My most recent choreography project is Ballet Jörgen Canada’s The Velveteen Rabbit.
Growing up, The Velveteen Rabbit was my favourite story. I think as a young child I understood that becoming “real” is a sort of magic that can happen to all of us when we truly engage in life. I even had my own stuffed velveteen rabbit that I “loved” into being real. Years later when Bengt Jorgen invited me to create a children’s ballet on his company, The Velveteen Rabbit was the first story that came to mind. I asked my costume designer to use my old toy as a model for the lead dancer’s costume…and so my childhood toy did actually come to life! As a mother of two young boys, I am excited to create a ballet version of my favorite story that my boys can enjoy and learn from.
Kathleen Rea danced with Ballet Jörgen Canada, National Ballet of Canada and Tiroler Landestheater (Austria).
In 2000 she formed REAson d'etre dance productions, a dance company that promotes contact dance improvisation. Kathleen Rea has emerged as a choreographic presence. Her work is "fabulously original" [Sheena Wilson, www.danceinsider.com] . Kathleen's individuality of expression stems from her varied background, which includes ballet, modern, contact improvisation, and dance theatre and is influenced by the multi-disciplinary art techniques involved in Expressive Arts. Kathleen has choreographed over 40 original works for various organizations including REAson d'etre dance productions, Bravo Television Network, Ballet Jörgen Canada, Canadian Olympic Association, Decadence Films, Dusk Dances, Gender Play, George Brown Dance , Good Hair Day Productions, princess productions, Prologue for the Performing Arts , Ryerson University Dance Program, Studio 303 and Toronto Dance Theatre . In 2009 Kathleen's modern ballet Long Live was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore awards including outstanding choreography. In 2010 Kathleen won the K.M Hunter Dance Award.
Kathleen is long standing a member of the contact dance community, founding the Wednesday Dance Jam. The Wednesday Dance jam provides a dance class followed by a contact jam with live music and has run weekly for 12 years.
Kathleen Rea has a Master's degree in the Expressive Arts Therapy with minor in Psychology from the European Graduate School and ISIS-Canada. Along with a private practice Kathleen does therapeutic performance facilitation in which she helps groups express their life stories through dance and theatre performance.
Kathleen has taught at George Brown College, York University and Niagara College in subjects including contact dance, dance improvisation and dance therapy.
Her book The Healing Dance: The Life and Practice of an Expressive Arts Therapist", published by Charles C. Thomas Publishers is available on Amazon .
"Beauty and authenticity were my immediate impressions...The Healing Dance reads like a novel yet delivers a professional and academic body of work that will be sure to please..."
The Arts in Psychotherapy 40 (2013) 358–359
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