Visit the new Film Releases page to view CCDT's recent dance films and mini-documentaries, created in the time of Covid-19.
Artistic Director | Deborah Lundmark
- digital program -
Wintermission 2022
It is with gratitude, excitement and warmth that we welcome you to Wintermission 2022. The remarkable young artists you will witness on stage today have been working so bravely and boldly this autumn to bring these works to the stage today. We are so grateful to the Young and Core Apprentices for diving into this year with such energy, generosity and grace; we continue to be struck and delighted by the curiosities and insights that shape our work together. It has been a joy spending these weekends working together reconnecting with familiar faces and welcoming new members to our companies, and revisiting familiar repertoire and learning new pieces. We remained humbled by the dancer's hard work and their families generous commitment to supporting their growth (and getting them to class & rehearsal each week!). We are so thrilled to share the magic, power and beauty of dance with you today.
Many thanks to Deborah Lundmark, Michael deConinck Smith, Natasha Poon Woo, and all of the artists and staff at CCDT for continuing to hold space for our work to grow. We are very grateful for all of you. We also thank you, our audience, for your support and for being here with us today. Please enjoy the show!
—Megan Nadain, Core Apprentice Program Director
& Jane-Alison McKinney, Young Apprentice Program Director
Spark of the Storm (excerpt)
Choreography: Jane-Alison Mckinney
Music: Henrik Schwarz & Alma Quartet Amsterdam
Dancers: Young Apprentices
we will be ready
Choreography: Megan Nadain (in collaboration with the dancers)
Music: Anoice
Dancers: Core Apprentices
sagittarius, meet capricorn (excerpt)
Choreography: Rodney Diverlus
Music: Theon Cross, "Activate"; Clifford Brown and the Max Roach Quintet. "The Blues Walk"
Dancers: Company
~intermission~
Many Tomorrows Ago
Direction: Megan Nadain (in collaboration with the dancers)
Music: Modest Mouse (with arrangements & covers by Rachel Boyd, Modal Mouse & Violet Harris)
Dancers: Young Apprentices
High Tide
Choreography: Jordana Deveau
Music: Lhasa de Sala
Dancers: Core Apprentices
Wintermission
Artist Biographies
Deborah Lundmark
Co-Founder, Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer
Deborah Lundmark has created more than 40 works for her company. These include collaborations with the Danny Grossman Dance Company, the Toronto Children's Chorus and Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and blues artists Thompson Egbo-Egbo and Jerome Godboo. From her Street Songs (1980) to Dancing Day (1989), Precipice (2010) and Alien Grace (2018), Ms. Lundmark has impressed audiences and critics alike with the power, precision and artistry of her unique company. She has commissioned over one hundred works from a who’s who of Canadian choreographers including David Earle, Carol Anderson, Tedd Robinson, Santee Smith and Ofilio Sinbadinho and from abroad, Colin Connor, Sidra Bell, Kevin Wynn (USA) and Alexander Whitley (UK). Her company has won Toronto Arts Foundation’s prestigious Arts for Youth Award and has been critically acclaimed as "a national treasure" numbered "among the ranks of Toronto’s top dance companies" by The Globe and Mail. Her dancers have gone on to perform with many of the world’s leading companies including the José Limón Dance Company whose recent 70th anniversary CCDT helped to celebrate with performances of José Limón’s The Winged at New York City's Joyce Theater.
Photo by Gary Ray Rush
Michael deConinck Smith
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Michael deConinck Smith has directed the staging of over three hundred CCDT productions including five appearances at the Canada Dance Festival. In 1988 he conceived and produced CCDT’s acclaimed collaboration with the Toronto Boys Choir and the Hanson Singers, the original WINTERSONG – dances for a sacred season, now a three-decade-old tradition. In 1990, Michael led CCDT’s first international tour to the People’s Republic of China, and the following year the premiere of SONGS of INNOCENCE and of EXPERIENCE, featuring commissions by ten leading choreographers, realized one of his long-cherished dreams. From 1997 to 2000 he planned CCDT’s extensive tours of Northern Ontario, and in 2002 led the company’s return to Southeast Asia with performances in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In 1994, Michael oversaw the purchase and renovation of CCDT’s 509 DANCE studios, now an intergenerational crossroads for Canadian dance. For fifteen years Michael has led his company’s Ontario Community Residencies Program introducing more than 300,000 young people to contemporary dance in theatres throughout Ontario. Most recently, he produced CCDT’s Scotland tour to the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival followed by the company’s inaugural appearances at the storied Joyce Theater in New York City as part of the José Limón Dance Company’s International Dance Festival in celebration of their 70th Anniversary.
