Join MOCA for a special live performance by Toronto-based dance artists Lauren Runions and Katherine Semchuk featuring Rakeem Hardy and Denise Solleza. Presented alongside Jeff Wall Photographs 1984–2023, the work takes inspiration from Wall’s iconic large-scale photographs, reflecting on their quiet tension between narrative and stillness.
Through movement, gesture, and shifting relationships with the gallery space, Runions and Semchuk create a living tableau that reimagines how performance can function as both image and action. Drawing on the tension between motion and pause, their work invites you to consider how the body can echo photographic composition while also moving beyond it.
This time-based activation offers visitors an opportunity to experience MOCA’s galleries in a new way, through embodied presence, ephemeral choreography, and moments of quiet intensity that unfold in real time.
This performance is part of MOCA’s Free Friday Night Programming. Tickets can be obtained ahead of time or at the door. Book in advance to reserve your spot!
About the Artists
Katherine Semchuk is an eastern european contemporary dance artist currently based in Tkaronto, originally from Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). She’s collaborated with Good Women Dance Collective, Kaeja d’Dance, and more. Semchuk is passionate about cultivating community and the power of dance as a primary form; she coordinates a training platform called westside movement sessions in Tkaronto, is part of the faculty at Dance Arts Institute and rehearsal directs for William Yong/Zata Omm.
Semchuk has created choreography with and for the musical projects of Julian Anderson-Bowes, Black Fish Project, Charsu Quartet, Jordan Hart, Younggun Kim and Mear. Through an improvisational practice, she continues to dissect her artistic values, focusing on the use of spirals, momentum and opposition/conflict in the body, stability and change.
Lauren Runions is a dance artist, choreographer, facilitator and arts administrator based in Tkarón:to (Toronto) and Kjipuktuk (Halifax). They have most recently danced with Susannah Haight, pounds per square inch performance/Gerry Trentham, Christopher Willes & Adam Kinner, SLOW DANCE LAB/Sally Morgan, Jacinte Armstrong, and more. Runions has choreographed site-specific works for MOCA, Nuit Blanche, Long Winter, Radiant Rural Halls, and Nocturne. They are the artistic director of project I/O Movement which offers site-responsive performances, community workshops, and public residencies.
For Lauren dancing involves moving-thinking, writing, choreographic objects, community labs, performances and daily independent practice. Their work investigates the role of choreography as a reciprocal spatial practice.
Katherine Semchuk is an eastern european contemporary dance artist currently based in Tkaronto, originally from Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). She’s collaborated with Good Women Dance Collective, Kaeja d’Dance, and more. Semchuk is passionate about cultivating community and the power of dance as a primary form; she coordinates a training platform called westside movement sessions in Tkaronto, is part of the faculty at Dance Arts Institute and rehearsal directs for William Yong/Zata Omm.
Semchuk has created choreography with and for the musical projects of Julian Anderson-Bowes, Black Fish Project, Charsu Quartet, Jordan Hart, Younggun Kim and Mear. Through an improvisational practice, she continues to dissect her artistic values, focusing on the use of spirals, momentum and opposition/conflict in the body, stability and change.
Lauren Runions is a dance artist, choreographer, facilitator and arts administrator based in Tkarón:to (Toronto) and Kjipuktuk (Halifax). They have most recently danced with Susannah Haight, pounds per square inch performance/Gerry Trentham, Christopher Willes & Adam Kinner, SLOW DANCE LAB/Sally Morgan, Jacinte Armstrong, and more. Runions has choreographed site-specific works for MOCA, Nuit Blanche, Long Winter, Radiant Rural Halls, and Nocturne. They are the artistic director of project I/O Movement which offers site-responsive performances, community workshops, and public residencies.
For Lauren dancing involves moving-thinking, writing, choreographic objects, community labs, performances and daily independent practice. Their work investigates the role of choreography as a reciprocal spatial practice.
Rakeem Hardy (they/them) is a Toronto-based dance artist, creator, and educator. They received their BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase College, and in 2020, were the recipient of the Thayer Fellowship Award. They have performed works by Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Norbert De La Cruz III, and Roderick George. They received additional training at the Taipei National University of the Arts, and Springboard Danse Montreal under the direction of Alexandra Wells.
Rakeem’s career has spanned a dynamic range of opportunities, from performing and presenting work in museum exhibitions (Met Breuer, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Mercer Union) to collaborating with Madonna as part of her Madame X tour. Rakeem has performed on stages across Canada and internationally, working with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Coté Danse, Loni Landon Dance Projects, LA TRESSE, and Gallim Dance, among others. In 2022, Rakeem joined the Vancouver-based company, Kidd Pivot, under the direction of Crystal Pite. Alongside their performance endeavours, Rakeem is exploring their voice as an emerging choreographer, presenting their recent works across the city of Toronto.
D Solleza (they/them) is a Filipinx-Canadian dance artist based in Toronto/Tkaronto. They are a graduate of York University where they completed their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Denise has worked with Valerie Calam, Julia Aplin, Project Humanity, Anandam Dancetheatre, Hanna Kiel, Bo Lam, Lauren Runions, Tracey Norman, and Aeris Korper. In 2019, they were nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance (ensemble) for Jaberi Dance Theatre’s No Woman’s Land. Most recently, they toured Ontario with Jaberi Dance Theatre and performed in Mayumi Lashbrook’s Enemy Lines. They are currently in creative process with Tracey Norman for the development of a new work.
Rakeem Hardy (they/them) is a Toronto-based dance artist, creator, and educator. They received their BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase College, and in 2020, were the recipient of the Thayer Fellowship Award. They have performed works by Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Norbert De La Cruz III, and Roderick George. They received additional training at the Taipei National University of the Arts, and Springboard Danse Montreal under the direction of Alexandra Wells.
Rakeem’s career has spanned a dynamic range of opportunities, from performing and presenting work in museum exhibitions (Met Breuer, Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Mercer Union) to collaborating with Madonna as part of her Madame X tour. Rakeem has performed on stages across Canada and internationally, working with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Coté Danse, Loni Landon Dance Projects, LA TRESSE, and Gallim Dance, among others. In 2022, Rakeem joined the Vancouver-based company, Kidd Pivot, under the direction of Crystal Pite. Alongside their performance endeavours, Rakeem is exploring their voice as an emerging choreographer, presenting their recent works across the city of Toronto.
D Solleza (they/them) is a Filipinx-Canadian dance artist based in Toronto/Tkaronto. They are a graduate of York University where they completed their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Denise has worked with Valerie Calam, Julia Aplin, Project Humanity, Anandam Dancetheatre, Hanna Kiel, Bo Lam, Lauren Runions, Tracey Norman, and Aeris Korper. In 2019, they were nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance (ensemble) for Jaberi Dance Theatre’s No Woman’s Land. Most recently, they toured Ontario with Jaberi Dance Theatre and performed in Mayumi Lashbrook’s Enemy Lines. They are currently in creative process with Tracey Norman for the development of a new work.
November Community Weekend Schedule
Friday
5-9 pm: Free Friday Night
7 pm: Performance: Katherine Semchuk and Lauren Runions
Saturday
12 pm and 2 pm: Drop-in Tour
1–4 pm: Artist-led Workshop*
Sculptural Photographs with Ryan Van Der Hout
*There is a fee of $100 per person. General Admission to the museum is included. General Admission to the museum is included. 10% off for Enthusiast Members and above.
Sunday
10 am–5 pm: Free Museum Admission
10 am–3 pm: Drop-in Workshop: Natural Textures
