Our Work
Natasha O’Hara, Chrissy Baxter, Katelyn Collie, Sarah Lochhead, and Shelby Thoms of Simcoe Contemporary Dancers. (Photo by Mar Lewis).
Performance and Creation
SCD has a large repertoire of works created by some amazing artists who we have had the privilege of working with. These works can be remounted to be performed at a wide variety of events presented by SCD and other arts organizations.
We are also available to choreograph original works to be performed at your next event or create an original dance work that is totally unique to be performed by your dancers!
Email us at info@simcoecontemporarydancers.com to learn more!
Commission Choreography
We can create a unique choreography to fit your event to be performed by SCD dancers or set new choreography on your performers! From recital to dance competition to musical theatre, we can create something truly special for you and your students!
Community Workshops
We offer workshops at private studios, community centres, and more! Workshops can be taught for a variety of experience levels and ages. Workshop offerings include contemporary dance technique, choreography, choreographic mentorship, and dance improvisation.
In-School Workshops
We offer in-school workshops that can be taught for a variety of experience levels and ages. All of our education workshops are taught by SCD company members and are tailored to meet your curriculum and classroom goals identified upon booking! Contact us to learn more!
Repertoire
Tracing Orbits
Choreography by Chrissy Baxter, Jaqui Brown, and Shelby Thoms
30-Minute Ensemble
Video Credits:
Performed by: Breeanna Booth, Jaqui Brown, Kasandra Chiaromonte, Casey-Lee Cooper, Abby Mandar, Paul Moen Natasha O’Hara, Sydney Whittaker, Eligh Zimmerman
Music: Original Score composed by Brendan Graham
Filming and Editing by Northern Palm Canada
Tracing Orbits is an exploration of physical proximity in space, physical touch, shapes made through physical connection, and movement pathways that fall together and apart creating intersecting orbits and pathways.
This work was originally developed through an in-depth creation process with dramaturgical support provided by Kate Hilliard in June 2022. From there, over the course of eight months, the choreographers and performers continued to work to develop this piece into a swirling galaxy.
The original musical composition was created by Brendan Graham in response to the movement the dancers and choreographers generated. Using a variety of sounds and instrumentation, Brendan created a beautiful musical world that supports the movement perfectly.
This piece was made possible with support from Experience Simcoe County and The City of Barrie.
Garden Follies
Process Facilitated by Jaqui Brown
10-Minute Trio
Video Credits:
Performed by: Chrissy Baxter, Magdalena Hodgins, and Wendy Hutchinson
Music: Music mixed by Jaqui Brown. Blackbird Singing by Sounds on Earth, Walk But In A Garden by LLusion, Sugar Craft by Medeski, Martin & Wood, Four Walls And An Amplifier by Brock Berrigan, Thunder Chicken by The Mighty Imperials, Hypocrite by Antibalas.
Filming and Editing by Northern Palm Canada.
Garden Follies is a community-engaged creation inspired by the exhibition Garden Follies, a selection of works by the Barrie Art Club which at the MacLaren Art Centre. The exhibition illustrated contemporary considerations of gardens, landscapes, horticultural practices, and the impacts of the human desire to exert control over our natural environment. Taken together, the works ask us to reflect on our personal and collective relationships to the land that sustains us.
Working collaboratively, the community movers and members of SCD viewed the artwork included in the Garden Follies exhibit and identified key aspects of the artwork that inspired them including theme, colour, and shape. Through guided improvisation the movers created their own phrases in response to the artwork and then worked together to build the choreography.
This piece was made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts in partnership with the MacLaren Art Centre.
Cumulonimbus & The Fable Keepers
Choreography by Susan Kendal
45-Minute Evening-length Ensemble
Video Credits:
Performed by: Sarah Lochhead, Jaqui Brown, Shelby Thoms, Chrissy Baxter, Ulana Fordham, Eliza Pinney, Carly Manuel, Jewell Cormier, Karolyn Owens, and Natasha O’Hara
Music: We Move Lightly – Dustin O’Halloran
Filming and Editing by Jon Lewis
Cumulonimbus and the Fable Keepers is a full-length production originally performed in Simcoe Contemporary Dancers 2015/16 season.
Kendal has created a magical visceral word that exists above the clouds – somewhere between the stratosphere and the stars – where the Fable Keepers dwell. These timeless beings, librarians of human fables, parables, and fairy tales, are charged with gathering and holding the threads of instructive stories that weave to pass on wisdom, morality, caution and common sense. Themes of love, loyalty, loss, caution, choice, consequence, and courage are explored through an ever-evolving pallet of garments and gestures, worn and exchanged throughout the work.
