Like an Old Tale

Jumblies Theatre
“Over the past three years I had the pleasure and honour of working with an exceptional team of artists, exploring and investigating themes, images and diverging thoughts and ideology and continuing that investigation further with the community members of Scarborough, downtown Toronto and Nipissing First Nation. Through dance and movement we investigated themes within and around The Winter’s Tale, such as coming to life, what would make a person freeze and conversely, what would initiate their thawing and tracking the path ways through the body in that journey.  We also explored the theme and images of jealousy, exploring from different ages and cultural perspectives and the idea of when we choose to stand up to authority or remain a part of the by standers and how that affects the body or the immediate surrounding environment.  The choreography developed out of these conversations with the community members. It has been explored with a diversity of people  from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, ages and with different physical abilities.  I learned a great deal from the other artists in Jumblies Theatre and community members and am truly grateful for their generosity.
Perhaps what was most exciting about his project for me is that it provided an opportunity to bring people back into the room that may otherwise be left out and reflect more fairly the diversity of our societies including the diversity of bodies, cultural ideology and sociopolitical perspectives and bring all that into the work. It represents a more fair and just form of story telling and offers an opportunity to bring art back into the heart of our communities and everyday lives.”  Penny Couchie – Choreographer Like An Old Tale