Dose of Pleasure

Alvin Collantes, in partnership with Co.ERASGA, presents

DOSE OF PLEASURE

SAT, AUG 31 | SUN, SEPT 1 | SAT, SEPT 7

5:00-6:30 PM

STRATCHONA PARK, 857 Malkin Avenue (Raymur and Malkin St)

* BY DONATION - all funds go directly to support our community outreach*

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"Dose of Pleasure" is a process of transmuting pain to pleasure through the power of groove and the passion to rave. It is a movement meditation practice guided by Alvin.

We work with the frequency of sound and how each layer can penetrate through the pores of the skin and transcend the body into a state of purging.

This space we are about to share is a sanctuary -- sacred yet bold, wild and sensitive. We recognize blockages, the impact of resistance and the heavy weight of our own limitations. From this place, we begin to work.

By connecting to the power of our groove, we let go, give in, surrender and yield to what can come in and out of us. It is an exchange of energy. By tasting the information through the physical body, we are able to work in a constant flow of giving and receiving.

The more you give yourself to the space, the more it will feed you with what you deserve. Inside the process of riding the groove, we meet pleasure, we understand passion from the depths of our pain, and discover what it means to set ourselves free.

Welcome to the Journey ❤

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Growing up in the Philippines, Alvin and his cousins would create dance numbers for their Grandma’s birthday, Christmas and many family occasions. Growing an interested in dance over time, Alvin started his taking recreational ballet and modern classes at Laurie-Ann's School of Dance at the age of 18 during his undergraduate studies at Western University.

Alvin is a Filipino-Canadian queer dance artist, Certified Gaga teacher and photographer based in Berlin, Germany. Alvin started his work as dance artist in Toronto at the age of 18 where he performed in numerous shows including International Dance Day (2012), Nuit Blanche Toronto (2012) and Toronto’s Original Choreographer’s Ball (2012). As a guest artist, he has performed with Toes For Dance (2014), Frog In Hand’s “Creature” (2017) & “The Fall” (2018) as well as TranscenDance Project’s “Eve of St George” (2019). He has worked with choreographers Robert Kingsbury, Colleen Snell, Julia Cratchley, Scott Fordham, Shameka Blake and many more. Currently, he is a part of Kiani Del Valle’s KDV Dance Ensemble and has performed in “Las Casas Invisbles,”which debuted at the iconic Funkhaus last February of 2020.

He completed the Gaga Teacher’s Training Course in 2018 under the artistic direction of Bosmat Nossan and Saar Harari with the generous support from the Ontario Arts Council’s Skills & Careers Development Grant for Artists of Colour and Canada Council for the Arts’ Career Development Grant. During the course, he participated in Gaga intensives and a guest at Batsheva Dance Company under the artistic mentorship of Ohad Naharin. He has been teaching Gaga/people & Gaga/dancers classes around the globe including The Philippines, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Thailand and Canada.

Alvin facilitates a dance floor meditation session called “Dose of Pleasure” that empowers humans to make impactful change by harnessing the power of groove and cultivating the pleasure body. The online livestream sessions gathered a community of dancers all over the world including Australia, Canada, The Philippines, Mexico and Germany. When restrictions loosened in Berlin, Alvin hosted sessions at Tempelhofer Feld (a former DDR Airport located in the city centre), which gathered 100-150 dancers with social distancing per session. This movement has been featured in Nike X Zalando Winter Campaign, ARTE TV, Vice Germany, iHeartBerlin and DW News. This movement has been awarded a special grant by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

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Photo credit: Vincent Wong

As an arts organization with roots of Filipino heritages, migrant stories and racialized settlers, we acknowledge our privilege to be living and creating art here on Turtle Island. We acknowledge the land upon which most of Co. ERASGA's work takes place: the traditional and unceded lands of the Coast Salish people including the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ) and Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Nations, the original stewards and caretakers of these lands.

As artists, we humbly recognize the continued work that needs to be done on the road to reconciliation. We commit to our own education, sharing of resources and artistries for continued respect, solidarity, awareness towards decolonial relation and work with the Indigenous people of Canada.

Host or Publisher Co.ERASGA Dance Society