Contemporaneity is a development and presenting series examining questions of the contemporary in dance. It curates works that dive deeper into choreographic forms to answer the creator’s questions; works that resist becoming colonized expressions of themselves; works that are alive to the body and a form’s potential.

In an ideal world, contemporaneity should speak to the cultural moment in which a choreographic act or movement takes place. However, “contemporary” in dance is a term that has long defined European or white American theatrical dance, while all other forms have been categorized as just that – “other.” While this is changing, the implications continue to be felt throughout the infrastructure for the development of new dance. The inclusion of non-European dance forms in the programming of major presenters remains limited. Emerging and mid-career artists of colour and Indigenous artists still do not often access resources such as commissions, residencies, and other choreographic development opportunities. Likewise, audience outreach and engagement, as well as critical discourse around these forms and aesthetics, is lacking.

This series seeks to re-examine the term so that “contemporaneity” can speak to the “now” in which a choreographic act takes place while considering its multiple contexts. The series proposes diverse ways of seeing, experiencing, and responding to the dancing body, in all its capacities – solitary, social, (dis)able(d), sexual, racial, political, communal and ancestral.

Contemporaneity understands that a healthy cultural ecology requires a multiplicity of aesthetics and discourse for the evolving contemporary in dance and aims to contribute an infrastructure that is inclusive, critical, contextual and transformative.

Contemporaneity was developed in 2017 by Soraya Peerbaye and Brandy Leary as a curatorial initiative supported through the TAC Open Door program.

“The premise of the show was to reclaim contemporary dance to mean contemporary dance, as in current, present-day, and not limited to the Euro-centric picture that you probably have in your mind.”

-Travis Knights on Contemporaneity 1.0 TapLoveTour Podcast

Date: October 2017

Presenting Partner: Dancemakers (Toronto, Canada)

Presentation: Diana Lopez: De Agua y Barro, Mafa Makhubalo: Lentswe la Setjhaba (Voices of the Land)

Residency: Diana Lopez, Mafa Makhubalo, Esie Mensah (Shades development)

Photos: Gein Wong (De Agua y Barro, Lentswe la Setjhaba), Photos of Shades by E.S. Cheah Photography from 2018, Factory Theatre