Downtown & All Around Snuneymuxw
Our mandate is to inspire. This is possible through the dedication of our community and with the astonishing ingenuity that fuels artists when resourcefulness is the only answer. By its very name contemporary dance constantly redefines itself. This year we reflect on traditions while forwarding transformation to enterprising heights.
Join us in our Silver Sandbox of discovery, of stunning innovations that move the audience around town while they also move the soul. Silver is said to be a mirror to the soul, helping us to see ourselves as others see us. It is believed to draw negative energy out of the body and replace it with positive energy.
Connect with friends from around the world as we [safely] transform ‘these times’ into silver-lined, shared experiences full of wonder and connection, reflection and advancement.
Join us for your transformative encounter at InFrinGinG Dance Festival Summer 2021!
Explore the Events
- All Bodies Dance Project
- Augmented Reality Tour + Two Apparitions = Mural Magic Through Movement
- Fleuve | Espace Dance, QC
- Facing the Day
- Huulth Huultha, 2020 (Premiered at InFrinGinG 2020)
- Kimono Path | Threading Side by Side
- Motus Domum
- Nordic/Nanaimo Exchange
- SOLD OUT: Silent Disco with Collective Groove
- THRU THE ROOF
- To Take in the Morning – An Awakening Ritual
All Bodies Dance Project
All Bodies Dance Project (Vancouver) is an inclusive dance company
located on unceded Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC), allbodiesdance.ca
In ABDP’s inclusive dance practice, differences are regarded as creative strengths and dancers explore the choreographic possibilities of wheelchairs, crutches, canes and celebrate diverse ways of moving and perceiving. The company’s work straddles between labels of community-engaged and professional practice. They aim to dismantle assumptions, biases and default notions around contemporary dance, the theatre and the dancing body.
Ho.Me
DANCE FOR THE CAMERA – Anytime – All the time
Ho.Me (2019) is a dance film created by Carolina Bergonzoni and Gemma Crowe Dancers: Mathew Chyzyk, Peggy Leung and Harmanie Taylor Music: Alex Mah
Ho.Me explores themes of belonging, comfort and discomfort in relation to the notion of inhabiting the body. The piece is comprised of three portraits of individuals who exist in different bodies but are linked by a certain narrative. The three performers move through solo material in the private, intimate, space of their homes, and eventually become an ensemble in the formal setting of an art gallery, building a connection that speaks to togetherness. Ho.Me revels in the beauty of difference and the universality of the body; it highlights the relationship between the body and the self and the creative possibilities of the body.
Dance film created by: Carolina Bergonzoni and Gemma Crowe
Dancers: Mathew Chyzyk, Peggy Leung and Harmanie Taylor
Music: Alex Mah
All Bodies Dance Project (ABDP) is an inclusive dance company located on unceded Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC). Founded in 2014, ABDP brings together artists with and without disabilities to explore the endless creative possibilities of difference. The company offers accessible and inclusive dance classes for people of all abilities, genders and backgrounds in addition to creating opportunities for diverse artists to practice, research and create innovative, inclusive dance. ABDP seeks to make opportunities for every body to discover dance and for under-represented artists to access dance training and mentorship. We want to widen the spectrum of who dances and what dance can be.
Sanctuary
DANCE FOR THE CAMERA – Anytime – All the time
Sanctuary (2019) is a dance film created by Martin Borden, Rianne Svelnis and Harmanie Rose
Originally created as a live, sight-specific performance, Sanctuary is a dance re-imagined for the camera. The film features two bodies searching for calm inside the sounds and sights of an urban landscape. Harmanie and Rianne ask the question inside and outside their bodies: how can we create a sanctuary for an embodied experience in a public space? How does dance and embodiment change this public scene? And how are our bodies affected by the public gaze, and by one another?
A dance film by Martin Borden, Rianne Svelnis and Harmanie Rose All Bodies Dance Project 2019 MST, Vancouver, BC
All Bodies Dance Project (ABDP) is an inclusive dance company located on unceded Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC). Founded in 2014, ABDP brings together artists with and without disabilities to explore the endless creative possibilities of difference. The company offers accessible and inclusive dance classes for people of all abilities, genders and backgrounds in addition to creating opportunities for diverse artists to practice, research and create innovative, inclusive dance. ABDP seeks to make opportunities for every body to discover dance and for under-represented artists to access dance training and mentorship. We want to widen the spectrum of who dances and what dance can be.
