Allison Cummings is a performer/choreographer/director, that operates under the umbrella name ‘Sore for Punching You’. She is based in Toronto, Canada. She has worked as either an actor or dancer for many local indies and companies including, D.A. Hoskins, Michael Trent, DNA Theatre, Kate Alton and Bill James among others. Her choreography has been shown at many venues and festivals nationwide including The Theatre Centre (2002 residency program and independently), Hysteria, Edgy Women in Montreal, Toronto Dance Theatre’s Four at the Winch, MoonHorse DanceTheatre’s Older and Reckless among others. She has produced her own multi-disciplinary shows, Quiver 2002, Clutch in 2006, Devouring Lions co-presented at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 2009.

She was the 2000 recipient of The Toronto Emerging Artist Award in Dance, shortlisted for the K.M. Hunter Award in 2006 and 2008 and recently awarded the John P. And Susan D. Fellowship in recognition of her residency at the prestigious Djerrassi Resident Artists Program in California 2012. As a 2010 recipient of the prestigious Chalmers Professional Development Grant, she utilized the award to study intimately with renowned Theatre Director Eda Holmes, Associate Director of the Shaw Festival 2010 and 2011.

Allison has initiated many interdisciplinary collaborations such as a film installation with BlueMouth Inc’s Stephen O’Connell, co-produced by The Moving Pictures Festival and Trinity Square Video in November 2005. Other examples of interdisciplinary and site specific work include The Goblin Market at Equity Showcase Theatre, Combat at Summerworks Festival with Tinybird Theatre, the War and Peace Marathon, a cover to cover non-stop public reading of Leo Tolstoys epic novel War and Peace over 57 hours in downtown Toronto and the critically acclaimed Queen West Project, a audio and performance tour of the grounds of CAMH with London based live artist Deborah Pearson through Theatre Passe Muraille.

International work inspired by and interacting with local communities include some choreographing a contemporary piece with a group of traditional dancers of Okotobrigya Dance in Ghana, West Africa. The final work was presented by the Canadian High Commission as part of Le Semaine de la Francophonie in Accra, Ghana, March 2008.

Allison participated in an Artist in Residency program at Compeung Village in Northern Thailand, March 2010, her focus was entering into the local market in order to engage the vendors in an exchange.

She returned as an invited artist in Nov/Dec 2011 to develop and premier the installation my hearts afloat as part of a group show Compeung Revisited at the Chiang Mai Arts and Culture Centre.

Youth and community oriented work has been practiced locally as the first Artist in Residence at the June Callwoods Centre for Women and Families in 2011. Field Trip, a three day intensive interdisciplinary creation workshop offered by Allison and long standing collaborator Lyon Smith has been held for developing professionals in Toronto and Ottawa.

Allison recently concluded a three year ongoing contract as the HarbourKIDS programmer of festivals at Harbourfront Centre through the performing arts department. These festivals offered contemporary art events that recognize children from 0-12 as a sovereign art goers in the world of art making.

Touring work includes her endurance piece Burden in Toronto and Calgary at the M:ST Performance Art festival, You Are Invited a performance Installation (both interactive) and her new and most recent work Final Savage Land premiered in the gallery Oz studios in Toronto in January 2013, and was immediately invited to be presented by SummerWorks in August 2013 and then later presented at Canada Dance Festival 2014 and Fluid Festival (Calgary), 2014.