By S. Tiees Morgan
He’s half monk, half choreographer, but the music came before the monastery.
Tedd Senmon Robinson, known for his bizarre juxtapositions of humour and tragedy, once studied music at Toronto’s York University. Being a dancing monk was not what he pictured for his future, but after switching majors from music to dance, it was leaps and turns right up to the Chalmers National Dance Award he received in 1998.
Robinson, 47, worked for six years as the artistic director of Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers before returning to Ottawa in 1990, to work as an independent dancer and choreographer.
Robinson’s creation, Threnody for People with No Particular Problem, premiered Nov. 26 to a full house at the Arts Court Theatre. He created the piece for dancers at Le Groupe Dance Lab, a local modern dance troupe.
Peter Boneham, artistic director of Le Groupe, says Robinson’s latest work adds richness of movement and combines light-hearted movements with oppressive ones creating a perfect marriage.
“Tedd challenges the dancers, technically, but also invites them to be interpreters of his movement, to bring their own artistry to his vision,” says Boneham.
One of the dancers is Robert Abubo. He says he likes Robinson’s style.
“I really love performing it. I think it’s pretty unconventional and full of humour.”
He says the last choreographer they worked with made them wear boots and street clothes. Robinson had them barefoot and platinum blond.
Robinson says being a monk indirectly influences his choreography by changing the way he sees and hears things.
“My dances have become a lot less dark. I always had humour but it was darker humour.”
Robinson says his responsibilities as a monk and choreographer usually work well together but around showtime it gets difficult.
“Sometimes I have to do a monk thing when I’m supposed to be doing a choreographer thing and the monastery people are covering for me because I might not be able to make it.”
Robinson has practiced Hakukaze Soto Zen at the Ottawa Zen Centre since 1990.
“One day you walk in, you say you’re going to go for an introductory workshop, find out what this Zen stuff is and then the next thing you know, you have a shaved head.”
Becoming a monk is roughly a four-year process. First you become a lay monk, then a postulant monk, then a novice monk for two years.
To him, Zen is not a religion, it is a practice. His day begins at 3:50 a.m. with a little help from his cat who wakes him up. After coffee, he does two hours of sitting zazen before starting his dance duties which include a trip to his personal trainer, a visit to a chiropractor and a dance class.
Following afternoon rehearsals, he goes back to the monastery to prepare for the evening meal and spend two more hours sitting.
But he doesn’t go to bed right after.
“I watch a little TV,” he says with a confessing smile.
Robinson’s sense of humour stands out despite his solemn appearance. Dancer Abubo explains:
“He’s got this serious aura about him. He’s bald, he always wears black, he has these large dark eyes that stare you down, but every now and then he cracks a joke and he’s hilarious.”