Ready to rumble

>> Wrestler-turned-dancer Allen Kaeja brings Resistance to Agora de la danse

by MARITES CARINO

"During high-school, three to four nights a week, I would go out dancing. I would go so nuts that I would clear the dance floor. So I could only dance solo," says Allen Kaeja, flailing his arms to demonstrate. "No one would dance with me."

Now, though, people want to dance for him. Kaeja is co-artistic director of the Toronto dance company Kaeja d'Dance. Resistance, his latest work in progress, will be showcased this week at Agora de la Danse.

Dancing wasn't always Kaeja's only passion. During his high school and university days, Kaeja was known for his wrestling skills, which brought him victories at world class competitions such as the Can-Am games.

Back then, Kaeja was buff and didn't have the sleek dance body he has now. "Before, my arms were out to here," he says, puffing up his upper body, "And I had no neck!" When he attended his high school reunion, Kaeja says, "People couldn't believe this consummate wrestler turned into a dancer."

Twenty years ago, when he was 20, Kaeja took his first dance class, using the excuse that it was to perfect his wrestling skills. "When I walked into the dance studio, I thought this is it. There's no question. This is my life." Since then he's danced, taught, choreographed and performed.

Kaeja says Resistance, a sextet, recalls the resistance he encountered throughout his lifetime, like when he told his family he wanted a career in dance or when he started studying at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. "When I started dancing, I was told I'd never be a choreographer," he says. He was subsequently kicked out of the school for being too independent; now he's on staff.

For Resistance, Kaeja takes personal experiences and the "idea of following your beliefs." He says the piece is also "in honour of the people who took the risk to stand up for the rights of everyday living," like his father, who was a Holocaust survivor. Resistance completes The Old Country Trilogy, a three-part Holocaust-based work.

Resistance, at Agora de la danse, Aug. 5 at 8pm, Aug. 6 at 4 pm; free, but call 525-7575 for reservations