Digital Projects




Before becoming a developer, I had a celebrated career in the performing arts as dancer and choreographer. A livelihood in the arts instilled a sense of hard work, focus, team building, and a unique consideration for creating experiences (I believe artists and developers similarly want to create engaging and meaningful experiences). I’m a strong believer in life-long learning and lateral thinking, as both allow cross pollination of ideas, approaches, and solutions. As a designer, I bring with me the invaluable and transferrable skills acquired from my time in the arts.


Live performance has a beautiful, fleeting quality, as it only exists in the moment of its performance; in contrast, digital works have the potential – through decentralized copying, transferring, and duplicating – to remain on a device, server, or hard drive somewhere indefinitely. By bringing the qualities that make performance so special into enduring, web-based, digital environments, I create works that live beyond the moment of inception, create unique experiences, and continue to grow and evolve.

Dance Projects

Photographs by Sam So

Luke Garwood in Chasing the Path
Luke Garwood in Chasing the Path
Luke Garwood and Amanda Davis dancing

Human Body Expression


I've been working with Hanna Kiel of Human Body Expression since 2017. We met while I was working at Alias Dance Projects, where they commissioned the creation of her work Me, You & Us. I've since danced in her full length work Chasing The Path, for which we recieved a Dora nomination for best ensemble.

Photographs by Jeremy Mimnagh

Luke Garwood in elsewhere
Picture of dancers from lot X
picture of Luke Garwood from what it's like

adelheid


I've worked with Heidi Strauss since 2014, beginning with her piece For Me? I've since been a part of three of her company's full length productions including elsewhere, what it's like, and LOT X. My work with adelheid has garnered 2 Dora nominations, including a win for best ensemble with Naishi Wang and Michael Caldwell.

Photographs by Jeremy Mimnagh, Ginelle Chagnon, and Francesca Chudnoff

Luke Garwood from Looking for Elvis
Luke Garwood and Danielle Baskerville from 15 heterosexual duets
Luke Garwood from Soudain l'hiver dernier
Luke Garwood and Kaitlin Standeven from Nuit
Luke Garwood and Erin Poole from Paradis Perdu
Dancers from Avoidance

Citadel + Compagnie


I've danced with Citadel + Compagnie over the last 12 years in a variety of works, but mainly those of artistic director Laurence Lemieux and resident choreographer James Kudelka. This includes Fifteen Heterosexual Duets, In Paradisum, Soudain l'Hiver Dernier, Love Sex & Brahms, Alloneword, The Man in Black, Les Paradis Perdus/Remix, Jusqu'a Vimy, Looking for Elvis. Other works at Citadel + Company include Jean-Pierre Perreault's Nuit, Tori Mehaffey's Avoidance, and Nova Bhattacharya's Red and Yellow. I've been a part of 3 Dora nominations while at C+C.

Photographs by Heiko Marquardt

Image from Taking Steps
Luke Garwood and in Dance! Copy! Right?
Poster for Dance Is Not Enough

Christoph Winkler


I met Christoph while working at Toronto Dance Theatre, dancing in his commission Toronto Files for the Berlin/Toronto project. I'd go on to work in Berlin with Christoph three more times, creating Taking Steps, Dance!Copy!Right?, andDas Wahre Gesicht - Dance Is Not Enough. Dance Is Not Enough was the first independent production to win a German national FAUST award for best choreography in 2014.


More Works


My career in dance spans almost 15 years and I've worked with many great choreographers and companies in Canada and abroad. Here are a few examples.

Hover over image for description

Dancers from Magnetic Fields

Luke Garwood and Mairead Filgate in Yvonne Ng's Magnetic Fields (2014). Photographer: Jeremie Andrew

Luke Garwood in Land of Fuck

Luke Garwood in Darryl Hoskins' Land of Fuck (2012).

Dancers from Waving is Funny

Luke Garwood, Molly Johnson, and Tina Fushell in Fushell's Waving is Funny (2014).

Luke Garwood with Alias Dance Projects

Luke Garwood in Lauren Cook and Troy Feldman's overlook/outlook (2017). Photographer: Sam So

TDT's in the boneyard

Luke Garwood, Louis Laberge-Cote, and Matthew Waldie in Christopher House and The Hidden Cameras' In the Boneyard (2005).

Luke Garwood jumping in air

Luke Garwood in Delerium's Day Turn Into Nights music video (2013).

Luke Garwood in Balaklava Blues

Luke Garwood in Balaklava Blues at the Latitudes festival in the UK (2018).

Luke Garwood guiding a Linnea Swan through curtains

Luke Garwood and Linnea Swan in Allison Cummings' Final Savage Land (2013). Photographer: Omer Yukseker

Luke Garwood from Dissolver

Luke Garwood in Christopher House's dis/(sol/ve)r (2009). Photographer: Kristy Kennedy

Image of Luke Garwood from dissolver on cover of Dance Current

Luke Garwood in Christopher House's dis/(sol/ve)r on the cover of The Dance Current (2009). Photographer: David Hou

Walk Run Dance image of Luke Garwood

Luke Garwood, hanging out. Photographer: Michael Sean Marye (2013).

Scene from Jacqueries featuring Luke Garwood

Luke Garwood in Jacob Niedzwiecki's Jacqueries: part 1 (2013). Photographer: Vish Hansa

Luke Garwood in Kate Hilliard's Album

Luke Garwood in Kate Hilliard's Album (2014). Photographer: Jeremy Mimnagh

Luke Garwood and Johanna from Yvonne Ng's That Moment When

Luke Garwood and Johanna Bergfelt in Yvonne Ng's That Moment When (2019). Photographer: Ken Ewen

Luke Garwood and Danielle Baskerville from Jackie Burroughs is Dead and what are you going to do about it

Luke Garwood and Danielle Baskerville in Darryl Hoskins' Jackie Burrroughs is Dead and what are you going to do about it? (2016).


Bio

I’m a hybrid media designer, developer, dancer, and choreographer based in Toronto, Canada. I have over a decade of experience as a dancer and collaborator with many of Canada’s foremost dance makers. I've been nominated for 6 Dora Mavor Moore dance awards, receiving one with Michael Caldwell and Naishi Wang for best ensemble in Heidi Strauss' what it's like in 2017. I was also part of the team that won a national Faust award in Germany in 2015. Outside of dance I pursued a passion for coding and programming by attaining a BDes in Digital Futures from OCAD U, where I received the Dr. Eugene A. Poggetto, and Dorothy Hoover awards. As a creator, I’ve been acknowledged for the way I merge performance with technology –– this includes receiving the 2013 Soulpepper Multidisciplinary Dance Award.



Want to get in touch with me?

You can reach me at garwoodluke@gmail.com