Aeris Korper offers dance wonderland to Hamilton audiences
- Beyond James
- 22 Oct 2019
To the Aeris Körper Dance Company, the only thing better than exploring the possibilities of movement and dance is inspiring audience members to do the same. To accomplish this ambitious goal, the company is being equally ambitious in its programming, making it one of the hottest up-and-coming dance companies to watch in the Hamilton region today.
The company was founded by dancer Lisa Emmons in 2010, who had already spent a number of years working as a dance artist for notable choreographers and companies like Maxine Heppner, Susan Kendal, and Motus O Dance Theatre.
“Rather than create work solely under my name, I wanted to create a place where many artists could gather and create,” Emmons said in an interview. “I was forming work, forming relationships, and forming new ideas. It was also personally a formative time in my life as I had just entered motherhood. Hence I created Form Contemporary Dance Theatre.”
As Form Contemporary continued to grow, Emmons’ work evolved and new connections were established. After much consideration and with new partners in tow, the company rebranded for the 18-19 season as the Aeris Körper Dance Theatre. This rebranding has proven to be a runaway success for the organization, as they continue to build new partnerships and receive audience and critical acclaim for their work.
In addition to launching their second season in October by showcasing local, national, and international choreographers in a performance and Q&A entitled PROSPECTS, the company is at the helm of Collapsing the Night; an immersive art experience taking place at the new Gage Park Tropical Greenhouse on November 22nd and 23rd.
Featuring music by Grace no Grace (Katherine Fraser and Graham Freeman), who will create a new work violin and guitar work for each performance, projections by local art initiative OPTICKS will light up the building. The choreography (provided by Emmons as Aeris Körper’s Co-Artistic Director) is for fifteen individually talented dancers, and combine with the music and projections to create an experience for all senses.
As an immersive experience, the evening has been shaped so that there is no stage and performances can happen at any time, both throughout and around the audience. Of particular note is the company’s efforts to ensure that audience members remain in control of their level of participatory experience through colour-coded clothing. This ensures that those audience members who choose to observe performers without engaging or interacting are able to do so (and quickly identifiable to performers), while those who desire greater interaction or who want to participate in the experience can be easily approached and encouraged to participate.
The first of its kind experience in Hamilton, Collapsing the Night will also have a number of trained guides on hand to assist audience members on their journey through the Greenhouse. These helpful Guides are able to offer suggestions for meaningful interactions between performers and audience members, as well as physically lead groups through the many different performances. Tickets for the event can be purchased directly from the Aeris Körper website.
In addition to future PROSPECT series performances later this year and summer intensive training opportunities, Aeris Körper is expected to make a national and international name for themselves this season. Renowned Canadian dancer Peggy Baker has given Aeris Körper a residency and will act as the company’s choreographic mentor for a new work to be created in the spring of 2020. Meanwhile, Aeris Körper’s other Co-Artistic Director, Mayumi Lashbrook has received an invitation to the prestigious L’Air Arts Residency in Paris, France for their January 2020 session. The company also plans to participate in a teaching opportunity in Spain in May 2020.
To reach these ambitious goals, Aeris Körper has received support from private and public funders, including the Hamilton Enrichment Fund and the Ontario Arts Council. They have also started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the additional funds needed through the support of the local community.
“Our main goal is to create work and give people the opportunity to practice their art form in a paid manner,” said Emmons. “When audiences can be connected to the work and connected to one another and through the collaborations we create with the artists, the audience and with the community, we hope that new ways of expressing themselves will come about and also new things will happen.”
Lead photo courtesy of Ryan Barrett
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