For You
For You is a 7-minute film created by dance artist Julia Aplin and filmmaker Kim Farris-Manning with senior dancers and the trees of Cedarvale Park in Toronto, Canada.
“For You is an embodied artistic exploration of relationships. In my work I am interested in exploring felt kinship with the more than human world, particularly trees, to move towards shifting our anthropocentric notions and build support for non-extractive paradigms. Trees are at the centre of my research and are sentient participants in the investigative process.” -Julia Aplin, Choreographer
For You was commissioned by MOonhORsE Dance Theatre. The process began as an online movement investigation for seniors participating in the Engaging Seniors in Dance program. For You was an opportunity to celebrate our emergence from social isolation. The film is a community exploration of moving in relation to other beings.
For You premiered online on March 4, 2022 as part of Moonhorse Dance Online Production Dances of Earthly Delights. It has since been screened in Vancouver at the Dance Studies Association Conference and in New Brunswick at the 2022 St John Contemporary Dance Festival.
Concept and choreography: Julia Aplin in collaboration with the following artists
Music: John Gzowski
Film Director/Editor: Kim Farris-Manning
Videographers: David Langer & Emma So
Photographer/Interviews: Laurie-Shawn Borzovoy
Senior movers- Suzanne Barnes, Peter Biessels, Mai Duong, Rebecca Heaslip, Barbara Johnson, Ron Johnson, Deb Moffett, Amy Norsworthy,
With professional dancers- Terrill Maguire and Troy Emery Twigg
And the Trees of Cedarvale Ravine
“A big thanks to everyone involved in the project. Dancing lifts our hearts!” – Claudia Moore former Artistic Director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre
For You was made possible with generous support of:
The Canada Council for the Arts
Ontario Arts Council
Toronto Arts Council
Department of Canadian Heritage
Choreographer, Julia Aplin
Julia is a freelance artist/educator based in Toronto/Tkaronto. She has performed and choreographed professionally for decades and is currently focused on her passion for environmental arts practices that foster relational paradigms of care. Julia has created dances for theatres, rivers, boxing rings, wading pools, cyberspace, neuroscience labs and forests. She works with a wide range of people from elite performers to beginners and has worked with organizations such as Canadian Opera Company, University of Toronto, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Moonhorse Dance Theatre, Dusk Dances and Triple C Community Dance. She is a consultant with PULSE research team for movement and aging at McMaster University. She was an artist in residence at the LIVElab facility for the scientific study of music, sound and movement in relation to human health. She is a member of the Wild Soma Collective for embodied world making. She also co-leads the Grove Collective a group of artists dedicated to creating arts-based relational experiences with trees. Julia holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from York University with a diploma in environmental education.
Film Maker, Kim Farris-Manning
A fun-loving queer arbor-artist based in Ottawa and Montreal, Kim Farris-Manning creates works across disciplines that engage with the performer and audience in unique ways. Allowing ideas to grow and change is a central facet of Kim’s work; pieces are often made in versions, through a process of experimentation and collaboration with others. Kim’s work has been experienced in performances worldwide led by organizations such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek, the Canadian Music Centre, Ostrava Days Festival, Continuum Contemporary Music, Quatuor Bozzini, and Organ Festival Canada. Kim is part of folk-indie duo YELLOW, and is a founding member of the Paramorph Collective.