Photo by Gary Ray Rush
Megan Nadain
Core Apprentice Director & Choreographer
Megan Nadain (she/her) is a Toronto-based dancer, choreographer and dance educator originally from North Vancouver, BC. She is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she the recipient of the The Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant. She is a company member with Dancetheatre David Earle and has worked independently with Darryl Tracy, Nicole Nigro, inDANCE, Toronto Heritage Dance and Miranda Abbott.
She has the pleasure of being on faculty at The School of Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and directing CCDT’s Core Apprentice Program. She is also a faculty member at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre teaching in The Professional Program and The General School. She has also taugth at The National Ballet of Canada InStuio program, York University and facilitates the dance programs at several secondary schools in Toronto. Two projects that she has been involved with recently and that she is exceptionally passionate about are Bridging Generations Through Dance with Dancing with Parkinson’s and Moving together: Choreographic mappings of children with diverse dis/abilities and their neurological responses to a dance-play event with Coralee McLaren.
Photo by Dancetheatre David Earle
Jane-Alison McKinney
Young Apprentice Director & Choreographer
Jane-Alison McKinney, originally from New Brunswick, is a dancer, choreographer, producer, and teacher. A graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she has performed the works of a variety of contemporary dance artists in Canada and Internationally. In 2016, she was awarded a Metcalf Foundation Internship Grant in Artistic Direction with adelheid under the mentorship of Heidi Strauss, whose close mentorship has played a profound impact on Jane-Alison’s artistic development. She has also worked with adelheid as a dancer, emerging choreographer, and producer. Jane Alison’s choreography has been supported nationally by a variety of festivals and residencies; most recently her solo work ‘There she was’ was presented by Tangente in Montreal. Jane-Alison has also taught classes and workshops across Canada for organizations such as The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, the Good Women Dance Collective, Jamii, Quinte Ballet School, and the National Ballet of Canada (amongst others). She continues to be inspired by the remarkable artists she works with as Director of the Young Apprentice Program at CCDT.
Photo Courtney Gallery
Jordana Deveau
Choreographer
Independent dance artist, gardener & seed saver Jordana Deveau (she/her) is a first generation settler based out of Tkaronto, Canada who works as an interpreter, producer, educator, administrator, rehearsal director and project coordinator. She is Co-Artistic Director of JDdance, a multifaceted dance theatre collective that
she co-founded with Jesse Dell in 2009. Jordana is the co-author with Donna Krasnow, Ph.D., of ”C-I Training: Conditioning with Imagery for Dancers”. She has trained in Toronto, Guelph, Vancouver, New York and Vienna, and performed in the U.S., Europe and across Canada interpreting works by notable choreographers including Carol Anderson, Julia Aplin, Peggy Baker, Sidra Bell, David Earle, Sylvain Émard, Kate Franklin, Margie Gillis, Louis Laberge-Côté, Andrea Nann, Roger Sinha, Holly Small, Santee Smith, and Gerry Trentham.
