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Peggy Baker (she/her)

Peggy Baker has been a vivid presence in contemporary dance for four decades, performing in the work of Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris (with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project), Doug Varone, Tere O’Connor, Molissa Fenley, and Charles Moulton (NY); Fortier Danse-Creation (Montreal); Dancemakers and Toronto Dance Theatre. She founded Peggy Baker Dance Projects in 1990, dedicating herself for the first 20 years to solo performance, winning praise for the eloquence and depth of her dancing. Over its history, Peggy Baker Dance Projects has been presented at major festivals and dance centres world-wide, including Cervatino Festival, Mexico; the Holland Dance Festival in The Hague; Jacob’s Pillow, and venues in New York, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Ghent, and Soeul . Her honours include The Order of Canada, the Carsen Prize, the Premier’s Award, the Governor General’s Award, Honorary Doctorates from York and the University of Calgary, and six Dora Awards. She is Artist-in-Residence at Canada’s National Ballet School and a 2017 fellow of Italy’s Bogliasco Foundation.

Projects with Nova Dance:

  • 2002 - Map of the Known World / created for Nova Bhattacharya / original music Ed Hanley / costume and set design by Caroline O’Brien / lighting by Roelof Peter Snippe / premiere Dec 12, 2002 / du Maurier Theatre Centre, Toronto
  • 2003 - Gift of the solo Sanctum through The Choreographer’s Trust / original music Ahmed Hassan / musician Ed Hanley / costume design Caroline O’Brien / lighting Marc Parent / premiere August 23, 2003 / Betty Oliphant Theatre, Toronto
  • 2011 - Aleatoric Duet No. 1 / duet for Nova Bhattacharya and Peggy Baker created collaboratively by the dancers / music Ben Grossman / lighting Simon Rossiter / premiered on the shared concert program Whole Wide World / premiere Feb 5, 2011 / Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse, St Catharine’s Ontario
  • 2014 - Gift of the solo heart from The Perfect Word / premiere Oct 4, 2014 / Nuit Blanche, Betty Oliphant Theatre, Toronto

What do you love about dance? As a mover and as a witness, dance never fails to deliver me to a deeper experience of the world in all its turmoil, tragedy, beauty, majesty, and mystery.

How have stayed connected to dance / your art during the pandemic? The pandemic has been a time of deep introspection for me. On the far edge of a long life in dance, I have been attending to my body with care, forgiveness, and gratitude, turning my attention toward the culmination of my company, and focusing my energy on exchange with new generation dance artists.