SASHA IVANOCHKO
Sasha Ivanochko first developed her powerful physicality competing for ten years on the Canadian National Gymnastics Team. At the age of 14 she began training in Ballet and Modern dance at the Etobicoke School for the Performing Arts. In 1991 she graduated from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, where her primary teachers were Peter Randazzo, Suzette Sherman and Billyann Balay. Other influential teachers throughout her career include Christine Wright and Edward Hillyer (ballet), and Denise Fujiwara (Butoh), Tedd Robinson (choreography) and Katherine Duncanson (voice).
A virtuosic and multi-talented interpreter, Ivanochko has performed the work of many outstanding choreographers, including Peter Chin, Denise Fujiwara, DA Hoskins, Peggy Baker, James Kudelka, Michael Trent, Laurence Lemieux, Bill Coleman, Susie Burpee & Linnea Swan, Merce Cunningham, David Earle, José Navas, Patricia Beatty and Tedd Robinson. Between 1994 and 2003, Ivanochko performed with Toronto Dance Theatre, under the Artistic Direction of Christopher House. During her final two years with the company, Ivanochko acted as House’s Artistic Assistant.
Ivanochko first gained notice as a choreographer for two tiny creations which she performed at Toronto’s fFIDA festival in the late 90’s. Following this, she was invited by Cathy Levy (former Artistic Director of the Canada Dance Festival) to participate in the festival’s Mentorship Program, a pivotal experience moving her into the greater Canadian milieu. In 1999, she created her first major work, “The King and Queen of Ruins”, which garnered her national attention and toured across Canada through the Candance Network. Since then, Ivanochko has created a body of work renowned for its bravely candid performances, detailed craftsmanship and challenging content. Heaven, her first evening length work, toured nationally and internationally every year between 2006-2012. In 2008, with the creation of her self-solo, The future memory heartbreak junction, Ivanochko’s creative practice expanded to include her interests in theatre, text and vocal work.
Alongside her choreographies for Ivanochko et Cie, she has been commissioned by Toronto Dance Theatre, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, TILT sound+motion, Toronto’s Crazyfish Collective and independent artists Helen Husak (Calgary, Alberta), Naoko Murakoshi (Kobe, Japan) and Fabien Piché and Eve Rousseau-Cyr (Quebec).
Throughout her career, Ivanochko’s artistic contribution to the Canadian dance milieu has been acknowledged through a variety of awards and bursaries. Ivanochko is a five time Dora Mavor Moore nominee for Outstanding Performance and Best Choreography, the recipient of the 2007 K.M. Hunter Award, a two-time recipient of the Chalmers Family Fellowship (dispersed by the Ontario Arts Council), and the first recipient of The Kathryn Ash Award dispersed by the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In 2007, Ivanochko was profiled in the Bravo Channel Documentary Freedom Series.
A passionate advocate for health and status of artists and the position of the milieu in greater culture, Ivanochko served as Chair of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists, Ontario Chapter, from 2006-2009 and Chair of the Independent Standing Council with the Canadian Dance Assembly from 2009-2011.