Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home

Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home was a series of dance performances in Toronto and Vancouver in September 2021, with artists Josh Ongcol, Harmanie Rose, Sarah Wong and Marisa Gold in Vancouver and b solomon, Amelia Ehrhardt, jes sachse and Danah Rosales in Toronto.

Over the course of several weeks in Toronto and Vancouver, the dancers each performed a solo piece, considering ideas of home and its connections to the body, transiency, and the other. Each dancer also responded in an improvisational style to another dancer’s solo piece. The works aim to resonate with the social and economic conditions attributed to the global pandemic, as well as localized concerns around housing and accessibility within Toronto and Vancouver. Through movement, The project seeks to illuminate an interconnected consciousness of what it means to occupy space, form, and time, and to inspire a broad, inclusive, and generous understanding of ‘home’.

Below are recordings of each performance which are accompanied by a dance description to specifically increase access to the blind and low vision community.

Listening/ Viewing Instructions: All videos have audio recordings of dance descriptions added. For Toronto performances below on the right hand column are the solo performances and left hand column are the response to the solo. Vancouver performances each recording contains the solo and the response performances. Videos can be viewed in full screen by clicking the expand button beside the Vimeo logo in the bottom left corner.

Toronto Performances

videography by Lucia Linares and Alex Townson, photography by Yuula Benivolski

Vancouver Performances

videography by Lauren Marsden, photography by André Costa

Toronto Artists

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

Vancouver Artists

Josh Ongcol is a Dubai born, Queer, Filipinx artist that is currently a settler on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. Josh emerged in dance through the streetdance community when he battled in the first Vancouver street dance festival in 2011. From there he steeped himself in street dance culture including Locking, Popping House, Hip hop, Vogue, Whacking from local and international teaches; Jerry Chien, Koffi Noumedor, Ralph Escamillan, Nubian NeNe, Leah McFly, Natasha Gorie, Rina Palerina, Anna Martynova, and Kim Sato. While he was involved in the streetdance community he explored Contemporary dance from Tiffany Tegarthen, David Raymond, 605 collective, Sufeh lee, Kevin Fraser, Peter Bingham, Justine Chambers, Delia Brett and Deanna Peters through the pre professional dance training program Modus Operandi and informal ways of exchanging. As an artist, I am interested in the ways tenderness manifests in my body, and its receptivity to deep connection, wisdom, and transformation regardless of the medium. With this, I hope to unravel the narrative of being a part of the Filipnx diaspora; specifically of intergenerational exchange, lineage of resilience, concept of “home” and “KAPWA”, queerness and reclaiming spirituality. Currently he is working on his work called LAKBAY in collaboration with musician Miguel Maravila.

Harmanie Rose is a disabled dancemaker, facilitator, and performer who lives and works on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish people. Harmanie is investigating ways for care and inclusivity to inform and influence artistic choices. She is a founding member of iDance Edmonton (CRiPSIE) and All Bodies Dance Project (Vancouver). Her choreographic work has been presented by Vines Art Festival (Vancouver), and All Bodies Dance Project. She’s been a part of numerous dance on film projects as a choreographer, performer, and collaborator including Sanctuary (a collaboration with Rianne Svelnis and Martin Bordan, 2019), Inclinations (created by Alice Sheppard, 2019) Virtual-os-city (a collaboration with Kelsie Acton, 2021), Parts of Me and Ho.Me (Carolina Bergonzoni, 2019). She has trained with Donna Redlick (Soma Dance), All Bodies Dance, Propeller Dance, CandoCo, and Axis Dance Company. In 2018 she attended UCLA’s inaugural Dancing Disability Lab where she contributed to research and discussion around the scope of Critical Disability Studies, choreography, and the emergent practices of inclusive dance. She has danced in works by Naomi Brand, Carolina Bergonzoni, Rianne Svelnis, Alice Sheppard, Kelsie Acton, and Lindsey Eales.

Sarah Wong is an emerging dance artist, choreographer, and writer based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her work emerges from her lived experience as a queer, second-generation Chinese-Canadian woman, focusing on archival processes and accessing embodied generational knowledge. Her works have taken the form of score-based improvisational performances, ritual-based research, site-specific installation, poetry and multimedia zines. Her work has been presented in Vancouver by Number 3 Gallery, New Works, IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival, Vines Art Festival, and Boombox, and internationally at Mosaico Danza Interplay Festival (Turin, IT).

Marisa Gold is an empathetic multidisciplinary artist with a passion for all things soulful. With a BFA in dance (SFU), certificate of completion from The Ailey school Independent Study program (NYC), and The Graham school 2017/18 Intensive(NYC), Marisa has trained in a wide variety of Modern/Contemporary dance styles. Her professional experience ranges from modern/contemporary concert dance to experimental street style performance, and musical theatre productions to film/TV work. Marisa's artistic influences are deeply rooted in the heart space of her ancestors. As a writer, mover, designer and performer, Marisa continues her poetic wandering; delving further with love into the mystery of our collective humanity.