Peggy Baker has been working on who we are in the dark, her most ambitious work to date, for nearly two years now. At the end of August, she again brought together her team of dancers and musicians Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara from Arcade Fire for a week of workshops at the National Ballet School in Toronto.
Having dedicated time together, far in advance of next February’s premiere, is incredibly valuable for all of the artists involved. For example, while Sarah and Jeremy have worked with dancers before, this is the first time they’ve worked with Peggy on a full-length work.
Reflecting on the time they’ve spent together so far, Jeremy said “It’s amazing to be able to work in the moment with the dancers: it’s incredible what the choreography and the movement can do to push and pull the music in different directions. Peggy is wonderful to work with…she has a clear vision and purpose but is at the same time SO open to ideas and open to change, both with us as musicians and with her dancers”.
In the coming months, Peggy will bring the artists together for two more workshops, and a key week-long technical residency will take place in January. Audiences in Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Banff, Kingston and Ottawa will get to see the results of this extended creation process when who we are in the dark tours the country in 2019.