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Allen Kaeja, artistic
director of Toronto's KAEJA d'DANCE, entered the field of modern
dance in 1981 after nine years of wrestling and Judo. He
was a member of T.I.D.E. and the Randy Glynn Dance
Project and has worked with many independent
choreographers and theatre directors. Kaeja's past awards
include the prestigious Bonnie Bird Choreography Award in
London, England, and the K. M. Hunter Arts Award for
choreography. His past dance creations include Courtyard,
Permafrost, Zummel, Old Country Trilogy, naked, Lost
Innocence and Savage Garden, many of which have been
presented internationally and in Canada Dance Festivals.
Allen is currently in Sweden creating choreography for
NORRDANS before returning to Toronto to complete a solo
dance work for Marie-Josée Chartier.
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Photo: Don Lee |
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On receiving the award
Kaeja commented "While I had known of the award for
many years through past recipients Randy Glynn, Lola
MacLaughlin, and Bengt Jörgen, I was not familiar with
its richness and completeness. I am profoundly honoured,
overwhelmed and incredibly excited with the opportunity
to work in the Banff environment."
"Kaeja's...'Zummel'
is a powerful experience. It is the dance summary of
total madness, the ultimate oppression. The subtle
choreography and its harmony with the music turns the
ballet into truly great art."
- Nya Norrland, News, Sweden
Kaeja receives a
commission to set a new choreography on the professional
dancers who comprise the Festival Dance core company. The
commission includes a six-week residency at Banff to
create and rehearse the new work for the professional
program; full production support; four performances
during the Banff Arts Festival (Festival Dance
performance dates July 21 to 24, 1999); and a commission
fee of $5000. The Lee Award is given annually to an
emerging Canadian choreographer. It was established in
1978 by the Clifford E. Lee Foundation, an Alberta-based
private foundation that for over 25 years has supported
and fostered social and artistic development within the
province. Past recipients include, among others, Gaétan
Gingras, Shawn Hounsell, Joe Laughlin, Crystal Pite, Marc
Godden and Edward Hillyer.
In announcing the award
Festival Dance program head Brian Macdonald said
"Allen's work was unanimously favoured by the
selection jury. His 'contact' movement vocabulary will
add a wonderful component to the program and give our
dancers the opportunity to work on a technique quite
different from the traditional Festival Dance focus,
which is exactly what makes the Lee Award such a strong
part of the program."
This year's jurors were:
Brian Macdonald OC, program director of Banff
Festival Dance; John Alleyne, artistic director of
Ballet British Columbia; Shawn Hounsell,
independent dancer/choreographer and 1997 Lee Award
winner; Arnold Spohr, artistic advisor and
director emeritus of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) and
associate director of Ballet Jörgen; and Vincent
Warren, instructor at L'école Supérieure de Danse
du Québec.
Banff Theatre Arts,
under the artistic direction of Keith Turnbull, is
dedicated to the creation, interpretation, and
performance of 20th century repertoire in dance, drama,
opera, song and music theatre.  Return to the
complete Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award Winners List
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