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Allen Kaeja (born in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian film director and choreographer. He entered the field of dance after nine years of wrestling and judo, [1] and has created over 90 dance pieces since 1981 and choreographed 26 films. Kaeja is one of the co-artistic directors of Kaeja d'Dance, along with his wife Karen Kaeja [2] and has completed an MA dance degree at York University. He is co-founder of the CanAsian International Dance Festival.
Kaeja's dance film Of the Heart (2008) was co-directed with Douglas Rosenberg. [3] Allen and Karen Kaeja teach master classes in Kaeja Partnering and Dance Film. Allen teaches at the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre and Toronto Metropolitan University. [4] Express Dance, co-written by Allen and Karen, is used as a teacher resource for grades 4 to 12 dance curriculum in Ontario. [5] Kaeja has published his second book, entitled Transcending Media: Adapting the Dance Production Asylum of Spoons, from Stage to Film.
In 2011, Kaeja co-created the Porch View Dances series with Karen Kaeja and Kaeja d'Dance. [6] In 2019, in honour of the success of the series in Toronto's Seaton Village, the city of Toronto officially renamed a laneway in the neighbourhood "Porch View Dances Lane." [7]
Kaeja and Karen Kaeja teach master classes in Kaeja Partnering and Dance Film. Kaeja teaches at the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre and Toronto Metropolitan University. [8]
Express Dance, co-written by Allen and Karen, is used as a teacher resource for grades 4 to 12 dance curriculum in Ontario. [9] Kaeja has published his second book, entitled Transcending Media: Adapting the Dance Production Asylum of Spoons, from Stage to Film.
Kaeja's father, Morton Norris (born Mordechai Nosal), was a refugee and Holocaust survivor from Poland that emigrated to Canada. [10] Over the last 30 years, Kaeja produced 32 works inspired by the Holocaust. Select films from Kaeja's portfolio are a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art and the Jewish Museum (Manhattan), the Yad Vashem in Israel and the Canadian Museum of History. [11] During his career, Kaeja created over 210 dance pieces as well as directed and/or choreographed for 35 films. Kaeja's dance film Of the Heart (2008) was co-directed with Douglas Rosenberg.[5]
Kaeja also performed as Pushkin in Moze Mossanen’s Gemini-winning dance film Nureyev.
Throughout his career, Kaeja co-developed many site-specific and audience interactive engagement performances with Karen Kaeja. These include Porch View Dances (2012 - present), Downtown Dances (2016 – present, with Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada), Animating Historic Spaces – Montgomery’s Inn (2016 & 2014), Fools Paradise – Open Doors Ontario (2015), ROGUE show (2015), fFIDA 1991, fFIDA w CBC Toronto 1992 & 1993, Canada Dance Festival with CBC Ottawa (1996), and Savage Garden (1989). [12] [13] [14] [15]
Kaeja’s awards include the Kathryn Ash Award for Choreography, Clifford E. Lee, K.M. Hunter, and Paul D. Fleck Choreography Awards (Canada), the Bonnie Bird Award (UK), a UNESCO citation, and the Moving Picture Award for best performance (Canada). [16] In 2015, Allen was nominated for the: Ontario Arts Foundation Artist Educator Award; for “[exemplifying] excellence in arts education” and “[demonstrating] a unique approach to their arts education practice.” [17] In 2011, Kaeja co-created the Porch View Dances series with Karen Kaeja and Kaeja d'Dance.[6] In 2019, in honour of the success of the series in Toronto's Seaton Village, the city of Toronto officially renamed a laneway in the neighbourhood "Porch View Dances Lane."[11] Later that year, Allen and Karen received the Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award for their substantial contribution to the “development of dance in [Ontario].” [18]
Karen Alexandria Kain is a Canadian former ballet dancer and was the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 to 2021.
York University, also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and over 325,000 alumni worldwide. It has 11 faculties, including the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Faculty of Science, Lassonde School of Engineering, Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School, Glendon College, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, Faculty of Graduate Studies, School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, and 28 research centres.
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Karen Jane Allen is an American film and stage actress. She made her film debut in the comedy film Animal House (1978), which was soon followed by a small role in Woody Allen's romantic comedy-drama Manhattan (1979) and a co-lead role in Philip Kaufman's coming-of-age film The Wanderers (1979), before co-starring opposite Al Pacino in William Friedkin's crime thriller Cruising (1980).
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Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg is a Canadian educator and film consultant. She researches, writes and speaks on environmental health, equality, social justice, economic justice, environmental justice, peace, and energy issues.
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Karen Kaeja is a Canadian choreographer and dancer. She has been the co-artistic director of Kaeja d’Dance with her husband Allen Kaeja since 1990. In 2012, Kaeja conceived the community-based performance series Porch View Dances in Toronto's Seaton Village neighbourhood.
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