NMDT are delighted and deeply thankful to Christopher House and Toronto Dance Theatre for selecting us to be part of their Creation Residency Program at the Winchester Theatre from . We are looking forward to using this opportunity to explore new movements for Life Under My Skin with two dancers Sonya Stefan and Emilio Colalillo. The Creation Residencies are an integral part of TDT’s commitment to supporting the professional development of Toronto’s dance artists.
About Life Under My Skin
The World Premiere of Life Under My Skin is planned for Spring 2022 at the Fleck Theatre in Toronto. Life Under My Skin is envisioned as a collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dance-theatre project lead by Newton Moraes Dance Theatre. It will explore our ever-evolving world in a way that combines different modalities to bring unity of expression. It explores, examines and investigates our similarities and our differences, our deepest emotions, feelings and thoughts using spoken language, sign language, contemporary dance, Brazilian dance, Gaga dance technique and improvisation. Artistic Director, Newton Moraes is creating new choreography and a new set design and, more importantly, amalgamate the movement vocabulary of a diverse cast of artists from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, France, Haiti and the Bahamas.
The plan is to start locally and expand internationally by using online media to connect with other artists around the world. The goal is to enhance and elevate the way we usually connect directly when we are in the same place through touch, gesture, voice, language, movement, and intention. These days we all are less connected directly with each other and ourselves, but through our voice and actions in this piece, we will try to show how we can learn from each other and explore greater fluidity and acceptance of our differences in sexuality, gender, feeling and emotions.
Newton Moraes, NMDT Artistic Director & Choreographer
The Dancers
Sonya Stefan
Newton studyied together at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and became immediate friends. They collaborated in few short projects including a solo called Mulher em branco when Sonya was talking in Italian on the stage and showcasing all her virtuosity as a dancer, this dance was part of Ffida and Kitchener Dance Festival organized by Jackie Latendresse. On May 22, 1997 they toured Germany together with Rebecca Ostwald for the first performance as a dance company at Makal City Theatre by the famous Peter Makal a phenomenal pantomime artists from Germany in Stuttgart Germany 
Then Sonya danced for Toronto Dance Theatre and several incredible companies in Montreal. During the pandemic we have been collaborating with short dance films 
19 seconds each and we are now writing a grant in support of Newton Moraes Dance Theatre 25th anniversary next year and the digitalization of everything by NMDT.
Aesthetically interested in media, such as VHS and tube television sets, Sonya deals with concepts that are decidedly less material in nature, such as the transcendence of the body. Stefan has maintained a collective, interactive practice throughout her career besides working with the dance company Animals of Distinction and Japanese performance duo groupA, the Canadian artist has collaborated with Montreal Danse, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, and 2GatherApart. Her works have been presented at international festivals and institutions such as Mutek (Montreal), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Lille), and Mona Foma (Tasmania).
Emilio Colalillo
Emilio Colalillo is a Toronto based dancer and choreographer in his second season with Newton Moraes Dance Theatre. He is the founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer of EMiMOTION. He began his training in Oakville, Ontario, Canada where he trained at an elite level in all disciplines of dance. He received his Bachelor Of Fine Arts in Performance Dance at Ryerson University.
He has toured the world internationally as a dancer and choreographer. EMiMOTION has choreographed for Fresh Blood Festival in Toronto where his duet “AVIDITA” won the Paula Citron Award in 2014. He has been commissioned to do works Dance Matters, 60×60 and Creativiva where he choreographed Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Pinnochio and The Little Prince that toured Chengdu, China and the UAE to Dubai, Oman and Qatar. He has choreographed for the Italian Contemporary Film Festival, Miss Universe Canada 2015 and has produced four six full length contemporary dance shows in Toronto. Including, “Laughter, Love and Lessons”, “Beauty?, “Survival”, “Touch of Psycho”, “VIRILEM” and “Luxuria”. He has danced professionally in Denmark, Sweden, Japan with Corpus Dance Projects in their productions of “Nuit Blanche”, “Lea Moutons” and “A Flock of Flyers”. He recently danced for the Canadian Opera Company as a features dancer at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in “La Traviata”. He also danced at the closing ceremonies for the Pan Am Games at The Rogers Centre. Colalillo has also partnered with Alysa Pires as co-producer for a choreographic showcase held twice a year in Toronto called INVERSE.
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