Photo by Gary Ray Rush
Natasha Poon Woo
Associate Artistic Director & Company Rehearsal Director
Natasha Poon Woo was a member of Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre from ages ten to 17 and is a graduate of Claude Watson School for the Arts. She holds a BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, graduating summa cum laude with the President’s Award for Achievement in 2012. Natasha is a regular performer with Toronto companies Rock Bottom Movement and Côté Danse, and has also worked with The Dietrich Group, Roderick George, BoucharDanse, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Benjamin Landsberg, Ryan Lee, Hit & Run Dance Productions, Gadfly, Little Pear Garden, Kevin Wynn, and Conny Janssen Danst, among others. She is a Dora Award-winning performer with Rock Bottom for its acclaimed 2019 production of hollow mountain. Natasha was CCDT's Rehearsal Director from 2012-2021 and the Associate Artistic Director from 2019-2021 before taking a year away to focus on her performance career. Having returned to CCDT this season, she once again works alongside the company's directors, staff, and guest artists to facilitate the presentation of vibrant contemporary repertoire programmes in addition to training, rehearsing, mentoring, and collaborating with the company's inspiring young dance artists. A member of Healthy Dancer Canada, Natasha is an established teacher of Limón-based modern (under the mentorship of Donna Krasnow) and a rehearsal director for various artists and institutions throughout the community. She continues to actively perform with reputable companies and choreographers throughout Canada and abroad.
Photo by Drew Berry
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre presents
Wintermission
2022/2023 Season
CCDT and the School of CCDT Founders & Directors
Deborah Lundmark & Michael deConinck Smith
Associate Artistic Director & Company Rehearsal Director
Natasha Poon Woo
Assistant Rehearsal Director, Company
Steph Harkness
Director, Core Apprentice Program
Megan Nadain
Director, Young Apprentice Program
Jane-Alison McKinney
Company Performers
Alexis Amey, Valeria Chiappetta, Madison Costa, Isabel Dela Cruz, Caitlin Feanny, Hope Fritz, Zachary Seto, Willem Sadler, Naomi Tyson
Core Apprentice Dancers
Martine Chen, Melina Christopoulos, Tallis Coleman, Calia Hill, Elisabeth Ranger, Nayanne Rayner, Maxine Robert, Mia Vogel-Alexiou, Alice Whyte-Lewis
Young Apprentice Dancers
Lucky Bai, Avielle Cole-Kim, Maya Greenwood, Violet Harris, Olivia Langley, B Lee, Kate Li, Serena McGinley, Alexis Perritt, Eve Pittendreigh, Annabeth Seedhouse
Apprentice Program Accompanists
Raphael Roter, Stich Wynston
Manager, School of CCDT
Kathryn Fallowfield
Director, Marketing & Outreach
Natasha Jorge-Moore
Thank you
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre is profoundly grateful for the generous support from the friends and family of our aspiring artists. It is thanks to donations from people like you that we are able to foster artistic growth within these young dancers, both in the studio and live onstage.
Thank you to our CCDT Board of Directors
Gerry Maddison, President/Chairperson
Philip Akin, Vice-President/Vice Chairperson
Tom Sheppard, Secretary/Treasurer
Paula Prociuk Blacklock, Officer
and a special thank you to our individual contributors
Dawnne Nightingale-Amey
Ashley & Mark Dela Cruz
Kristina & Patrick Feanny
David & Pramilda Seto
Laura Ziemba & Kevin Lee
Erin & Jason Vandenberg
Maggie Su
Maria Christopoulos
Anne-Sophie Ramette & Thomas Robert
Anna Manuel & Jason Lee
Sonya Teece & Andy Soter
Karen & Jeffrey Seedhouse
Jennifer Zhang
Angela Cole & Alex Kim
Tara Norton & Bruce Greenwood
Susanna Chwang & Kevin Harris
Sarah Jane Burton & Scott Langley
Emilie & Jim McGinley
Tae Hee Kim & James Perritt
Farah Ali & Cale Pittendreigh
Ying Xu & Leo Li
Kaija Vogel & Vassilios Alexiou
Julie Yip
Rubina Khan & Thomas Tyson
Iolanda Aiello & Rocco Chiappetta
Bernie & Tony Costa
Karen & Chris Fritz
Michael Bellissimo & Christine LeBlanc
Sharon Whyte & Andrew Lewis
Coralee McLaren
Marcela Quintana & Sean Hill
Jennifer Rayner
Vivian Wong
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