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Breakdancing is an innovative dance form, which has become well known throughout the world, and like other Hip Hop arts, it is considered a tool of empowerment for those who practice it. However, since it began, there have only been a handful of women involved in Breakdancing. The Solid State Breakdance Company traversed new ground by participating in an art form that was traditionally restricted to men. Solid State began as a collective with the initial goal of helping Montreal B-girls (Breakdancers) share skills, knowledge and provide support to each other. Today, Solid State is an accomplished professional dance company with a mandate to challenge audience perceptions of urban dance forms. We create work that explores themes present in street dance culture, mixing B-girling with contemporary dance, to give rise to a new style best described as Urban Dance Theatre. Since 2000, Solid State has created five shows, and performed over 200 times, in dance festivals, schools, and theatres across Canada and recently in the Purcell Room of the South Bank Centre in London, England as part of the B. Supreme festival. Solid State's philosophy is to focus on the uniqueness of each dancer's personal narrative, while at the same time maintaining a strong link to group processes, collaboration and harmonization.
Collaborators
Since 2000, dozens of talented dancers have been involved in Solid State's projects. Here is a list of our current collaborators. Dana Schnitzer (B-girl Radio) -Dancer Dana is a founding member of the Breakdance crew Ellementale 5 and has been dancing with Solid State since its inception in 2000. As an art therapist Dana has published research for Concordia University on the therapeutic uses of Hip-Hop in group therapy for adolescents.
Jennifer Casimir (B-girl Bounce) -Dancer
(BA Leisure Studies, Concordia University)
Jennifer has travelled from Paris to L.A. to train and participate in international breakdance battles and cyphers. She is a founder of the Breakdance crew Terminal Skillness and some of her other performances include Edgy Women (2004) and many collaborative works with Solid State.
Julia Gutsik (B-girl Jus'sik) – Dancer
(BA Dance, University of Calgary)
Julia started her formation in dance with Hungarian folk dancing and she also competed in Jazz, Ballet and Tap dancing. In 2003, she received a grant to study with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary, Alberta and then continued her training traveling to Sweden, Hungary, the U.S. and across Canada. Julia has since worked as an interpreter for such companies as Vertice Collective, Rubberbandance group and Solid State.
Joe Danny Aurelien (B-boy Dingo) - Dancer
Joe Danny is an original member of the Breakdance crew Red Mask. He has worked professionally as a dancer for the Rubberbandance Group since 2002, for Nadine Thouin of Go-On Production in 2005, and the Montreal Opera in 2006. Jo Danny is currently working with Solid State in their newest production, "Take it Back".
Raul Guevara (B-boy 4EverFresh) - Dancer
Raul has trained and worked with some of the pioneers and originators of Hip-Hop including Don Campbellock, Electric Boogaloo's, RSC, Style Elements, and Footwork Fanatics. He has also represented with Original Rudes Crew and 4EverFresh in B-boy events across North America. Recently, Raul has been dancing professionally for Genevieve Gagnon and Solid State.
Stephane Lavoie (B-boy #2) - Administrative/Educational Project Assistant
Stephan fell into breakdancing almost by accident when he discovered Studio SweatShop in the summer of 2005. He is drawn to the physicality, discipline and creative aspect of the dance, and trained with some of the best B-Girls and B-Boys in Montreal (4EverFresh, Skywalker, Solid State). This year Stephan began teaching Breakdance workshops to teens and young adults in the hopes of passing on the fun, positive energy of the dance along with the importance of trusting oneself.
Jo Leslie - Dramaturge
Jo Leslie was a critically acclaimed dancer/choreographer before embarking on a career in theatre. As movement director Jo has worked on over 40 productions across Canada; plays, new operas and musicals. She taught for 10 years at the National Theatre School and recently coached at the Stratford Festival.
Les Mains Libre – Music
Ted Yates and Roger White are two multi instrumentalists who locked themselves in a room with a Rolland 909, an Akai MPC 2000, a Yamaha DX7, a couple Analog Synths, and Guitars, and made music in ProTools. Between the two of them they have played hundreds of shows in different bands in front of lots of people.
Alain Wong – Lindy Hop
Alain teaches vernacular jazz dances from the 1930's-1940's Swing Era, and recently has been training the company Solid State in his specialties of LindyHop, the original swing dance, and Charleston. He also competes and performs as part of the Cat's Corner swing dance school and the Swing Connexion studio, recently placing second in the Classic and Team divisions at the 2006 Canadian Swing Championships.
Robin Dutt – Lighting Design and Stage Manager
After receiving his BFA in theatre production from Ryerson University Robin has worked in various technical capacities for "Progress Avenue" Atlas Moving Productions, Blue Ceiling Productions, "Tabled Manners" Kaeja d'Dance Spring Tour, "Company of Two" Corpus Production, "SooRyu - Korean Dance Festival" kDance , Squiggfest , Toronto Underground and Solid State.
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"Solid State rocks by all accounts!"
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