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Zack Gonder grew up near Chicago and trained at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, under the tutelage of Randy Duncan. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 2018 where he performed works by Austin McCormick, Aszure Barton, Pam Tanowitz, Richard Alston, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano and Crystal Pite. In 2024, he was in the Broadway show Illinoise, choreographed by Justin Peck, at the St. James Theater, as well as its Off Broadway runs at the Park Avenue Armory and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He has performed with Pam Tanowitz Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Mark Morris Dance, PARA.MAR Dance, Zvi Dance, and most recently, toured with Twyla Tharp Dance for her Diamond Jubilee.
First worked with aB: 2015

Performer

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Christopher Gilmore designs for theatre, opera, dance, and live performance. Recent designs include “El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered” (American Modern Opera Company: Opera Omaha, Stanford Live, Yale Schwarzman Center, St. John The Divine), Boston Ballet School: Next Generation 2023 (Boston Ballet), Wine in the Wilderness (co-design Kathy Perkins, Two River Theatre), “Seven Deadly Spins” (La Jolla Music Society), Luke Hickey’s A Little Old, A Little New (The Joyce @ Chelsea Factory, American Dance Festival 2022, New Victory Dance Festival 2023), With Care (AMOC: 92Y), Ensemble Connect Up Close: Through Movement (Carnegie Hall), CAGE (AMOC), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (NYFA). Assistant/Associate: Siegfried (Virginia Opera), Only an Octave Apart (Spoleto Festival USA, Gate Theatre Dublin), La Boheme (Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Philadelphia), Harawi (AMOC: DeSingel, Bayer Leverkusen, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg), Broken Theatre (AMOC: Carolina Performing Arts, OZ Arts Nashville, La MaMa ETC), Assembly (Park Avenue Armory), Trevor: A New Musical (Stage42), Radio Golf (TRT), Log Cabin (Playwrights Horizons), also multiple productions at American Repertory Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company. Proud graduate of Emerson College.

Associate Lighting Designer

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Jennifer Florentino, born in Paterson, NJ, is a storyteller with a multidisciplinary career in dance, theater, TV and film. She received her BFA in Dance from Point Park University. Recent credits include world premiere, A a | a B: BEND and Kidd Pivot’s Assembly Hall by Crystal Pite & Jonathan Young. Florentino was also involved in the development of Broadway productions such as Moulin Rouge The Musical, Justin Peck’s Illinoise and Once Upon a One More Time. Her artistic career has allowed her to perform across the country. Television/Film credits include Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Kiss of a Spider Woman, Smile 2, Up Here, Modern Love, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Isn't It Romantic, Kennedy Center Honors (Gloria Estefan), and SNL. Theater: Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl, Life & Trust, Only Gold, Evita and On Your Feet (1st National) Dance Companies: Aszure Barton & Artists, Kidd Pivot and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.
First worked with aB: 2016

Performer

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Abdiel Figueroa Reyes was born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, before moving to the United States in 2011. He graduated from the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts with a Dance Major in 2016, then joined Contemporary West Dance Theater as an apprentice. In 2019, he became a company member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he continued to develop his artistry until 2024. Figueroa's achievements include being named one of the "Top 25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine in 2020 and he was awarded the Princess Grace Award in 2022. Recently, he was featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Local Chicago 2023 for his aspirations towards innovative dance. He is excited to follow Aszure Barton and Artists as a freelancer performer, while simultaneously developing his choreographic voice. 
First worked with aB: 2017

Performer

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Jeff Docimo is a New York based performer and creator. He was a member of Punchdrunk's production 'Sleep No More' from 2015 to 2024, and is currently working with Aszure Barton. Docimo has also worked with artists such as Bryan Arias, Madboots Dance, and Peter Chu. He has been featured in music videos for artists such as T-Pain, Rick Ross, and Dave Mackay.
First worked with aB: 2021 

Performer

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Tobin Del Cuore began his artistic journey in dance. He attended The Juilliard School and after graduating, joined the artists of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he danced for six years. Del Cuore has since performed with Aszure Barton & Artists, The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, The Metropolitan Opera, BalletX, Alessandra Ferri Dance, Houston Grand Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, and SFDanceworks. In 2011, Del Cuore founded his production company, Imagination + Muscle, producing and directing numerous music videos, documentaries, commercials, promos, dance films, and multi-camera live performance captures. He works closely with Aszure Barton, assisting in new creations, staging existing work, and creating video projections. 
First worked with aB: 2010

Performer and Video Designer

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Tony Crawford is a technical director and production manager with more than 15 years of experience in dance and performing arts; select experiences include: Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (Operations and Production Manager); Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (Technical Director); Twyla Tharp Diamond Jubilee Tour (Production Stage Manager); New York City Ballet (Assistant Technical Director); Brooklyn Academy of Music (Production Coordinator). Crawford also has a BS in Geographic Information Science with an interest in conservation and resiliency of natural resources, and he restores and refinishes mid-century modern furniture.

