Julia Sasso
As we approach the 20th anniversary of Older & Reckless, we shine a light on the senior artists who we are honoured to feature in our celebrations, including the fearless
JULIA SASSO
Julia Sasso in ApHeart - photo by John Lauener
Julia is an Older & Reckless veteran. Recognized as 'one of the foremost dance artists in the country' (The Dance Current), she has offered valuable support to many of the O&R performers as Outside Eye, assisting at tech and dress rehearsals. Julia has performed several times at O&R - in Danser Joe, the 2016 community project, and in her stunning solos, Simple Lines of Enquiry (2010) and accidental dances (2007), both to piano scores by the late Canadian contemporary music icon (and O&R fan!) Ann Southam. In 2013, Julia choreographed the first work commissioned for Old & Young and Reckless Together, performed by gifted dancers Danielle Baskerville and Amelia Ehrhardt.
Julia talks about dancing ApHeart on August 24 in Bickford Park with 14 other “oldies” to live music:
“I danced 10 days after surgery! It was an amazing experience. I sat on my back porch in ice packs & smiles for hours that night. Yes, please count me in to spread the never-stop-dancing gospel.”
Julia’s physical daring marks her work. About accidental dances:
"Sasso seems to float in slow motion… Her movements echo long after the motion has expired… Sasso approaches transcendence… In rare passages of flight, the lissome Sasso developpé-pendulums through to handsome arabesque, moments that are all the more savoured for their restrained place in the choreography. The work turns on concepts of time, which brings the physicality of Sasso, as a woman long steeped in dance, into focus. Each movement ripples with an eternal dedication to dance that has crystallized into an unforgiving, ideal expression, and with it, the myth of the time limit on the dance-life of a dancer gracefully gives up the ghost."
- Penelope Ford, The Dance Current
Julia Sasso is an established award-winning choreographer and performer, master teacher and artistic mentor. She choreographs extensively for the concert stage as well as for theatre, film and television. Her choreography has been commissioned and presented throughout Canada, in the USA and abroad. She performed internationally with Toronto’s Dancemakers – 1984-2000 and continues to create and perform independently. Highly regarded as a teacher and artistic mentor Sasso has taught at distinguished learning centres worldwide. She is a Resident Choreographer and core faculty member in The School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s Professional Training Program and teaches in York University’s Department of Dance. www.juliasasso.com
