09/11/2025
MERCY by Philip Szporer (Canada)
Philip have been immersed in the world of Canadian dance, spanning dance arts, performance, journalism, education and film for over 40 years. I have presented artistic works internationally, speaking at artistic events and educational institutions as well as hosting workshops that promote the knowledge of dance and dance cinema. I am also a researcher and continue to mentor emerging artists.
In 2001 I co-founded Mouvement Perpétuel, a media arts production company based in Montreal, with Marlene Miller, and we have received numerous awards for our work there. Together, we co-directed and co-produced an acclaimed collection of documentaries, dance short films and installation works. These impressionist creations have been described as “a
deeply intimate tracing of the curvatures of the human experience.”
In 2018, I co-founded Dance+Words with Kathleen Smith, an initiative to disseminate ideas and facilitate discussions around dance and the movement arts. These projects reflect an intergenerational, inclusive, respectful, and curious attitude towards reflection and commitment to the Canadian dance scene.
Philip currently teach at Concordia University and in 2016 I was recognized with the Faculty of Fine Arts Excellence in Teaching Award. Philip have also been a researcher in residence at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts (2000-2016). In 1999, He was awarded a Pew Scholarship (National Dance/Media Project) from the University of California, Los Angeles and in 2010 I was honoured with the Jacqueline Lemieux Award awarded by the Arts Council of Canada.
Philip have also worked as a journalist for CBC Radio, for the radio magazine Aux Arts, etc. of Radio-Canada, as well as correspondent for The World (BBC/WGBH-Boston). His writings on dance have been published in The Dance Current, Tanz and Dance Magazine, among others. He have also contributed to academic essays and chapters in works such as Motion Pictures: Dance’s Duet with the Camera (Palgrave Macmillan), Envisioning Dance on Film and Video (Routledge) and The Oxford Handbook on Jewishness and Dance (Oxford University Press).
