The Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home
all images by Yuula Benivolski
September 2021
b solomon, Amelia Ehrhardt, jes sachse and Danah Rosales, were invited to consider ideas of home as they relate to interconnected ideas of the body, transiency and the other.
This series of call and response outdoor performances at Lisgar Park explores the theme of home, which deeply resonates with the social and economic conditions attributed to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Through movement, the project seeks to illuminate an intertwined consciousness of what it means to occupy space, form, and time, and to inspire a broad, inclusive, and generous understanding of ‘home’.
jes sachse. Presently living in Toronto, jes is an artist, writer and performer whose work addresses the negotiations of bodies moving in public/private space and the work of their care. Their work & writing has appeared in NOW Magazine, The Peak, CV2 -The Canadian Journal of Poetry and Critical Writing, Mobilizing Metaphor: Art, Culture and Disability Activism in Canada, and the 40th Anniversary Edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves. jes is The Toronto Art Foundation 2020 Emerging Artists award recipient. instagram.com/squirrelofmystery
Amelia Ehrhardt is an artist who works in multiple expressions of dance. Amelia has been supported in residence and presentation across Canada and internationally; formative experiences have been at Studio 303 (MTL), Mile Zero Dance (EDM), Young Lungs Dance Exchange (WPG), danceWEB (AUT), and HATCH/Harbourfront Centre (TOR). Recently their solo "plain nature public mourning" was performed by graduating student Matilda Cobanli at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (AUT). They've performed in works by Susie Burpee, Julia Sasso, Zeesy Powers, Suzy Lake and others. They also continue to perform their own choreography and have a regular outdoor improvisation practice that gets shared digitally. Amelia was the Curator of Dancemakers Centre for Creation, a pillar of the Canadian Dance Ecology founded in 1974, from 2015-2019. Amelia is also a professional consulting astrologer and writes a bimonthly lunation astrology column for OMGblog. Amelia has never lived further than five kilometers from Lake Ontario. www.ameliaehrhardt.net
b solomon Multi-award nominated, winner and loser, creator b solomon is of Anishinaabe and settler heritage, born in Shebahonaning on the North Channel of Lake Huron. As a creator his work is multidisciplinary, raw, challenging and full of spirit. His commissions have ranged from community-rooted works with over 100 interpreters, solos in trees, to animated installations of landfill. His works have been presented and toured across Turtle Island and abroad. Since he was a youth, much of solomon’s work has been committed to community activation with a focus on the unacknowledged and underserved ones across the land. He is passionate about helping people relearn the nature of their ancient bodies, and take back the space those bodies occupy as caretakers. More info at: electricmoose.ca
Danah Rosales is a professional artist born and raised in Toronto. At a young age, while serving in her church’s dance ministry, Danah discovered that her physical, emotional and spiritual expression was naturally found through movement. She was strongly compelled to further explore the art of contemporary dance and performance, so she began her performance training at Etobicoke School of the Arts and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. After working with Toronto Dance Theatre Company for the 3 seasons, she now continues her explorations and endeavors of multiple physical and artistic disciplines including vogue, aerial circus, commercial work and more. She has worked alongside artists such as Christopher House, Peter Chin, Kent Monkman, Andrea Spaziani, Francesca Chudnoff, Annie MacDonnell, Tanya Lukin Linklater, 45 Degrees, Blank Canvas Collective, Hollywood Jade, Matthew ‘Snoopy Disney Lanvin’ Cuff, Dorian Electra and more. Danah continues to develop her artistic voice and is finding the potential meanings of being here and now through her work. www.instagram.com/rdanah
