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Nominated name: PORCH VIEW DANCES

Nominated by: Allen and Karen Kaeja

Suggested Location: City Lane Number: #3002
Described Location: Bound by Manning Ave., London St., Euclid Ave. and William Oliphant Lane. Runs North-South between London St. and William Oliphant Lane.

At London St. looking South At William Oliphant Ln. looking North
Rationale and References:

Porch View Dances (PVD) is "real people dancing in real spaces". It is an innovative community dance project that began in Seaton Village in 2012. It is conceived by Karen Kaeja of Kaeja d'Dance and further developed with her husband, Allen Kaeja. PVD engages everyday people as creators, storytellers and performers – many of whom have never danced before. Audience members travel from house to house to see new dance works created by professional choreographers and performed by local families, residents and guests in the porches, front yards and driveways of their own and borrowed homes. The audience is led by Maurycy, a tour guide who doubles as the master of ceremonies, through the winding streets of Seaton Village, watching the stories of the neighborhood unfold.

"A poster child for site-specific dance done right" Globe and Mail

Porch View Dances was designed to celebrate the stories of neighbourhood residents and to bridge the
gap between professional art and everyday people. Taking dance out of the theatre and into our daily
lives, PVD engages real people, in real spaces, making dance accessible to performers and audience
members alike.

Rarely has such ordinary public property been so wonderfully converted to artistic use. City sidewalks
became seats for kids to watch, back alleys were opened up and became cultural corridors, and the local
neighbourhood park was transformed into a performing arts centre.” -
Adam Vaughan, MP

Porch View Dances strives to be inclusive for both performers and audiences, and has a strong focus on
family, community and diversity in dance creation and performance, with individuals from all
backgrounds, ages, and abilities.

"I love that through our common language of movement, we have this intimate and focused experience
together that serves the day and the dance and continues the story. PVD is like this social dance journey
where I get to witness lives lived in all their rough and tumbleness, and always, a beautiful dance flows
out of the front door!
" – Karen Kaeja, co-artistic director, Kaeja d’Dance

 

Further Information:

Kaeja d'Dance – An introduction

Established in 1991, Kaeja d’Dance is a not-for-profit, charitable dance company that creates award-
winning contemporary dance performances, site-specific works with large numbers of dancers,
community-based and relational dance projects, dance films, and community outreach programming.
With over 200 original works they have received numerous National and International awards including
the Lifetime Achievement Award from Dance Ontario, the CDA “I Love Dance” Community Award,
Clifford E. Lee, Bonnie Bird (UK), the UNESCO Citation for the Year of Culture and Peace and Paul D. Fleck
Fellowships for Innovation. Nominations include The Muriel Sherrin Award, 7 Dora Mavor Moore’s,
winning one, NFLD’s ACE Award, runner-up for NOW Magazine’s Best Local Choreographers and Best
Dance Company. The Company thrives on creating platforms for the presentation of dance and dance
artists. Recently, they have toured to Japan, China, Israel, UK, Mexico, USA, and across Canada. The
Company teaches across the world to adults, professionals and approximately 4,000-5,000 students
annually.

Kaeja in the Community

At the forefront of community engagement and participatory arts practices, Kaeja d’Dance has engaged
in collaborations between professional dance artists and thousands of community members, dancer,
non-dancer and amateur alike. Kaeja places value on bridging dance, art, and the public, creating dances
with people of all ages, identities and challenges. These exclusive creative partnerships engage in the
experience of process, practice and performance of dance creation. Some of these projects include:
Porch View Dances in Toronto, Kitchener, Ottawa and Etobicoke; Ed’s Sign Language at Toronto 4
Everyone; Montgomery’s Inn; Downtown Dances in Moncton NB; Fool’s Paradise–Open Doors ON; Fort
York Grand Opening; Wedding Brigade; Rogue Show; Just Dance Jane/Finch, Stable Dances and Bird's
Eye View at Casa Loma Stables; Spirits of Desire and Savage Garden. From Toronto to Japan,
the Company’s leading audience-inclusive installation Flock Landing has engaged hundreds of audience
members to join in the dance in over 100 locations around the world. Kaeja sends the powerful message
that art is for everyone.

Porch View Dances ’12:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S1msR_IKIM

Porch View Dances ’15:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGoWKe0ICyM

Porch View Dances ’18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4KZ_cA3y9A&t=48s
https://www.kaeja.org