refracting giants

A co-devised physical theatre performance
Curated by Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis
Created by the Praxis Of Possibility creative team & cast
October 5 & 6 at 7:00 p.m. and October 7 at 3:00 p.m.
Pay-What-You-Can Tickets ($10 to $45)
Show duration: 60 minutes Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street, Toronto, ON, M4X 1B2 (VIEW MAP)

Accessibility Info: All performances include ASL interpretation. Unfortunately the Winchester Street Theatre is not currently wheelchair accessible. Full accessibility details: https://tdt.org/your-visit/accessibility/

BUY TICKETS

As a culmination of Leelee’s expressive residency at TDT, this 3-day only run is inspired by the creative exchanges and discoveries that were cultivated from Leelee’s research with the TDT ensemble last season, and a curated group of artists that Leelee began working with in 2021’s Praxis Of Possibility micro-residency.

Creative team and cast: isi bhakhomen, Jordan Campbell (aka STARLIGHT), brawk hessel, Anna Malla, and Merlin Simard

Artistic Support: Johnny Forever Nawracaj

Interpreters: Rogue Benjamin, Amanda Hyde, Jo-Ann Martin

Presented in partnership with TDT

Ticket Options

TDT believes that cost should not be a barrier to experiencing live performance and is offering tickets on a sliding scale model for this season. Ranging from $10 to $45, audiences are invited to select whichever ticket price option that works best for them.

The $45 ticket tier helps subsidize tickets for fellow audience members who may find cost a barrier, and we appreciate the support in making live performances accessible for everyone. If the lower ticket tiers remain to be a barrier to attending the show, please contact info@tdt.org.

Special Effects Advisory

Please be advised that bright lights and reflective surfaces are being used during the performances.

Post-Show Talkback

For the final performance on Saturday October 7, there will be a post-show talkback with the artists. Stay after the show if you would like to learn more about the creation of the work and ask any questions you may have!

About the Curator

Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis during Banff Center Performing Arts Residency (2019). Photo by Jessica Whittman.

Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis

Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis’ practice is rooted in the foundations of contemporary dance and intermedia creation methodologies. As a disabled, transgenderqueer artist of Nigerian/French/Algonquin descent, working in decolonial frameworks is central to their research and creations. Being from Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Leelee has had the opportunity to train and work professionally across Turtle Island. Their artistic goals are to merge performance and life, stage and experience, building a bridge to revealing the human condition. They can most commonly be found, producing their own work as a solo artist, however often collaborate across milieus. Leelee has had the profound pleasure of collaborating with artists and interpreting for choreographers such as Jolene Bailie, Dayna Danger, Raven Davis, Jesse Dell, Yannick Desranleau, Vanessa Dunn, Audrey Dwyer, Reginald Edmund, Johnny Forever, Gambletron, Chloe Lum, Ryan MacNamara, Kate Nankervis, Alexandra Tigchelaar on works for theatre, film, and stage. Eko Davis also works as a program designer, facilitator, and consultant in the field of Social Innovation and Adaptive Change and is a Co-Artistic Director at the Toronto Dance Community Love-In.

www.leeleedavis.com
Instagram: @leeleeoluwatoyosi

About the Creative Team & Cast

isi bhakhomen

isi bhakhomen (they/them) is a storyteller of Afro-Peruvian and Nigerian decent. As a performer, they have worked with countless institutions. But their favourite performance, by far, is whenever they get the chance to sing karaoke with their mom. Speechless by Lady Gaga is a crowd favourite.

Photo by Tyler J Sloane

Jordan Campbell (aka STARLIGHT)

STARLIGHT is a cosmic faerie club kid witch from beyond. You might know her party WISHING WELL, or her band Magic Chicks!, or her silent disco drag show in the park, PARTYPEOPLE. This queer performance artist, also known as Jordan Campbell, or half of xLq, creates disability-centred/neurodiverse theatre. POP!

Photo by Vance Hedman

brawk hessel

brawk hessel is a white settler and a genderqueer fag who uses they/them pronouns. They are proudly Mad, neurodiverse, and sober. Their work has been featured at Video Fag, the AGO, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Glad Day Bookshop, and the Buzzcut Festival. They are also a collective member of the community arts space, Unit 2, as well as the Bricks and Glitter Festival.

Photo by Manuela Batshmann Bernasconi

Anna Malla

Anna Malla is a community organizer, facilitator, student of somatics, and performing artist. In her mixed media storytelling practice, she works with textiles, improvised and impulse-based movement, durational installations, and live soundscaping, focusing on the body as a site of knowledge, disaster, violence, resistance, resolution, possibility, and freedom.

Photo by Binks Headshots

Merlin Simard

Merlin Simard (she/they/iel/elle) is a performer, playwright, dramaturge, and screenwriter originally from Tio’tiá:ke/Mooniyang (Montréal), now based in Tsí Tkarón:to (Toronto). As a performer, Merlin has worked with Factory Theatre, Stratford, Crow’s, Outside The March, Buddies In Bad Times, Talk is Free, and many more. Merlin is currently developing several projects spanning across theatre, TV, and VR in both English and French. <3 @hussy4hussy | merlinsimard.com

Johnny Forever Nawracaj

Artistic Associate

Johnny Forever Nawracaj (they/them) is a nonbinary Polish-born performance and media artist currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Drawing on personal experiences of labour and loss, their practice builds metaphors around the precarity of social structures. Combining queer femme tropes with construction materials, their most recent work explores the relationship between the labouring body and the built environment.

Production Credits

Curator, Producer, Choreographer, and Director: Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis

Creative Team and Cast: isi bhakhomen, Jordan Campbell (aka STARLIGHT), brawk hessel, Anna Malla, and Merlin Simard

Artistic Support: Johnny Forever Nawracaj

Interpreters: Rogue Benjamin and Jo-Ann Martin

Production Manager & Stage Manager: Aden Altamirano

Lighting Designer: Emerson Kafarowski

Technical Director: Jasper Jacobs

Vocal Mentor & Pedagogue – Fides Krucker

Sound Editing – Gambletron

refracting giants is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.