Ephemeral Artifacts: Travis Knights – May 12-14, 2022 LiveEvents May 5, 2022 1322 ĀNANDAṀ Dancetheatre presents Ephemeral Artifacts: Travis Knights Confronting the idea that dance is inherently ephemeral, this work investigates the processes that give it tangibility: time, practice, and attention. At its heart, the piece examines the dancing body as a container of embodied knowledge, a site of transmission over time. Ephemeral Artifacts is a repertoire work of ĀNANDAṀ existing in multiple variations with diverse casts of artists. This edition features tap artist Travis Knights exploring the indelible connection of jazz and tap carried through divine Black bodies. Honouring lineages, bodies, and communities that have shaped the DaNcE over time through oral tradition, context, form, and relationship. A non-linear reflection on those we lost and a visceral act of re-membering them in a way that acknowledges the indelible marks they left behind. This work asks, as Knight’s tap teacher Ethel Bruneau did, “Whose shoulders are you standing on?” ĀNANDAṀ Dancetheatre’s work centres choreographic aesthetics constructed from a non-Eurocentric lens and is grounded in a rigorous approach to bodies, gaze, space and time. For deaf and hard of hearing spectators, you can reserve a vibrotactile device for the performance. The use of a vibrotactile vest adds a new way of experiencing the rhythms of tap dance. Do you want to reserve a vest? For more information, please visit: https://www.m-a-i.qc.ca/en/anandam-dancetheatre/ Note: Tactile devices are not available for the May 14th performance. About Travis Knights His career started in 2000, when he was cast as a principal dancer in the motion picture biography of Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson with Gregory Hines and Savion Glover. The film, ‘Bojangles’, was choreographed by the legendary Henry LeTang. In 2006, he was tapped to be the principal dancer in the video game adaptation of Warner Brother’s ‘Happy Feet’. In 2007 and 2008, Travis participated extensively as a Tap Dance consultant for Cirque du Soleil. He had the privilege of performing in Tandem Act Productions’ ‘Diary of a Tap Dancer’ at the Apollo Theatre, and the touring show ‘Wonderland: A Tap Tribute to Stevie Wonder’, created by Ayodele Casel and Sarah Savelli. Knights was a featured Tap Dancer in the Opening Ceremonies to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. In the same year he toured North America with the raucous and rowdy internationally acclaimed Australian Tap Dance show, Tap Dogs. From 2010 to 2013, Knights jumped into the dance company world as a principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, Texas under the artistic direction of Acia Gray. During his time there he was awarded the Austin Critic’s Table Award for best dance artist in 2011 and 2013. In 2014, he embarked on a self-produced world tour, filming his web series entitled ’The Interviews’ featuring celebrated pioneers in the tap dance world. In 2015, he debuted new works in Thomas Marek’s show NOLA in Hamburg, Germany. In 2018, he worked once again with Cirque du Soleil in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Later that year, he acted as the Artistic Director for the 2018 Vancouver International Tap Dance Festival. In 2019 Knights finished a two year community development residency at the Tranzac Club in Toronto hosting the Jazz United Jam, a weekly jazz jam session aimed at connecting live musicians with dancers. He is the 2020 recipient of the Jaqueline Lemieux Prize for outstanding contribution to dance in Canada. To purchase your tickets visit: www.m-a-i.qc.ca/en/anandam-dancetheatre/ MAI Montréal, arts interculturels 3680 Jeanne-Mance Street Montreal, QC
