Director/Choreographer/Producer Robin Henderson is joining be on Cue To Cue today! We are talking Toronto Fringe, the in and outs of being and artist in Canada, and what we think needs to happen to move the Canadian arts culture forward.
It became clear to me early in the conversation that Robin is someone with vision and understands the sacrifices she needs to make in order to make her vision happen. Coming off of a very successful run of her show Dance Animal in last year’s Toronto Fringe she is well aware of what it will take to repeat that experience in this years 2017 run of the Fringe with her production of Pineapple Club.
Pineapple Club is dance comedy centered around the events of 2016 and 2017 and is thematically woven in with the five stages of grief and uses music strictly from artist’s that passed away during this time period. I think in times of uncertainty and strife comedy has an even more important place in society and I think Robin has brilliantly hit the nail on the head with this concept in her show. It reminds me of a Billy Crystal quote that I heard recently and think it has never been truer. “ Even in your worst pain, it’s okay and important to laugh”.
We definitely did a lot of laughing in this episode!
Get your tickets! Pineapple Club
In This Episode:
- the importance of learning business skills as an artist
- What you need to know to make your involvement in Toronto Fringe A Success
- How to choreograph “non-dancers”
- How to pull from others areas in your life and apply it to your art
Robin Henderson: Success At The Fringe, Pineapple Club, And Wearing All The Hats!
A little about Robin:
Robin Henderson is the director/choreographer/producer/dramaturge of Dance Animal, “the world’s only comedy dance tribe”. She also played Dance Tiger. Dance Animal is the winner of the Toronto Fringe – “Best of Fest” Award (2016), the Broadway World Award for “Best Fringe
Production” (2016), the Just For Laughs “Best Comedy” Award (2009) and the Cirque du Soleil “Best Original Creation” Award (2010). They received an Honourable Mention for the Studio 303 Award (2010) and were voted the second best Dance Company in Montreal (2011). Dance Animal has appeared at the Toronto Sketchfest, the Just for Laughs Festival, the JFL Zoofest, Toronto Fringe Festival, Montreal Fringe Festival and the Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival.
She was the director/choreographer/producer of the Glimmer Twins at Toronto Sketchfest (2015). Combining lip-synced character dance routines with sketch, The Glimmer Twins were called the “best surprise of the festival” by Steve Fisher of the Torontoist.
She produced and hosted Lip-Schtick, a comedic lip-sync battle in both Toronto (Bad Dog Comedy Theatre) and Montreal (Mainline Theatre). Lip-Schtick has participated in the jfl42 (2015 & 2016) and Toronto Sketchfest (2016).
Robin received an Honourable Mention for the Revelation Award at the 2010 MECCA Awards and was chosen as one of “Montreal’s 20 Emerging Talents” by Nightlife Magazine. She teaches a comedic dance class at Second City Toronto (Jazz Hands). She has also taught numerous movement workshops, including in New York City for North Coast (top 10 comedy acts in NYC by TimeOut NYC for 2014 & 2015). She has also choreographed for Uncalled For’s “Blastback Babyzap” and Sex-T-Rex’s “Callaghan”.
Follow Robin!
Facebook: Robin Henderson
Twitter: @pineappleclubTO
Instagram: @robinhenderson23
Did you enjoy the podcast?
What spoke to you the most today? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
