Curated and presented by FADO Performance Art Centre in the context of the 9th 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: Are you a dancer (any style), male and over 60? Would you like to take part in a short dance piece? Or maybe you have never danced before but would like to try? If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, I would like to invite you, to create a simple dance piece together. What will you need to do? Simply to turn up and be interested in learning some a simple dance and movement based routine. Be available for 1 hour rehearsals sessions. No previous performance experience is required, however you must be open and comfortable to participate in a public performance.

Small Acts of Great Significance by Teresa Dillon

This new work by Teresa Dillon is a three-part collective sound and dance performance, created in collaboration with 20 men from the city of Toronto who are over the age of 60 years. Over the course of the festival, Dillon will work with the men to create a sound and dance piece, comprised of three parts which we will perform together for a live audience. As each element of the performance is delivered aspects will be captured and replayed into the gallery space, creating a layered sound and dance composition.

“Irish artist Teresa Dillon’s piece, by contrast, was both improvisatory, in the moment, and trace-like. Having invited men over fifty to collaborate with her on a work that combined visuals and music, Dillon and her small entourage had created the performance earlier that morning. Lights dimmed, patterns pulsed on the screen on the back wall. Andrew Paterson appeared with an electric guitar and began playing a low, repetitive refrain, the other men following with microphones singing ditties reaffirming their desires and life. Dillon meanwhile literally hissed into the microphone, her voice seeming to come from a megaphone in some old revolution. In the end, Dillon’s piece had a slow, beautiful violence to it that got under one’s skin and is ultimately difficult to describe.”

Daniel Baird

Thanks to the men that participated in Small Acts of Great Significance. The final work was created by Teresa Dillon with Roy Mitchell, Andrew J. Paterson, Ken Fraser and Joe Borowiec.

The Toronto Performance Art Collective (TPAC) is a not-for-profit, artist-driven collective that curates and produces the 7a11d International Festival of Performance Art—English Canada’s oldest ongoing biennial of performance art. 7a11d was established in 1997 by a group of performance artists, collectives, and organizers, eager to develop a forum for performance art in Toronto. The first 7a11d International Festival of Performance Art took place in August 1997 and presented the work of 60 local, national and international artists. The 8th edition of the festival takes place from October 21–31, 2010.

© Teresa Dillon, Small Acts of Great Significance, 2010. Jasmine Savoy.