Dance of the Cranes, 2009

Brandon Vickerd - Toronto, Canada

Performance Art

Dance of the Cranes is a collaborative performance piece consisting of a 13-minute choreographed dance performed by two high-rise construction cranes. The dance will be performed at the beginning of every hour, from 7 pm to 3 am, on the night of Nuit Blanche. At designated times, two tower construction cranes standing on the same site and visible above the Toronto skyline, will come to life in a synchronized spectacle of motion. In the darkness they will slowly begin to pivot, rotate and sway in harmonized gestures, each crane performing delicate motions hundreds of metres above the audience on the sidewalk below. This work is a meditation on the movement and labour that takes place on a colossal scale in the physical building of our urban landscape. It is an attempt to draw the audience's attention to the massive machines that build our city above our heads and the skill of the individuals that operate the cranes.

This performance is a collaborative work developed by Brandon Vickerd with the support of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 793 (who operate the cranes) and the developers, CanAlfa.

Brandon Vickerd is a Toronto-based sculptor and a professor at York University. He has received numerous awards and grants, and his work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently in Edinburgh UK, Halifax NS, and Dawson City YU.

Suitable for all ages

In association with IUOE Local 793

Thank you to:
CanAlfa