Allen Kaeja
Allen Kaeja (born in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Gemini award-nominated film director and choreographer. He entered the field of dance after nine years of wrestling and Judo,[1] and has created over 90 dance pieces since 1981 and choreographed for 26 films. Allen is co-artistic director of Kaeja d'Dance with his wife Karen Kaeja [2] and has completed an MA dance degree at York University. He is co-founder of the CanAsian International Dance Festival.
Work
Allen’s most recent dance film, Of the Heart (2008), co-directed with Douglas Rosenberg,[3] was nominated for the Jury Prize in New York City and Barcelona, 2009. The Kaeja films have been screened all across the globe and have been nominated for the American Choreography Awards (Los Angeles) and the Banff World Television Festival Awards (Canada). They have received special ‘Jury Mentions’ from IMZ (Europe) and American Dance Festival (USA). The Kaeja films are also a part of the permanent collection at the MoMA and Jewish Museum in New York and Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel.
Allen and Karen Kaeja teach master classes in Kaeja Partnering and Dance Film. Allen is currently on faculty at the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre and Ryerson University. He also taught Canada’s first “hands-on” university dance film course in Canadian history at Ryerson. They developed the express dance approach, now integrated into the education system through a partnership with the Toronto District School Board. They provide subsidized workshops, dance enrichment opportunities and performances to underserved communities in Canada and abroad. They have worked with over 20,000 learners worldwide. Allen has also just published his second book, Transcending Media, while adapting the dance production Asylum of Spoons from stage to film.
Allen recently performed as Pushkin in Moze Mossanen's Nureyev, premiered on Bravo!. Also, Ut i Scenekunsten (Oslo, Norway) has commissioned a new creation from Allen set to premiere in 2011 in Norway, then to have its North American premiere during the 20th anniversary concert of Kaeja d'Dance, April 12–16, 2011 at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront, Toronto.