Unfold: A Portrait of Peggy Baker

By Carol Anderson
with a foreword by Mikhail Baryshnikov

Edmonton-born Peggy Baker is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding dance artists of her generation. For decades, she has influenced dancers in both modern dance and ballet, and has captivated audiences across North America, Asia and Europe. Baker has worked with the world’s leading dance figures to include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Paul-André Fortier, James Kudelka, Lar Lubovitch and Mark Morris; her collaborations with superb musicians, filmmakers, visual artists and designers are legend.

Through Anderson’s eloquent words and her intimate knowledge of the art form, we see inside the dance life of an extraordinary performer, creator and teacher: “She is a living integrator of impulse and emotion, and she shines with transformation. Baker is a complex and inspiring figure”.

Peggy Baker’s many honours and awards include the 2006 Premier’s (Ontario) Award for Excellence in the Arts, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Performance, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Calgary, the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. Appointed in 1992, Baker is the first ever Artist-in-Residence at Canada’s National Ballet School.

About the Author
Carol Anderson has pursued a diverse career as a contemporary dancer, choreographer, director, educator and writer. She started her performing career as a member of Judy Jarvis’ original company and in 1974 became a charter member of Dancemakers; she was the Toronto company’s artistic director from 1985-1988. Her own choreography includes numerous works for the concert stage, theatre and film. In 1988, Anderson began her writing career, and is the author of a growing body of writing on Canadian dance, and other cultural matters. She is an Associate Professor in the Dance Program at York University.