Resident Creators
The 'Rooms' are where you'll find the House of ShAkE projects, including my own and those of the Resident Creators. My personal connections with these creators sometimes preceded, sometimes followed my encountering their work. But with each I discovered a kindred spirit, someone interested in opening doors between domains too often separated and in bettering our shared human living space.
David Earle is not only a legend of Canadian dance, having
is renowned for its ability to move people from all backgrounds and walks of life, sometimes to tears of joy. His collaboration with House of ShAkE, A Handbook for Ecstatic Survival, embodies the same attitude: it's for those who love dance, but also, as David writes, 'for the curious, the hungry, for those wishing for another window on this Life’s possibilities'.
I first introduced myself to Gilles Goyette because I was enchanted by his visual art, exhibited at a favourite local restaurant where he was working. It was whimsically colourful & dark by turns, figurative & abstract blending together brilliantly. And because visual art is not my usual “go-to” (I’m more drawn to performance), I immediately knew his work had the kind of crossover appeal I love. His 'suite' at House of ShAkE includes three very different projects, united by his wide-ranging mind & his consistently surprising aesthetic vision.
I met Bill Coleman in 1983 when he took a room in a house I was renting, and he got involved in a variety show I was putting on where he performed his 'North American Tai Chi' (with moves like 'Flip the Burger' and 'Check the Oil'). Then I saw his virtuosity as a company member with Toronto Dance Theatre and the astonishing range of his own choreography! We worked together on community-based collaborations – just another example of the boundary-crossing & world-mixing work he's so good at.
