The internationally acclaimed, Alberta-born dancer and choreographer, Peggy Baker, will perform as part of the University’s 2007/2008 Program of Dance Season.

The performance features two world premieres: Dreaming Awake, a commissioned work choreographed by New York iconoclast Molissa Fenley; and Portal, Peggy Baker’s latest stark, and enigmatic solo. The evening concludes with Baker’s 2006 work Krishna's Mouth, a work combining text with rigorous, lyrical choreography that tells a potent story about Lord Krishna. This compelling dance event should not be missed.

Having last performed in Calgary in 2006 at One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo, Ms. Baker will return to Calgary with an evening entitled Portal, featuring the world premiere of Dreaming Awake choreographed by New York iconoclast Molissa Fenley. Performed to a score by long-time Fenley collaborator, Philip Glass, Ms. Baker will be joined onstage by renowned Canadian pianist, Andrew Burashko.

Also having its world premiere on the program is Peggy Baker’s latest solo, Portal. This stark, enigmatic new work is performed in silence with a stunning lighting design by Montreal’s Marc Parent that both reveals and distorts the dancer.

The evening concludes with Baker’s acclaimed 2006 work Krishna's Mouth. The dance combines text with rigorous, lyrical choreography to tell a potent story about Lord Krishna. The music for this piece is by Japanese composer Karen Tanaka, written for cello and percussion. Baker was coached in this work by German dance luminary Susanne Linke during a week-long mentoring workshop hosted by Lola Dance in Vancouver in September 2005.

Peggy Baker has been a vibrant presence in the world of contemporary dance since the early seventies. Born in Edmonton in 1952, Ms. Baker was a founding member, and later artistic director, of Toronto’s Dancemakers. She toured internationally with Lar Lubovitch’s celebrated New York company for a decade before joining Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris for the inaugural season of their White Oak Dance Project in 1990. Her concerts have been presented across North America, Europe and Asia, including New York’s Danspace, the Copenhagen International Dance Festival, Belgium’s Time Festival, L’Agora de la danse in Montreal and MoDaFe in Seoul, Korea. Ms. Baker’s achievements have been recognized with the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, two Dora Mavor Moore awards for Outstanding Performance, the Toronto Arts Council’s Margo Bindhardt Award, and an Honourary Doctorate from the University of Calgary. She was the inaugural recipient of the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2006.