The choreography and costuming mimic the movements of clouds, air, and the stories we remember, create, adapt and transmit. Themes of love, loyalty, loss, caution, choice, consequence and courage are explored.
Penumbra
Choreography by Susan Kendal
9-Minute Ensemble or 6-Minute Excerpt
penumbra |pe’nəmbrə| noun ( pl. -brae |-brē; -brī| -bras )
The partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object.
This work explores edges, sensing more than knowing. The dark shadow of the moon, an impending storm, that hung that someone or something is out of joint.
*This piece was made possible with the support of The City of Barrie.
En Er Gy
Choreography by Aliyah Beckles
4-Minute Solo
Video Credits:
Performed by: Jaqui Brown
Music: Komorebi Pt. 5” – Library Tapes and Julia Kent
Video by Chrissy Baxter
Editing by Derek Breedon
This solo is an exploration of the origins of energy throughout the body.
This choreography aims to be an honest investigation about energy flowing into, through, and out of the artist’s vessel.
In the Time Before the Immediate Present and the Time Immediately to Follow
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
Collaborators: Jaqui Brown, Casey-lee Cooper, Carly Manuel, Ulana Romanish, Eligh Zimmerman, and Jesse McRogers
8-Minute Quintet
In an effort to explore both decision fatigue of contemporary society and authorship in contemporary dance practice, this collaborative choreography involved using randomly generated movement phrases written in the python programming language and breaking down each element of dance (time, space, body, effort). The remixed sound samples were structured and recorded using a 360 radar to detect the areas of the performance space activated by the performers.
Moirai
Choreography by Shelby Thoms
6-Minute Quartet and 2-Minute Solo
Video Credits:
Performed by: Ulana Fordham, Nicole Becher, Natasha O’Hara, and Breeanna Booth
Music: We Insist – Zoe Keating
Video by Max Lupo
Moirai explores death, life and the string that ties them together, fate. This piece explores aspects of the Greek and Roman mythology of the Fates in modern times. The fates, three sisters, are said to be the creator, preserver, and destroyer of a person’s life. Here we see them hard at work.
Strange Oasis
Choreography by Nancy Pottage
8-Minute Quintet
Strange Oasis was developed and shown as a work in progress at Art Ce Soir 2012 with input from the public on the topic of lack of sleep.
Tainted Love
Choreography by Trish Armstrong
3-Minute Solo
Video Credits:
Performed by Breeanna Booth
Music: Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Video by Chrissy Baxter
Editing by Derek Breedon
This work premiered at Woven – SCD’s first ever full-length performance at the Dorian Parker Centre in 2010!
Obelisk
Choreography by Jaqui Brown
8-Minute Quartet
Video Credits:
Performed by Carly Manuel, Casey-Lee Cooper, Kasandra Chiaromonte, and Shelby Thoms
Music: Hymn – Rhye
Video by Max Lupo
This work experiments with weight distribution and energetic pulls through isolated body parts. Themes of repetition, opposition, and release are explored.
Slingshot Gaze
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Sextet
This work is an investigation of the legends, lore and personal reactions to viewing Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of David.
Drop
Choreography by Jewell Cormier
4-Minute Quartet
Video Credits:
Performers: Chrissy Baxter, Jaqui Brown, Breeanna Booth, and Shelby Thoms
Music: Realiti – Grimes
Video by Max Lupo
Inspired almost entirely by shape, Drop explores the edges and points of a triangle in contrast to the roundness and smoothness of a circle.
The merging of these two figures almost creates the outline of a teardrop, which is represented by energetic unison and partner work.
Aneurysm
Choreography by Trish Armstrong
5-Minute Solo
Video Credits:
Performed by Eligh Zimmerman
Music: Aneurysm – Nirvana
Video by Shelby Thoms
Editing by Derek Breedon
This work premiered as part of Woven – SCD’s first ever full-length performance at the Dorian Parker Centre in 2010!
Poet
Choreography by Nancy Pottage
4-Minute Ensemble
“To read and write poetry, it is necessary to maintain a state of disobedience against…everything.” – Alice Notely
The music is based on a section from Alice Notely’s Poem In the Pines. It explores that feeling when wea re creating or watching art, where we swing back and forth between listening, and telling, time is both urgent and standing still and we are caught unawares by what is within us, what is before us, what is beneath our feet.
