Resident Choreographer Hanna Kiel Introduces CBJ’s New Project

Here at CBJ it is our mission to advance the art and appreciation of ballet and Canadian choreography through performance, education and community engagement. We are in a challenging time for the performing arts, but we are still using our mission to advance the art of ballet through our new CBJ Interactive platform.

One of the ways we are doing this is with our newly appointed Resident Choreographer, Hanna Kiel, founder of Human Body Expression.

 

Message from Hanna Kiel

Bengt and I agreed that we want to create something beautiful to classical music. I want the music and creative process to tell me what the piece is about rather than having the concept dictate the creation. I always create pieces with my own company (Human Body Expression), with a concept and theme, and from there create something that celebrates beautiful movements. Using the best of classical music, I want to highlight the dancer's technique and strengths.

Because we don't know when we are going to be back in the dance studio, we wanted to start something that can go in any direction – I’m thinking of short solos that can become 3-5 minute duets, or a longer group piece.

This was an easy decision because I always start with solo materials and build them into duets or a group part. Since the dancers are at home they can work on their solo materials for now.

I have never done anything like this before and it will be very interesting to see how it turns out. I have already given tasks to the dancers but I can see that their physical choices are limited to dancing in a small space. I have to use my imagination to see how these movements will materialize for a big stage.

Once we get to perform this piece live, I'm sure the world will be different than now, and I would like to connect with how we would respond to that. Right now, everything is unknown and I'm ok with that. We have no idea how this process will affect the choreography but I'm very excited and curious to see the result.

 

We are also proud to announce that Hanna Kiel will be mentoring graduates from our George Brown Dance program. This exciting opportunity launches in September and will help our emerging artists find their place in this wonderful dance community.

Stay updated on CBJ Interactive to see Hanna’s process with the dancers and the other projects we are working on.

#CBJcommunity

Posted by: Ballet Jörgen Canada on June 24, 2020.
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