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David Earle
David Earle was born in Toronto on September 17, 1939 as Charles David Ronald Earle.
As a truly renowned artist who is acknowledged as one of the most influential and greatest
contributors to the modern dance world, David has created 130 works over his career.
He first began dancing when he was 5 years old, learning ballet and tap. By the age of 8
he was putting on 4 performances a year with Toronto Children's Players which he continued
doing to the age of 19. At 20 years of age, he applied and was accepted into Toronto National
Ballet School on a scholarship where he studied for 4 years. It was at NBS where he met David
Himes from whom he was introduced to the world of modern dance. Through this introduction
David danced for 2 years in the Yone Kvietys' modern dance company until he graduated from
NBS. Upon completing his studies, he received a scholarship and went on to study with Martha
Graham in New York City. In addition to studying and working with Martha, he had the
David is credited with assisting in the success of England's London Contemporary Dance
Theatre company's first two seasons. After which, he returned to Toronto and together with
Patricia Beatty and Peter Randazzo, founded the Toronto Dance Theatre company. Though all
three shared the artistic director responsibilities, David Earle was known and recognized as the
most influential of the three. In 1979, he created TDT's professional Training Program. In 1987
he became the company's only artistic director and saw the company through two successful
seasons in New York as well as Europe and Asia. However, in 1996, David resigned from TDT
and left because of his disapproval of the direction in which the company was taking. He
relocated to Guelph where he established his own Dancetheatre David Earle company where he
could freely and permanently teach, express, and create through his own vision and beliefs.
David has been granted numerous awards through his career. These include the Clifford
E. Lee award and Dora Mavor Moore award in 1987, Toronto Arts Award in 1988, John A.
Chalmers award in 1994, Murriel Sherrin award in 1998, Canada Council for the Arts Jacqueline
Lemieux Prize in 2002, Water Carsen Prize in 2006, and even the Order of Canada in 1996.
His creations are known to be provocative and sensual. Not just in the physical sense
but in the intellectual sense as well. David focuses on the expression of humanity through
dance often having themes of harmony between contrasting elements such as Spiritual and
Carnal desires, Wonder and Beauty of the human form, the sacred and the profane, etc. His
pieces are thought provoking as David always thought it important to focus on the 'question'
rather than the 'answer' of humanity and life. As a teacher and artist, David wants most to
express, share, and challenge the notion of ecstasy through dance. Being a performer who
enjoys both the beauty and the musicality of dance, his pieces are often performed with a live
Some of David's most notable creations are Baroque Suite, Atlantis, Boat River Moon,
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