Production Manager

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American-Canadian dancer Nora Brown trained at the Boston Ballet School and Manhattan Youth Ballet before performing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, and Ballett im Revier. From 2015 to 2022 she was a member of Gauthier Dance at Theaterhaus Stuttgart and began working with Aszure Barton & Artists in 2023. Nora has originated roles in works by Aszure Barton, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Cayetano Soto, Marie Chouinard, and Nacho Duato and performed repertoire by Ohad Naharin, Mauro Bigonzetti, Hans van Manen, David Dawson, and George Balanchine, among others. Nora also holds a bachelor’s in art history and a master’s in curating from the Zurich University of the Arts.
First worked with aB: 2023

Performer

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A graduate with a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design from the École Supérieure de Mode, Rémi van Bochove was discovered with his first collection “Les Fleurs d'Opium” presented during the 2017 Fashion and Design Festival. To this day, the collection of Asian and futuristic inspirations has been a resounding success on the Montreal and international scene. Original, fluid, colorful and sometimes cinematic, his creations have been seen in music videos and visuals of several performing artists including Louis-Jean Cormier, Philippe Dunnigan, Apashe, Pierre Kwenders, Mulay, Lubalin, Sarahmée and many more. Van Bochove has created costumes for dance projects such as “La Résistance” by Lydia Bouchard and Merryn Kritzinger, “Animal of Distinction” by Dana Gingras, and “Les chambres des Jacques” by Aszure Barton for Ballets Jazz Montreal. And other creative projects: from C2 Montreal, to “Sakuya Lumina” by Moment Factory in Japan, and Attitude's “Raise the bar” campaign.

Costume Designer
Description

Leighton Artist Studios is pleased to present an artist talk by Ryan Van Der Hout, recipient of the 2026 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography. During their awarded residency at Banff Centre, Van Der Hout will share insights into their interdisciplinary practice spanning photography, stained glass, and sculpture.

Their work investigates transformation through processes of breaking and reassembly, creating luminous portraits and large-scale installations that trace both fracture and connection. During the residency, Van Der Hout will explore the intersection of geological and human time, integrating analog darkroom processes with stained glass techniques to create new works that collapse temporal scales into unified forms.

The Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography supports one mid-career Canadian artist annually with a fully funded residency at Banff Centre. Established by the friends and family of the late artist Barbara Spohr, the award encourages the advancement of Canadian contemporary photography by providing financial and creative support to artists whose practices have made significant contributions to the field.

This event is presented in partnership with Exposure Photography Festival and made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Government of Canada, Government of Alberta, and the friends and family of Barbara Spohr.

Ryan Van Der Hout, edge state, 2024.
Page Summary
Ryan Van Der Hout, recipient of the 2026 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award, shares their interdisciplinary practice in photography, stained glass, and sculpture.
Exhibition
No
Free
Yes
Donation
Off
Banff Centre Artist/Practicum/Staff Only
Off
Licensed
Off
Performance Date
Date
Extra Description

4-5:30 PM

Expandable Content

Biography

RyanvanderHout.JPG

Photo credit: Kristina Ruddick.

 

Ryan Van Der Hout (b. 1987, Canada) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice investigates transformation through fragmentation and reflection, using glass and mirrors as both material and metaphor for queer experience and becoming. They create works that challenge how we see ourselves and our environment, inviting viewers to witness how breaking can reveal new possibilities.

Central to Van Der Hout's practice is the innovative use of photographic imagery as a foundational element in creating three-dimensional objects and installations. In their "Twice Broken Glass" series, they explore parallel acts of destruction—shattering one pane through violent impact while precisely cutting another to mirror the breaks, then repairing both identically using traditional stained glass techniques. This investigation continues in their photographic glass portraits, where intimate images printed on glass are deliberately shattered and reconstructed into fragmented new forms, suggesting that when we put ourselves back together after breaking, we become stranger but more authentic versions of ourselves.

Van Der Hout's public works function as large optical devices, reflecting and refracting surrounding space to create ongoing physical dynamics with viewers. Their monumental sculpture "To Reflect Everything" (Washington Square Park, 2025, Toronto Sculpture Garden, 2023) used hundreds of mirror panels to create an optical device that transforms public space, drawing on the disco ball's history as a symbol of queer sanctuary and the satellite's promise of alternative futures.

Van Der Hout holds an MFA from Parsons at The New School and a BFA in Photography from Metropolitan University. Their work has been featured in Time Out NY, NBC News, Vogue Italia, Fortune Magazine, and CBC. Recent solo exhibitions include "Mending Shards" (United Contemporary, 2024) and "To Reflect Everything" (Toronto Sculpture Garden, 2023). They have created public art for NYC Parks, the City of Toronto, and Nuit Blanche, and have been supported by the Ontario Arts Council and awarded the Emerging Artist Award by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Barbara Spohr Memorial Award from the Banff Centre.

 

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Event Subtitle
Ryan Van Der Hout
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