Momentum
Choreography by Nicole Becher
4-Minute Quintet
Video Credits:
Performed by Casey-Lee Cooper, Kasandra Chiaromonte, Natasha O’Hara, Jaqui Brown, and Carly Manuel
Music: You are a memory – Message to Bears
Video by Max Lupo
This piece explores the movement of rushing through everyday life to slowly calming into a state of peace and tranquility. – NB
*This piece was made possible with the support of the City of Barrie and Barrie School of Dance.
Already Seen
Choreography by Chrissy Baxter and Natasha O’Hara
4-Minute Duet
“Already Seen” was created from a structured improvisation focusing on how space, costume, and focus change movement. The dancers explore the space and each other with movements that are repeated but completely changed with every new touch.
*This piece originated from a workshop facilitated by Kate Hilliard in the Spring of 2015.
Dactyl
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Trio
Video Credits:
Performed by: Chrissy Baxter, Shelby Thoms, and Jaqui Brown
Music: Bach: Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, Bourrée I and II
Video by the performers
Editing by Max Lupo with Sarah Lochhead
The music and dance of a Bourree match that of the poetic meter often found in Greek and Latin poetic verse called Dactyl – a long syllable followed by two short syllables. This piece was created with this pattern in mind.
Array
Process Facilitated by Sarah Lochhead
Collaborators: Chiara Bitonti, Natasha O’Hara, Amy Eakin, Wendy Hutchinson, Tynesha Jones, Sarah Kennedy, Eliza Pinney, Danielle Rogers, Ruby Wessenger, Celina Whittaker, Kira Whittaker, Sydney Whittaker, Rachel Whittaker, Chrissy Baxter, Tanya Farooq, Zara Farooq, and Eligh Zimmerman
8-Minute Ensemble
Inspired by the unique composition of our cast, Array explores a kaleidoscope-like structure where each part contributes to the fullness of the whole image.
Betty's Bench
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
3-Minute Solo, Duet, or Quartet
A montage of one woman’s life of laughter, love, loss and lessons learned. Inspired by a bench in Victoria BC, marked “Betty’s Bench” in red label tape.
*This piece was made possible with the support of The City of Barrie
Carol of the Bells
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
3-Minute Quartet
Carol of the Bells is a classic holiday favourite!
Crazy
Choreography by Trish Armstrong
3-Minute Solo
This work premiered as part of Woven – SCD’s very first full-length performance at the Dorian Parker Centre in 2010!
Gem Trolls
Choreography by Alyssa Martin
Collaborators: Jaqui Brown, Eligh Zimmerman, Casey-Lee Cooper, Lexi Cooper, Maddie Foley, Kylie Egas, Cailyn Fournier, and Marisa Carvalheiro
8-Minute Trio
The world of the Gem Trolls comes to life with all their tarp, glitter, tongs, and duck feet glory! This work has a kind of narrative that developed throughout the community-engaged creation period on how the movements could create a story and/or maybe the story was just what the dancers were telling themselves.
*This piece was made possible with support from Ontario Presents.
Reversible Steps for Four
Choreography by Mairead Filgate
8-Minute Quartet
Slipping in and out of recognizable patterns of order, this quartet propels through space, attempting to maintain precision and harmony: with sound, space and one another, despite the ruptures.
* This piece was made possible with the support of the City of Barrie and InHarmony Dance and Wellness.
It Goes Without Me
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
10-Minute Trio
“Visible and mobile, my body is a thing among things, it’s caught in the fabric of the world, and its cohesion is that of a thing. But, because it moves itself and sees, it holds things in a circle around itself.”
– Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Pressure
Choreography by Aliyah Beckles
6-Minute Trio
To me, this piece represents the struggle to overcome the pressure that is put on us all to be like everyone else rather than an individual. – AG
*The original movement material was co-choreographed with Olivia Lyle as part of SCD’s My Moves Choreographic Intensive 2011.
Plaid
Choreography by Meaghan Giusti
9-Minute Ensemble and 3 minute Excerpt
Plaid unravels the choreographer’s personal journey that was intrinsically affected by their Scottish roots and lavish environment of the Scottish Highlands. Inspired by Giusti’s journey through Scotland where she felt an instant connection to the land and her ancestors
Sea Anemone
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Ensemble
Water undulates over their bodies. Fixed in place. Are they stuck or finding or a stable place to call home? Perhaps humans and Sea Anemones have much in common – uprooting when conditions are not ideal and seeking a place to settle down and be at peace.
