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Denise
Fujiwara She is a
choreographer, dancer, actor, dance impresario and teacher with
over 28 years of professional experience. She began her interesting
career in childhood as a gymnast when she competed internationally
for the Canadian Modern Gymnastics team. Upon completing an honours
bachelor's Fine Arts degree in Dance at York University, she
became one of the founders of T.I.D.E. (Toronto Independent Dance
Enterprise), the now-defunct but still notorious company that
danced across Canada for 10 years.
In 1991, Denise formed her
own company, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, to house the development
of her exquisite solo concerts. Sumida River, a haunting Butoh
work created especially for her by acclaimed choreographer Natsu
Nakajima, has been featured in dance festivals across Canada
and in Seattle, Washington D.C., Copenhagen, Ecuador and India.
It was named the Best Dance Performance of 2000 by Toronto NOW
Magazine. Elle Laments, her fourth concert of site-specific solo
dances, was a highlight of festivals across Canada including
the Canada Dance Festival in 1998-1999. Her fifth solo concert,
Brief Incarnations, featured works by the remarkable choreographers
Peter Chin and Tedd Robinson, as well as her own work. It received
two Dora Award nominations. Komachi, by Tokyo Butoh luminary
Yukio Waguri, has toured to Ecuador and Vancouver. Denise returned
to ensemble choreography with Conference of the Birds, which
was called "…the best thing to premiere at the (fFIDA*)
festival in many a year" by the Toronto Star.
In
addition to her career as a dance artist, Denise works in film
and television. "Walls", a CBC Television documentary
about her life and work by celebrated filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa,
won the 1995 Gemini Award for Best Performing Arts Program. In
1997, Denise co-founded the CanAsian Dance Festival where she
is the Artistic Director.
Fujiwara's approaches to the
disciplines of dance technique, improvisation, performance and
choreography have developed over 29 years of intensive research,
practice and performance. She is grateful to her remarkable mentors
and teachers including Tokyo Butoh master Natsu Nakajima, Montréal
dance master Elizabeth Langley, the now disbanded Mangrove Dance
Collective of San Francisco, American theatre director Anne Bogart,
and the late choreographer Judy Jarvis.
* fFIDA is the fringe Festival
of Independent Dance Artists, held each August in Toronto
Fujiwara Dance Inventions
Fujiwara Dance Inventions is
a repertory dance company devoted to the creation, production,
and touring of dance works and concerts. It conducts activities
for the professional development of the Company and the dance
community, and promotes an appreciation for the art of dance
to the general public.
Started in 1990 to house Denise
Fujiwara's endeavours as a solo choreographer and performer,
it has facilitated the creation of new work, commissioned and
acquired work. It has seen the creation of five solo concerts
most of which have toured broadly to good critical notices. The
company's touring has expanded to international festivals and
the repertoire is expanding to include ensemble works.
History
1990
| Foundation of Fujiwara Dance Inventions, touring of first solo
concert
1993 | Premiere of second solo concert, Vanishing Acts at the
duMaurier Theatre Centre, Toronto
1994 | Creation of Sumida River by Natsu Nakajima. Premiere at
the Canada Dance Festival
1995 | National Tour of Vanishing Acts
1997 | Premiere of fourth concert of solos, Elle Laments at Harbourfront
Theatre, Toronto
1998 | Site-specific version of Elle Laments at the Canada Dance
Festival, Vancouver's Dancing on the Edge, St John's Summer Fest
in Newfoundland and in Buffalo, New York
2000-2002 | Sumida River to Vancouver International Dance Festival,
Seattle Butoh Festival, Toronto Season, Halifax LiveArts, Cleveland
Public Theatre
2002 | Fifth solo concert, Brief Incarnations, presented by DanceWorks
at du Maurier Theatre Centre, Toronto; Re-work of Sumida River
with Natsu Nakajima
2003 | European premiere of Sumida River at Traces post-Butoh
Festival, Copenhagen
2004 | Sumida River presented at the High Performance Rodeo,
Festival International de Danza, Quito, Ecuador; The Other Festival,
Chennai, India; Premiere of Conference of the Birds at fFIDA,
the fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists, Toronto
2005 | Komachi by Yukio Waguri premiered at the Betty Oliphant
Theatre, Toronto; Teaching residency, Festival de Danza Contemporanea,
Bogotá, Colombia
2006 | Komachi performed at Festival Internacional de Danza in
Quito, Ecuador and Vancouver International Dance Festival; Conference
of the Birds tour to Peterborough New Dance and Canada Dance
Festival
2007 | NO EXIT commissioned for DanceWorks 30th anniversary at
the Enwave Theatre, Toronto; Conference of the Birds and Water
presented at the Dancing on the Edge Festival in Vancouver; Sumida
River performed in Bogotá and Manizales, Colombia; and
at the New York Butoh Festival
2008 | Sumida River performed at the Festival of Dance and Anthropology
in Krakow, Poland; CanAsian International Dance Festival in Toronto;
and in San Jose, Costa Rica; NO EXIT performed at Festival of
New Dance in St. John's, Newfoundland
website: www.fujiwaradance.com
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