D.A. Hoskins is a freelance choreographer and visual artist based in Toronto. Over the past fifteen years he has established himself as both a recognized dancer and choreographer. Professional dance experiences include work with the National Folk Dance Ensemble, Atlas Moves Watching, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Dance Theatre, Dancetheatre David Earle as well as host of independent creators.

D.A. Hoskins was the recipient of the 2004 Clifford E. Lee Award for distinction in choreography from the Banff Centre for the Arts and became the first choreographer outside of the United States to be asked to participate in Hubbard Street 2’s choreographic residence in Chicago.

He has created over forty choreographic works including commissions from the Elora Music Festival, Pendrecki String Quartet, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Open Ears Festival and Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra. His work has been presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario as part of an evening examining Sexuality and Censorship, and a retrospective on artist Barbara Hepworth. An excerpt from his full evening work The Mortality Songs was presented at a Holocaust Perspective at the Toronto Jewish Community Centre. This work was later to be presented in its entirety as a fundraiser for the Toronto People with Aids Foundation.

D.A. Hoskins has also created work for the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Ryerson University, and L’Ecole de Danse de Quebec and most recently for the Royal Conservatory’s Opera Ensemble in which he choreographed Ravel’s opera L’enfant et les Sortileges and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with theatre director Jennifer Tarver.

Collaborations have made a huge impact on the direction and evolution of his exercise in dance making. Toronto composer Gilles Goyette’s soundpaintings have been commissioned for six of Mr. Hoskins’ works – including Althea Frutex, FATHERWHOART, The Arms of Morpheous and China. Film work with independent filmmaker Nico Stagias and the development of multidisciplinary theatre works with spoken word artist and poet Jill Battson have resulted in the development of intriguing and fruitful collaborative works.

I have always had an interest in the visual arts – dance offers me the possibility to create landscapes in which I am able to express diversity and interaction with other artists. I see myself as a visual artist who directs within the dance idiom.

I have consciously created tasks within my work to further the depth and expressive potential of my creations. This has included the infusion of dance and theatre through vocalization, text, visual projections and the creation of physical settings. The inspiration for this comes from the languages of conceptual art, new media, and music videos.

What continues to be integral within my work is that it offers a personal perspective. I have become more conscious of the artists with whom I work. Their individual characters have come the for-front of my creations. How they filter and comment on the physical play is the integral force in creating work that has immediacy and vibrancy. It is this focus that gives my work its uniqueness.

D.A. Hoskins gratefully acknowledges the following funding bodies for their generous support: