MISSION
Established in 2007, Belinda McGuire Dance Projects (BMDP) supports the research, development, production, and presentation of international and collaborative multidisciplinary dance performance as a means to stimulate the conscientious capacity of wide-ranging publics through exposure to creative experimentation and artistic excellence.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a dance artist and filmmaker, I aim to ‘reveal’ or allow-to-be-seen, rather than to ‘show.’ More specifically, my creative impetus is to reveal more about the relationship between things, not just the things themselves. I utilize choreographic and design-based lenses to frame, focus on, get close to, and better understand the subject. This has motivated my exploration of instinct and the conditioning of instincts, summarized as:
The environment [E] is designed (stage, lights, props, costumes, sound), and the animal [A] is conditioned (through training, practice, and exposure to the choreographic design, which is essentially a sequence of ‘proposed/available goals/behavior’), so that we can see what E affords A. As this practice continues (of rehearsal and performance), we see how E continues to condition A, and, intentionally or otherwise, how A reshapes or redesigns E, as well as the mode of conditioning.
I seek to illuminate the prevalence of relativity over randomness in the world; zoom in to the seemingly arbitrary and you will still find stimulus and response. There is hope and beauty in the belief that actions have consequences, so I celebrate that in my work.
Through dance creation, collaboration, and performance, I am committed to knowledge-making that helps us better understand the way things work: the inescapable stimulus and the consistency of response. By taking risks and allowing the micro failures and successes to be seen within macro accomplishments, courage becomes contagious.
My research, as a human being with questions about life, has been done primarily in solo form. I enjoy being indulgently rigorous in these endeavors, then harness this experience as I embark on large-scale creations, orchestrating the conditions which allow my dancers and collaborators to find a similar dynamic of freedom, responsibility, transparency, and authority within the work.
BIOGRAPHY
BELINDA MCGUIRE is an American-Canadian dancer, choreographer, filmmaker and Artistic Director of Belinda McGuire Dance Projects, based in Brooklyn and Mississauga. Her choreography has been supported by the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, and presented across the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, France and Mexico. A former student of the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, she completed her formal education at The Juilliard School.
Established in 2007, Belinda McGuire Dance Projects (BMDP) supports the research, development, production, and presentation of international and collaborative multidisciplinary dance performance as a means to stimulate the conscientious capacity of wide-ranging publics through exposure to creative experimentation and artistic excellence. Through BMDP, Belinda has commissioned and performed in world premieres by Kate Alton, Sylvain Émard, Andrea Miller, Sharon Moore, Idan Sharabi, Doug Varone, and Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten. In 2013, she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance in The Heist Project (2013), was awarded The Chrystal Dance Prize with Vanessa Goodman to support a collaborative new creation (2019) and recognized as a sponsored artist of USArtists International (2019). Additionally, Belinda has performed as a company member for Doug Varone and Dancers, Gallim Dance, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Anne Plamondon, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, Action at a Distance, and The José Limón Dance Company, appearing on stages across Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United States.
Formal residencies for Belinda McGuire Dance Projects include The American Center for Art and Culture Paris, Centre de Création O Vertigo, Éspace Marie Chouinard, International Choreographic Arts Centre Amsterdam, James Sewell Ballet Company, National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Workshop, New Dialect, New York State & Province of Quebec Artist-in-Residence Exchange Program, ODC San Francisco, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, Springboard Danse Montréal and the Bessie Schönberg Residency at the Yard in Martha’s Vineyard. She has taught and choreographed as a guest artist for Harvard, École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal, The Juilliard School, The Limón Institute, Marymount Manhattan College, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, State University of New York at Purchase, The National Ballet of Canada, Canada’s National Ballet School, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, Brooklyn Ballet, and Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre.
As a filmmaker, Belinda created the groundbreaking interactive dance film, Order in the Eye of the Beholder, released March 2021.
As a producer, Belinda launched one-woman shows “The Desert Island Project” (2008), “The Heist Project” (2011), “Three Muses” (2015) and “Waltz Slaughterhouse Requiem” (2017), and four iterations of a Brooklyn-based dance festival, Offset Dance Fest (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020).
'Like a great narrator, she’s a dancer you want non-stop closeness to, that sustained feeling of intimacy in both stillness and motion. While her lexicon of movement is broad, I came to trust the power of her delivery – the sense of motivation, the possibility of surprise – in every step.'
Martha Schabas - The Globe and Mail
‘Dynamism in a style all her own...’
‘[McGuire] is like a Greek god, a temptress…’
‘This modern dancer is making a splash as a solo artist, teacher and choreographer’
Kathryn Holmes - DANCE SPIRIT
‘A tireless whirlwind’
Susan Walker - TORONTO STAR
‘Reaching her arms out, with her dark hair flying, Ms. McGuire uses momentum to whip in and out of twists that place her body on a ragged edge of control. There are stops and starts; she arches her back, allowing the fine muscles of her shoulders to glimmer, nearly ghostlike, in Kate Ashton’s lighting. Even though it ends up where it starts, there is a hint of mystery along the way.’
Gia Kourlass - NEW YORK TIMES
‘Her ability to go instantly from light to dark, still to explosive, silly to deep, is impressive and continually startling… McGuire, though, throws off flashes of virtuosity from nowhere, blasting fast jumps or other large explosive devices so quickly they seem improbable. The power in her body is remarkable, as is the sheer volume of movement in this piece and the evening...’
Quinn Batson - OFFOFFOFF
“Even in a stark studio setting, without benefit of theatrical lighting, dancer Belinda McGuire is riveting… Her lithe body pulses with potential. It explodes into complex sequences of spiralling turns and jutting arms that suddenly give way to moments of intense stillness. Every movement is clearly articulated and purposeful, even when McGuire seems to be riding a wave of momentum.”
“Wise in her commissioning choices and courageous for undertaking such an ambitious work as a solo endeavour, Belinda McGuire succeeded brilliantly with The Heist Project. Hopefully, she will visit home again, bringing more choreographic treasures with her.”
Marie France Forcier - THE DANCE CURRENT
HISTORY
The launch of BMDP on the international dance scene began in 2007, with the inception of McGuire’s first evening-length production: The Desert Island Project. BMDP’s second full-length production, The Heist Project, was nominated for a 2013 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance. This project, among others, has lead to the creation of vibrant, impactful work, the best of which remains currently active, while new and exciting projects are in-progress.
Workshops, residencies and master classes are coordinated between BMDP and various companies and schools, to introduce other dancers to the technical methods and expressive power of the repertoire.
BMDP creates, practices and shares work primarily on the traditional territory of the Munsee Lenape, Canarsie, Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, Attiwonderonk, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Mississauga, Wendake-Nionwentsïo.