{"id":115389,"date":"2025-06-20T14:09:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T18:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=115389"},"modified":"2025-06-23T08:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T12:00:01","slug":"interview-karen-kaeja-mayumi-lashbrook-porch-view-dances-returns-14th-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/06\/20\/interview-karen-kaeja-mayumi-lashbrook-porch-view-dances-returns-14th-season\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Karen Kaeja &amp; Mayumi Lashbrook: Porch View Dances Returns For A 14th Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_115393\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115393\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-82.jpg\" alt=\"Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-82.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-82-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-82-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-82-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115393\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Porch View Dances returns for 2025, running from July 16 to 20 in Seaton Village. The popular public dance series produced by the award-winning Kaeja d\u2019Dance company. PVD takes porches, alleyways, and sidewalks, and transforms them into a stage for dance.<\/p>\n<p>The family friendly event brings together professional choreographers and members of the community in performance.<\/p>\n<p>The theme for this year\u2019s PVD is \u201cThe Surprise of the Unknown\u201d. Audiences are invited to come along for a journey of not only dance, but hidden vignettes, interactive installations, and real people dancing in real spaces.<\/p>\n<p>The featured artists this year are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>KINAJ (Kin Nguyen &amp; AJ Velasco) \u2014 Vignette Co-Choreographers<\/li>\n<li>Pulga Muchochoma, Nicola Pantin, Diana Lopez Soto \u2014 Porch Choreographers<\/li>\n<li>Kunji Ikeda &amp; Allen Kaeja \u2014 CoTour Guides<\/li>\n<li>Mio Sakamoto \u2014 Installation Choreographer \/ Flock Landing Lead<\/li>\n<li>Katie Adams-Gossage, Sophie Dow, Yui Ugai \u2014 Flock Landing Dancers<\/li>\n<li>Jim Adams \u2014 Land Gratitude Address<\/li>\n<li>Edgardo Moreno \u2014 Composer, Flock Landing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We spoke to <strong>Karen Kaeja<\/strong>, Kaeja d\u2019Dance Co-Founder\/Artistic Director, and <strong>Mayumi Lashbrook<\/strong>, Co-Curator, about this year\u2019s Porch View Dances.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7uLW2u0momM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Porch View Dances: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>Did Kaeja think the dance series would be running 14 years after its inception?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s a miracle,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of reasons for its appeal. \u201cI think it&#8217;s that it&#8217;s family oriented, it&#8217;s easygoing, it&#8217;s entertaining. People seeing themselves,\u201d Karen adds. \u201cThere&#8217;s a sense of community and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That feeling only grows as the event goes on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that it&#8217;s built in to how it&#8217;s created as well as how it&#8217;s experienced,\u201d says Lashbrook. The audience tends to pull in people who wouldn\u2019t necessarily go to a formal dance performance \u2014 just as the performance pulls in non-dancers along with professionals.<\/p>\n<p>As she points out, it\u2019s also about cultivating a love of the arts.<\/p>\n<p>Kaeja has noticed a difference in the audiences and their approach over the last few years, before, during and after the pandemic. \u201cIt&#8217;s interesting,\u201d she says of the progression. \u201cThey want to connect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indirectly, it\u2019s a way of potentially introducing them to the notion that art and performance offers connection and healing. \u201cIt eases into art. It is dance specific, but it&#8217;s also art for in general.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Lashbrook and Kaeja worked on the theme together.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115395\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115395\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115395\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-9-1.jpg\" alt=\"Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-9-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-9-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-9-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-9-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115395\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Surprise of the Unknown<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe Surprise of the unknown, it can be really scary,\u201d Mayumi says. It can spark a negative reaction, and have a polarizing effect. PVD plays with the idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt creates an opportunity to sit with fear in a way that&#8217;s fun,\u201d Lashbrook says. \u201cIt allows us to be a little more resilient to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Audience members can choose which route to take through the event, and depending on that choice, there are situations and events that will appear seemingly out of nowhere, beyond the porches where the specific dance performances take place. \u201cThey may walk by, they may stop and witness it,\u201d Kaeja says.<\/p>\n<p>Guides lead the crowd from one dance to the next.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time in Toronto, we have two tour guides,\u201d Kaeja says. She reports that the duo are collaborating on putting together \u201csomething surprising\u201d for the event. \u201cThey&#8217;re going to lead the audience and tour them through the neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Allen Kaeja, Co-Artistic Director of the company, has served in the role of tour guide. This year, he\u2019s joined by dance theatre artist and artistic director of Cloudsway Dance Theatre Kunji Ikeda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir energy is electric,\u201d Lashbrook says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderneath that, there is a level of care for the audience,\u201d Karen points out. The guides also keep an eye out for the audience as they make their way along what is essentially a tour.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115394\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115394\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-11-1.jpg\" alt=\"Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-11-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-11-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-11-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/unnamed-11-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115394\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scene from Porch View Dances 2024 (Photo courtesy of Porch View Dances)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Tour<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThere are three porches, and then there are three vignettes, and then there is one installation,\u201d Mayumi explains.<\/p>\n<p>The event incorporates many places to stop and engage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree porch choreographers, and a duo does the vignettes \u2014 it&#8217;s a very full evening,\u201d Lashbrook adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year we have an installation that&#8217;s new,\u201d Kaeja notes. This year\u2019s commissioned installation will last the whole five days of the event.<\/p>\n<p>Without giving too much away, it\u2019s an installation the audience moves through as they come together for the performances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are a really diverse group,\u201d Mayumi says of the choreographers, Pulga Muchochoma, Nicola Pantin, Diana Lopez Soto for the porch dances, and KINAJ for the three vignettes.<\/p>\n<p>They represent different styles of dance, and each brings their own crew of dancers to perform with them \u2014 with the stipulation that they\u2019re not professional dancers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat that has done as well is opened up the festival beyond community centric and made it Toronto wide,\u201d Karen points out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think one of the things that we really worked on this year was having the choreography come out of public space, or private spaces as well,\u201d Lashbrook says. That means the dances will emerge from unexpected spaces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get to be into the secret,\u201d Mayumi says. \u201cWitnessing audience members be truly surprised \u2014 I think that there will be a lot of joy in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>Kaeja says that many people in her base team have been working with her and PVD for years, including the technical assistant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of what i&#8217;m working forward to it having this base, and really being able to hold space for everyone,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel this sort of earth base with my team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Choreographers are given basic guidelines, with a lot of freedom to do with the format as they wish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don&#8217;t know what people are creating, we really give them free rein,\u201d Karen says. \u201cThey&#8217;re very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The dance tour ends with the Flock Landing, which takes place at a local park. \u201cFor me, the Flock Landing is always such a heart warmer.\u201d After the tour, the vignettes, the surprises, the crowd pours into the park for the finale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find more details, where to meet, and other details [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaeja.org\/pvd2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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