Wonderful Honor Ahead

In October 2009 the Theater Academy in Helsinki, Finland, will confer on Deborah Hay an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Dance at the Doctoral Degrees Graduation Ceremony.

Up Until Now, premiere 1/29/09 Toronto Dance Theatre

photo:Christopher House and Deborah Hay
Christopher House, artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre commissioned a new work for his 11- member dance company. I will begin work with the company on January 5. The dance, titled Up Until Now, will premiere on January 29, 2009 at the Winchester Street Theatre in Toronto.

Up Until Now is based on material from I’ll Crane For You, the solo I taught at the 2008 Solo Performance Commissioning Project. The title I’ll Crane For You is the last line of a spontaneous song I sang and recorded in a field of snow in Stowe,VT , February 28, 2007.
“I think through far
I pray for you
I think for you
I’ll go and then I’ll crane for you “

During the 2008 SPCP I realized that “I’ll crane for you” is also a metaphor for the performer/audience relationship.

Christopher learned I’ll Crane For You at the 2008 SPCP so I asked him to teach his company the solo material, including the questions used to challenge the dancer’s attachment to known material. Because Christopher and I have worked together in an earlier SPCP, I felt confident in asking him to set the stage for my brief tenure with his company.