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Alvin Erasga Tolentino | He is one of the most active Asian/Canadian
dance artists who continue to reveal, provoke, fascinate and
bring a fresh voice in the national and international dance scene.
His successful career has garnered him notability and a distinct
reputation as an original and an unpredictable contemporary performing
artist.
Tolentino's dance creations
are driven from the need to intricately illustrate human experiences
of light and darkness and the infinitely complex relationship
between nature and humanity. His choreography challenges the
exploration of hybridity that juxtapose to reveal the private
and public territory empowering the issues within the traditional
and contemporary cross-cultural dialogue.
Born in Manila, Philippines,
he moved to Canada in 1983. He has received professional art
and dance training with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, York University
's Fine Arts in Toronto, in the US at SUNY Purchase, Limon Institute
and with an on -going training with some of the most prominent
dance and art educators across the nation and abroad. A veteran
of the contemporary professional dance scene, he is an active
choreographer, dancer, teacher, designer and a visual artist.
From 1989 to the present, Tolentino
has continued to receive critical praise as a dancer for his
outstanding interpretations of some of Canada's finest choreographers
and dance companies, to name a few, EDAM, Karen Jamieson Dance,
Kinesis Dance, Kokoro Dance, LoLa Dance and Mascall Dance.
In 2001, Tolentino founded
Co.ERASGA, a dance company dedicated to the research, creations
and presentation of contemporary dance with an emphasis in exploration
and collaboration with multi- media art and artists nationally
and abroad. To date, He has created over 15 solo works and his
full-length work includes; SOLA 1998, BATO/Stone and MINORI 2001,
VOLT 2002 and FIELD 2003, SHE SAID and ORIENTIK/PORTRAIT 2005.
With an extensive international
touring and artistic collaboration, Tolentino has travel and
featured dance works to other countries including, Manila/Philippines,
Nagoya/Japan, Brussels/Belgium, New York & San Francisco/USA,
Loan/France, Santo Domingo/Dominican Republic, Zagreb/Croatia,
Basel/Switzerland, Singapore and most recently in 6 cities in
Venezuela.
His dances for the Camera include
Birth, In the Skin of Becoming Swan and SOLA. They have been
featured in national and international video/film festivals and
have received prestigious nominations, including the 2000 BC
Leo Awards, 2001 Canadian Gemini, and 2002 Grand Prix International
Video dance competition for UNESCO in Paris.
www.companyerasgadance.ca
"In the process,
Tolentino established himself as a daring virtuoso dancer, with
his originality, exuberance, technical brilliance and powerful
grace."
-Mel Tobias, The Philippine Chronicle of Vancouver
The project was made
possible with the support of the
Department
of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy
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