*This piece was made possible with the support of The City of Barrie
Seedlings
Choreography by Shelby Thoms
Collaborators: Natasha Booth, Lexi Cooper, Anika Dowell, Amy Eakin, Lauren Engel, Donna Greatrix, Wendy Hutchinson, Amber Kaufman, Sarah Kennedy, Jenny Keresztesi, Lauren Kitsemetry, Melissa Laverdiere, Elisha Litman, Candace Semesch Padley, Eliza Pinney, Ulana Romanishm Rachael Shackleton, Joslyn Shackleton, Ruby Wessenger, Brooklynn Yuill, and Sydney Whittaker
10-Minute Ensemble
Seedlings explore the ideas of growth, planting, and cultivating from the earth through the process of growing and planting ideas in one another.
See you in the Darkness
Choreography by Ulana Romanish and Karolyn Owens
4-Minute Duet
This piece has evolved to explore depth of relationship and environment, debuted at Voice – a Winterfest Performance, we found two travellers crossing paths. The piece has now evolved in this latest version to a darker more mischievous setting. The piece now explores the impact of a change in setting and how this informs the intention of movement.
*Formerly Gare de Lyon – this piece originated from a workshop facilitated by Kate Hilliard in the Spring of 2015.
Seeing Double
Choreography by Eliza Pinney
4-Minute Duet
This piece is an exploration of timing and an attempt at drawing attention to the head and hands. IT is a play on slow movements and stillness as opposed to lots of quick turns and jumps. It is called seeing double because the timing differences are a very subtle almost like putting 3D glasses without watching a 3D movie.
*This piece was made possible with the support of the City of Barrie and The Barrie School of Dance.
Skyfall
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
Collaborators: Carly Manuel, Ulana Romanish, Chrissy Baxter, and Eliza Pinney
5-Minute Quartet
This piece was originally commissioned by BRAVADO! Show Choir as a part of their Cool Britannia show. The piece explores the classic shapes of James Bond.
Swim Girl Swim
Choreography by Jess Dell
3-Minute Duet
This piece was created for The Scandelles production of Who’s Your Dada? 2006. Created mainly for comic relief, this work is an exploration of the specific movement vocabulary usually seen in the water by synchronized swimmers.
This work premiered with SCD in 2009 at Swimmers for Rhythm, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON
Sleigh Ride
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Quintet
This fun is a fun winter classic exploring what it would be like to walk home in the snow after celebrating at a winter party!
Pavane for a Dead River (Valse Triste)
Choreography by Trish Armstrong
4-Minute Solo
This piece premiered in 2000 at PEI’s Confederation Centre. It was created to address the rivers that had been declared void of any living thing due to pesticide run off. It later evolved into a solo for a bride using the same metaphors for loss. – TA
A Little Faster, Here We Go!
Choreography by Chrissy Baxter and Shelby Thoms
Collaborators: Serenity Angel, Casey-Lee Cooper, Lexi Cooper, Cailyn Fournier, Holly Goulding, Madelyn Grewal, Wendy Hutchinson, Emma Kennedy, Sarah Kennedy, Jenny Keresztesi, Eliza Pinney, Ruby Wessenger, Sydney Whittaker, Jaqui Brown, and Eligh Zimmerman
10-Minute Ensemble
A Little Faster, Here We Go explores ideas of community, play and excitement. Together we explore what it means and feels like to grow closer as a community through movement and play.
*This piece was made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council*
Untied
Choreography by Eligh Zimmerman
4-Minute Trio
This work shows how someone can conquer something and is an exploration of how any barrier can be overcome.
*This piece was made possible with the support of the City of Barrie and InHarmony Dance and Wellness.
River
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Solo
River is an SCD Holiday favourite!
Stay the Course
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
6-Minute Solo
An exploration of the inner landscape of choices, conflicts and perceived resolutions. Between where we are and where we are going, there is an inevitable push and pull.
*This piece was developed with the support of Series 8:08 Choreographic Performance Workshop
Winter Wonderland
Choreography by Aliyah Beckles
3-Minute Duet
A holiday classic exploring the excitement of waking up and seeing it’s snowed!
Disassembling Disregard
Choreography by Chrissy Baxter
5-Minute Quintet
This work explores the connection between movement and music. The main movement phrase of this work was created during our open class on Tuesday nights in the Spring of 2016.
Chrissy was exploring how to create movement as she felt it was directed by the music. A narrative was then developed with the dancers exploring how to come together as a group to make themselves seen and heard. This piece was shown as a work-in-progress at the MacLaren Arts Centre in September 2016 and premiered in February 2017.
