Dance
Jessica Runge
Contract Faculty
BIOGRAPHY
Jessica Runge is an award-winning dance artist and educator. She has performed to critical acclaim across Canada and internationally in the works of a number of notable choreographers, including Peggy Baker, Peter Chin, and Christopher House. She has danced in the major Canadian dance companies the Toronto Dance Theatre and Le Groupe Dance Lab, and in Theatre Direct’s work for young audiences. She has collaborated with many other local independent innovators. Her own choreography has been presented at numerous venues and festivals, garnering praise from audiences and the press, and winning recognition in the the form of a KM Hunter Award, several Dora nominations, and, in 2023 a nomination for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.
Runge’s work as a choreographer and interpreter investigates the way movement has meaning for audiences. She is interested in a range of expressivity, and the relationship between content and context. Her work has found potential in diverse physical vocabulary and structural forms, including site-specific work, aerial dance, and interactive projects.
In addition to her work for the stage, Runge serves as adjunct faculty at York University. Runge also shares her passion for dance with children of all ages through the program she runs at the Artscape Youngplace Studio on Shaw.
Runge holds a BA (University of Toronto) and is a graduate of the professional training program of School of Toronto Dance Theatre and the Ontario Arts Council/York University Arts Educators Certificate Program.
Runge is currently working on a new solo entitled Becoming. www.jessicarunge.com
Dance
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