We are so excited to be welcoming Newton Moraes as our Artist in Residence at Free Flow Dance for July and August! Newton will be collaborating with our Artistic Director Jackie Latendresse on an outdoor show in August. He will also be setting a duet that will be performed at our end of season gala in November. Newton has years of experience working in the dance industry.
Newtons Biography:
Newton was born in Porto Alegre – Brazil. At an early age he started dancing Samba, and then pursued studies of Physical Education at the Unisinos University in Porto Alegre. Later he studied with Bale with Tony Seitz Petzold at the prestigious Bale Phoenix, Jazz with Anette Lubisco and Edison Garcia, Afro-Brazilian dance with Marcelo do Nascimento and Jose de Anchieta and street dancing.
In 1991 he decided to move to Toronto with the support of his partner world renown Anthropologist Robert Shirley who was a full time professor at University of Toronto. When arrived in Toronto he studied Modern and Contemporary Dance at the Professional Programme at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Newton Moraes had several mentors over the years and amazing artists that influence his work including workshops in Butoh with Natsu Nakajima, Lee Ann Smith, in contemporary dance with Pierre Paul Savoie and Jeff Hall, David Dorfmann, Fiona Marcotti, Chandralekha, and a Master workshop in Choreography with Danny Grossman. Newton’s mentors include Jean Sasportes, Franco Boni, Fred Traugth David Earle, Patricia Beatty, Danny Grossman, Patrick Parson (African Dance – Toronto), Marcelo do Nascimento and José do Nascimento (Brazil). Further studies were made in Releasing Technique with Stephanie Scura, Improvisation with Denise Fujiwara, Kurt Jooss Technique with Fred Traguth, and Afro-Brazilian Spiritual Dance with Pai Beto do Xangó Aganju.
Since his arrival in Canada in 1991, Moraes has choreographed more than fifty works, both for himself and other dancers. Newton has collaborated with choreographer Patrick Parson in “Orixás Voice” (2003) and Dancing Spirits” (2004) two new dances created by the Ballet Creole for their season at the Premiere Dance Theatre at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Newton also collaborated with Terrill Maguire in “Crazy to be born” (2003) at the World’s Fare Festival at Harbourfront Centre and Alexandro Ronceria in “Agua” (2004) at the Planet IndigenUS Festival in the water at the HarbourfrontCentre.
Newton has choreographed and performed for several venues such as, DANCETALK, Arts Week ‘96 – at Damn Straight, the 808 Series and the fFringe in Toronto; and “VERNISSAGE” at Studio 303 in Montreal, plus The Field in New York. His first full evening presentation was “Beauty and Anguish” in 1994 at the George Ignatieff Theatre of the University of Toronto.
In April 1996 he choreographed “Remembering” as part of the Urban Dance Series at the Music Gallery and in November “Brazilian Spirits” at Damn Straight. He often toured to Brazil and showed his choreography at the SOGIPA Festival in that city, and has taught at the Department of Dramatic Arts at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul as well as the Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, Teatro Sao Pedro in Porto Alegre and Theatro Renacenca in Porto Alegre.
Newton Moraes has received support from the Department of Foreign Affairs to tour Newton Moraes Dance Theatre to Porto Alegre and São Paulo in Brazil and created cultural exchanges with Gregorio Trejo Garcia of Ultimo Tren of Mexico City and the noted choreographer Fred Traguth from Germany. In 1997, he founded Newton Moraes Dance Theatre and he was invited by the District Institute of Culture and Tourism of Bogotá, Colombia to choreograph a contemporary dance piece. The work “Juegos de Amor / Love Games” was the result of his three months of work and was presented in the Teatro Municipal Jorge Eliecer Gaitan with a total audience of 3.500 in 4 performances. Moraes recently returned to Brazil were he and his company performed in 14 cities including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The Foreign Affairs Canada, the Canadian Consulate in Sao Paulo, Canadian Embassy in Brasilia, Choreographic Centre of the city of Rio de Janeiro and City of Rio de Janeiro officially supported this tour. His work has received public and critic claimed in Canada, Colombia, Brasil, Germany, Cuba and USA.
Newton Moraes was a board member of Dance Ontario Association for more than six years and is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists (C.A.D.A.). He was in the Faculty at the Ballet Creole school of Performing Arts in Toronto for many years teaching Brazilian, African-Brazilian, contemporary dance and choreography. Newton Moraes has also received the Ontario Arts Council Artist in Education Grant to teach in the schools across the Province of Ontario in and Travel Grants from Ontario Arts Council. Newton Moraes studied on 2011/2011 for one year a Master in Fine Arts in Choreography with a scholarship at York University and currently he teacher at The Theatre Department at Humber College at the Lakeshore Campus and at the Dark Side Studio at Kensington Market. Newton Moraes is incredible excited for the opportunity to create Mulheres for The Free Flow Dance Theatre Company from Saskatoon for their 25 Anniversary Season in August in Saskatoon. He is working very hard with his Museoogist Renato Baldin in their 20th Anniversary Exhibit of Newton Moraes Dance Theatre at the Rotunda at the Toronto City Hall later in the summer 2020. As well as the world premiere of LIFE UNDER MY SKIN by Newton Moraes Dance Theatre.
Newtons Website: https://newtonmoraesdancetheatre.com/