Cappuccino
Choreography by Jess Ransom, Music by Jamieson Bruce
9-Minute Duet
The dark espresso sits alone in a cup, content in its being. The foamed milk flows in the cup, opening up a world of possibilities. Together, they become something else: Cappuccino.
*This work was made possible by the support of the City of Barrie. Developed in part through the Series 8:08 Choreographic Performance Workshop.
Cold Happenings
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
Collaborators: Sarah Kennedy, Aliyah Beckles, and Eligh Zimmerman
4-Minute Trio
A trio exploring ideas of coldness and the formulations of snowflakes. The three dancers move through formations similar to movements of snowflakes within a winter storm. Cold Happenings was created collaboratively and is reflected in the unique movements found within the piece
Wound About
Choreography by Janine Saarinen
5-Minute Trio
A whimsical piece where Professor Winklebottom showcases his Automatons; Sabrina the ballerina, Thomas the toy soldier and Snuggles the clown.
Serendipity
Choreography by Hayley Hamlin
3-Minute Quintet
Everyone falls in love at some point in their life, but it is the smaller things that add up to something big. This piece is all about happiness, support, and finding those moments in your life that you didn’t even know mean that much until it was all over. IT is about putting someone else before you, and the non-materialistic things in life that mater most, the moments we can never get back.
*This piece was made possible with the support of the City of Barrie and The Barrie School of Dance.
What's the Rush?
Improvisation Score directed by Sarah Lochhead
5-Minute Structured Improvisation for 3-5 dancers
A structured improvisation based on the dichotomy between fast-paced productivity and the appreciation of process.
*This piece was made possible with the support of The City of Barrie
Loss
Choreography by Nikki Russeull
10-Minute Quartet
Although individually we all experience loss in different ways, we are connected through common areas of grief.
*This piece was developed with the support of Series 8:08 Choreographic Performance Workshop
The Littlest Sugar Plum
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
3-Minute Solo
A comical tale of a Sugar Plum Fairy in training who gets more than she bargains for while guarding the coveted Sugar Plum wand.
Under Pressure
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Ensemble
A site-specific piece created for International Dance Day, 2011 performed with the live guitar accompaniment of singer/songwriter Eric McCauley.
Threnody
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
3-Minute Solo
Video Credits:
Performed by Eliza Pinney
Music: Bach: Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major
Video by the performer
Editing by Max Lupo with Sarah Lochhead
Thren-o-dy n.pl. thren-o-dies – a poem or song of mourning or lamentation.
“Just over a year ago I lost a dear friend to their ongoing battle with depression. Choreographing this piece was invaluable to my healing process. – SL”
Peel Me A Grape
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
3-Minute Solo or Qunitet
This work premiered on June 6, 2011 at Celebrate Barrie at Centennial Park in Barrie.
Four Stories
Choreography by Sarah Kennedy
4-Minute Quartet
This piece explores how everyone has their own story whether we know it or acknowledge it. It also explores how we can unknowingly have an effect, good or bad, on others.
Brahms Zigeunerlieder
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Solo or Trio
Video Credits:
Performed by Sydney Whittaker
Music: OP. 103: No. 8. Horch, Der Wind Klagt In Den Zweigen
Video by Shelby Thoms
Editing by Derek Breedon
This work was commissioned by King Edward Choir in 2016.
The Unexpected
Choreography by Casey-Lee Cooper
4-Minute Quartet
Video Credits:
Performed by Chrissy Baxter and Breeanna Booth Music: Easy – Son Lux
Video by the performers
Editing by Max Lupo
This piece explores how people deal with unexpected changes in different ways and how they all find new ways of doing things when they have to.
Grinch
Choreography by Sarah Lochhead
4-Minute Quartet
A fun holiday inspired piece that was created based on movement material from our open drop-in classes.
Rock Paper Scissors
Choreography by Jaqui Brown
Collaborators: Morgan Ferhman, Kasandra Chiaromonte, Casey-Lee Cooper, Kaelyn Kitagawa, Lorelei Gordon, Chrissy Baxter, and Mikayla Peck
6-Minute Quintet
This piece brings together elements of improvisation, play, and friendship. The performers come to life and explore a variety of movement patterns inspired by the beloved children’s game, Rock Paper Scissors. Throughout the work the dancers come together to share movement and in the end realize they’re all playing the game together.
*This piece was made possible with support of a City of Barrie project grant and In Harmony Dance and Wellness.