Circus Sessions - The producer

I talked to the producer of a great event coming up called circus sessions. Here's what Holly Treddenick had to say;

Circus Sessions

Friday May 15th and Saturday May 16th, 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/events/825854817497384/

How long have you been doing circus arts and which circus arts do you do?

I’ve been dancing since I was 5 and always loved the weird and wonderful side of performance. That’s what brought me to the circus. I started my circus journey in 2001 with training and performing in Pochinko clown. Then while on tour some peers introduced me to fire performing and that really hooked me. Soon after that another close friend and collaborator introduced me to aerial. And then things really changed. Although I still draw from clowning and fire performance in many of my creations, my heart is in the air.

Describe your work as a circus artist? Trad, Cirque, Contemporary?

I describe my work as contemporary circus. The seed of all my work is in my contemporary dance roots, but over the past 10 years it is definitely more in the circus ethos. And by “work” I mean my training, my performing and my creating.

What’s your most interesting/ weirdest gig?

There’s been many weird and wonderful gigs over the years. This event was not weird, per say. It was Cavalcade of Lights 2004 at Nathan Philips Square. It was my first big Circus Orange show and some of my best friends and longest performance collaborators were there on stage with me. I will never forget the moment I looked over the crowd of 10’s of thousands of people, and there was a huge wall of fire in front and behind me, pyro going off everywhere, including off my head, and there to my right were my friends dancing towards me looking as wild an excited as I felt. Such a rush and so much fun!

What interests you about circus sessions ?

As the producer I’m interested to see what comes out of bringing this amazing group of people together in this amazing facility. I’m interested in seeing what questions/ conversations arise, what experiments and collaborations occur. My hope is that this event will support the evolution of contemporary circus in Canada. I know that sounds grand, but the more we work in this direction, thoughts will be disseminated and the form evolves.

A little bit more about circus sessions:

We invite you to delve into the creative minds of 15 contemporary circus artists in the two-night performance of Circus Sessions, part of Harbourfront Centres NextSteps series. Artists will share the exciting new ideas discovered and developed in a week-long creative process workshop. Patrons will also have the opportunity to engage with the artists about the burgeoning practice in a post show Q&A. Leading up to the performances is a weeklong laboratory featuring 15 local and international circus artists, examining the variety of practices in this evolving art form. Leading the workshop is Fred Deb, a pioneer of French contemporary aerial movement and founding member of the prestigious company Les Arts Sauts. Circus Talk - A Day of National discussions on Contemporary Circus On Saturday May 16th 10am-4pm Free Panel discussions with circus artists and organizations from across the country including En Piste Regroupement, Canada Council for the Arts, TOHU, Allison Collins of the Vancouver Circus Festival, Circus Stella, and more. Harbourfront Centre will be hosting the Toronto International Circus Festivalthis same weekend, so come spend the whole day being immersed in circus. Lots of free and family friendly activities! For more information about Circus Sessions and the artists involved, please check out our FaceBook page or www.femmesdufeu.com Circus Sessions is produced by Femmes du Feu with artistic partners Contemporary Circus Arts Festival of Toronto, in association with Harbourfront Centre.