North York Arts’ Evolve Performing Arts Program, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts, plus four performances at high schools in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada through TOES FOR DANCE.
April 2019: Three fully-produced public performances at the Toronto Centre for the Arts / Meridian Arts Centre Studio Theatre in Toronto, ON, Canada supported by the Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts, co-produced by North York Arts, and co-presented by DanceWorks CoWorks and TOES FOR DANCE
May 2019: Three informal process-based in-studio public showings at Shetler Studios in New York, NY, USA, produced by MGDanceArts and supported by Emily and Sean Wentworth, Joan Woodworth, Nancy Wells, Jay Wentworth and Deborah and Charles Adleman.
June-November 2020: Re-imagining the project for an online context, plus mentorship and rehearsals with two emerging artists: Kevin Lau and Lilly Giroux. One online interactive process-based performance event, produced and presented by TOES FOR DANCE with the support of the City of Toronto’s Cultural HotSpot Program.