YYZ is pleased to present “Precarious Rest” film by David Norsworthy
A series of performances that took place September 26 and 27, 2020
Precarious Rest aims to re-choreograph my relationship with labour, pleasure and rest, without trying too hard. It is an ongoing practise of subverting the influence of capitalism and white supremacy on my body, an invitation towards generative paradox and delightful contradiction, and the name I’ve bestowed to the current phase of my lifelong dance with self-love. It blossomed out of an invitation from Ana Barajas at YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Tkarón:to/Toronto) to create a choreographic response in relation to Galia Eibenschutz’s video installation titled Observatorio. The Precarious Rest film, with videography and editing by Kendra Epik, is conjured from archival footage documenting the one-on-one work-in-progress performance experiments that took place September 26-27, 2020, and features a textile collaboration with Mairi Greig. The participants who ventured into the complexity of resting-while-being-filmed are Tanveer Alam, Zuri Skeete, and Ana Barajas.
I’m learning that my body (if I really listen) is my most profound teacher when it comes to learning how to rest restfully and access pleasing pleasure. I imagine that your body will share an abundance of knowledge with you too. However, if you’re 1. interested in deepening your embodied practise through intellectual ponderings, 2. curious to expand your understanding of the social and economic forces that create obstacles on this journey, or 3. desiring access to a more nuanced vocabulary for dialoguing about rest and pleasure with your family and friends… then perhaps you’ll enjoy exploring this page!
http://www.davidnorsworthy.
https://vimeo.com/557771389
Film available on the artist’s website until the end of July.
David Norsworthy is a Toronto-based dance artist who is “an exceptionally lucid performer, impressive and articulate” (The Globe and Mail). David has presented choreographic works at CanAsian KickStart (Toronto), Dixon Place (New York), Our Voices (Stockholm), OnSite/InSight (Winston Salem) and Kinetic Studio (Halifax) among other festivals and series. His recent choreographic project “Possibilities of Dialogue”, was co-produced by North York Arts with funding from the Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Commissions have included Lamondance (Vancouver), Point Park University (Pittsburgh) and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s HSPro (Chicago). David has performed and toured with Peggy Baker Dance Projects (Toronto), Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto), Dancenorth (Melbourne), ZviDance (New York), Brian Brooks (New York), Skånes Dansteater (Malmö) and Helena Franzén (Stockholm). Recent performances include the national tour of “who we are in the dark” by Peggy Baker with live music by Sarah Neufeld/Jeremy Gara of Arcade Fire, and the Merce Cunningham Centennial “Night of 100 Solos” at Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC. A graduate of The Juilliard School (New York), David is the grateful recipient of the Living Arts Centre’s 2016 Ron Lenyk Award and was one of three finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award. He is the Co-Director of TOES FOR DANCE, a non-profit organization that produces workshops and performances across Canada. www.davidnorsworthy.com