Public Energy Performing Arts is embarking on its 31st season, arguably presenting the most diverse program of performances since its 1994 founding as Peterborough New Dance.
The 2024-25 season will feature a variety of performing arts at four different venues around the city from October to May, including Public Energy’s biggest one-day event in its history: a season finale staged at the Peterborough Memorial Centre featuring 15 virtuoso skaters assembled by internationally renowned dance company Le Patin Libre.
A season launch event was held Tuesday (September 24) at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough where, as has been the case since day one, executive director Bill Kimball — joined by managing director Eva Fisher — provided a brief synopsis of each of the series’ 2024-25 presentations.
Of note, this is the last such affair that Kimball will host. He is retiring, creating a need for a new programming director.
“We’re looking for some new blood — some fresh ideas,” Kimball told kawarthaNOW. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what somebody else can do with this. I’ll probably do freelance work in the field. There’ll be projects to do.”
Since graduating from Trent University in 1980 with a degree in Cultural Studies, Kimball has been heavily involved in many aspects of the Peterborough arts community, particularly in the areas of contemporary dance and theatre.
He contributed to the creation of live performance spaces in Peterborough, beginning with City Stage operated by Artspace in the early 1980s. In 1994, Bill founded Peterborough New Dance, and later expanded its mandate to include theatre and other forms of performance while changing its name to Public Energy, reflecting his desire for the arts to be integrated into public life as much as possible.
It was most fitting that dancer Bill Coleman was on hand at the launch event. Not only is he co-featured in the October 10th season-opening presentation of Is this Tap? at Showplace Performance Centre on October 10, but he has also worked with Kimball for some four decades now.
“When I first started making dance in Toronto, I was working with people like David Ramsden and David Bateman — quite big Peterborough artists — so I had a kind of familiarity with Peterborough,” recalled Coleman. “Bill came and saw I show I was doing in New York. He brought that show here in, I think, 1987. I’ve been coming back and forth since then.”
Peterborough, says Coleman, remains blessed to have a programming series dedicated to dance performance.
“It’s rare that there’s a city with a dance series that’s not a provincial capital or a large city,” he says.
Coleman is now anxious to get his latest work in front of an audience.
“If you want a work that will have a long life, you have to go through a number of stages to get there,” he said. “I’ve been creating and trying things out and now I need to do it in a theatre. But I didn’t want to do it in just any theatre. Showplace is a significant theatre in town. It’s a great size. You don’t expect avant-garde art to be done there. It’s off the experimental contemporary dance circuit. I wanted to do something in a regular roadhouse.”
“You need an audience to compete something, so it’s always fun doing a show. For regular Showplace goers, this show (Is this Tap?) will be quite a surprise.”
Below is an overview of Public Energy Performing Arts 2024-25 season.
Is This Tap? – Bill Coleman/Edwin van der Heide
Thursday, October 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Showplace Performance Centre
Powerful lighting and projection distinguish this new show by Canadian dance legend Bill Coleman and Dutch multimedia artist Edwin van der Heide from any other, seeing the audience immersed in the multimedia spectacle as much as the performers.
An appearance by the mysterious Three-Legged Man is the icing on the cake.
Out of Wounds – Sandra Lamouche
Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7 p.m.
Nozhem First People’s Performance Space, Trent University
A contemporary dance inspired by Sandra Lamouche’s research into wagimauskigan, the diamond willow fungus, which has numerous traditional uses among the Cree people and grows out of the wounds of trees.
Sandra’s dance creations are informed by her 30-plus years collaborating and training with numerous Indigenous dance companies across Turtle Island as well as her experience as a storyteller, artist, writer and champion hoop dancer who holds an MA with a focus on hoop dance and healing from Trent University.
Raven Mother – Dancers of Damelahamid
Tuesday, November 26, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Market Hall Performing Arts Centre
Honouring the work of late Elder Margaret Harris (1931-2020), this is the Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious production to date.
The culmination of generations of artistic and cultural work in which movement, song, regalia, sculpture and design are interwoven with the embodied narrative, it is a tangible remembrance of a woman’s spirit, marking the shift between generations that has sparked a new role for our daughters as the force to hold their grandmother’s vision.
New Works – Heryka Miranda and Norma Araiza
Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1, 2025, 7 p.m.
Nozhem First People’s Performance Space, Trent University
Nozhem curator Jenn Cole has invited veteran dance artists Norma Araiza and Heryka Miranda to share their newest creations with local audiences.
Further insight into the nature of these new works will be shared with Public Energy and Nozhem audiences, as the creative processes leading up to their premieres unfold.
Blind Dates – Vivian Chong
Thursday, March 20, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Market Hall Performing Arts Centre
This hilarious and intimate new solo show follows Vivian Chong’s search for love as a blind woman. With original music and storytelling, Chong regales us with stories of her mishaps, crushes and relationships as she wrestles with how others perceive her blindness, and how she refuses to settle in any aspect of her life. And what a life it is!
Vivian is an award-winning playwright, author, comic artist, singer-songwriter, dancer, potter and athlete. Blind Dates comes to Public Energy directly from its premiere run at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. Presented as a blind and deaf friendly production.
Murmuration – Le Patin Libre
Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Peterborough Memorial Centre
Internationally renowned Montreal dance company Le Patin Libre has assembled a company of 15 virtuoso skaters from seven countries to perform a stunningly original on-ice production based on the aerial ballets of swarms of birds.
Like a murmuration, the dancers move at high speeds around the entire rink, nearly careening into each other, coming together as one, instantly changing direction and splitting into separate flocks.
With the exception of the season opener at Showplace, ticket prices for all Public Energy main stage shows are flexible to accommodate all income levels, with pay-what-you-can and sliding scale options starting as low as $5. Visit publicenergy.ca for specific show ticket information.
kawarthaNOW is returning as a Public Energy main stage season sponsor along with V Formation, Jo Pillon of Royal LePage Frank Realty, Hi Ho Silver, and we design group. In addition, Raven Mother is sponsored by Holiday Inn Peterborough-Waterfront.
Public Energy also receives support from the City of Peterborough, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