Augmented Reality Tour + Two Apparitions
= Mural Magic Through Movement
CCD Commissioned Nanaimo artists, 1 guest animator and Calgary’s MAUD Collective to bring depth to reality through Augle software. Also programmed in the tour are 2 works that appears as physical representations of augmented reality. Animations by Leslie Bishko (Emily Carr). Augmented reality Augle Software by MAUD Collective
Take the tour:
- Sxwuxwa’us (Thunderbird), AR, Eliot White-Hill, artist – Ay Lelum, composer – Location: HarbourFront Library: 90 Commercial Street, July 8: 10am to 8pm, July 9 and 10: 10am to 5pm, Nanaimo Museum on Sunday, July 11: 10am to 4pm About the artist and the project description visit HERE
Lightbones AR, Mauro Dalla Costa, artist/composer – Location: Lucid Clothing: 35 Commercial St, 10am to 6pm About the artist and the project description visit HERE
Permanent Temporariness, Michael Yaremkewich; If Augmented Reality were a canvas – Location: Literacy CVI: 35 Commercial St, 10am to 6pm
Social Mixer, Mark Ashby, A 3D work commissioned and held within City of Nanaimo’s Public Art Inventory, 411 Dunsmuir St, Weekdays 9am to 4pm~ Limited access: the City requests viewing when pandemic restrictions have lifted.
Devices Requirements for AUGLE Download:
Please also know that there are certain device requirements to use the app:
To get the AUGLE experience you will have to have the following phone requirements:
iOS: iPhone 7+ and iPhone 6s (but not 6) running iOS 13 or later.
Android: A device capable of running Android 10 (Q).
Many Android devices running Android 9 (Pie) will work, but not all.
The reason this problem with android happens is that there are a dozen manufacturers all with their own product lines.
Complimentary event thanks to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign
Artist: Eliot White-Hill
Composer: Ay Lelum
Location: HarbourFront Library: 90 Commercial Street, Nanaimo
Dates:
- July 8: 10 am to 8pm
- July 9:10am to 5pm
- July 10: 10am to 5pm
Nanaimo Museum on Sunday, July 11: 10am to 4pm
Learn more about the artist and project below.
Artist/composer: Mauro Dalla Costa
Location: Lucid Clothing: 35 Commercial Street, Nanaimo
Dates: July 8-11, 2021
Time: 10am to 6pm
Learn more about the artist and project below.
If Augmented Reality were a canvas
Artist: Michael Yaremkewich
Location: Literacy CVI: 35 Commercial Street
Dates: July 8-11, 2021
Time: 10am to 6pm
Artist: Mark Ashby
A 3D work commissioned and held within City of Nanaimo’s Public Art Inventory, 411 Dunsmuir St, weekdays 9am to 4pm
~ Limited access: the City requests viewing when pandemic restrictions have lifted.
Devices Requirements for AUGLE Download:
Please also know that there are certain device requirements to use the app. To get the AUGLE experience you will have to have the following phone requirements:
- iOS: iPhone 7+ and iPhone 6s (but not 6) running iOS 13 or later.
- Android: A device capable of running Android 10 (Q).
Many Android devices running Android 9 (Pie) will work, but not all. The reason this problem with android happens is that there are a dozen manufacturers all with their own product lines.
Complimentary event thanks to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign.
Starting on July 8 you can download the app and select Explore Nanaimo for the mural locations and hours.
Please email us at dance@crimsoncoast.org if you require assistance
or have any questions.
Leslie Bishko
Leslie Bishko is an Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of 2D + Experimental Animation at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Her background in contemporary dance led her to become certified as a Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst. Leslie embeds this rich theory of movement and meaning into her teaching, research, publications, personal animation projects and Flamenco dance practice. Her award-winning film Gasping for Air has screened widely at international animation festivals.
Mauro Dalla Costa
Mauro Dalla Costa is an Argentine printmaker and Artist based in Nanaimo Vancouver Island. Founder of UFF SERIGRAFIA established in 2004 Santa Fe- Argentina. Mauro has been directing focus on posters, graphic design and artwork reproductions. With an eye for detail, process and colour Mauro’s beautiful imagery invites us into universes and wonderful worlds inspired by nature and music. The crossover between digital and analogue processes is one of the main driving forces behind his work. His studio is currently open for art projects and collaborations.
About the Project: lightbones
All cycles are connected to simple rules; those rules dominate this universe.
Life is falling inside the loop, pushing time through the bones.
What is left, are just remnants of energies inside thoughts. A new life in the form of light traveling – to the infinity.
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun
Snuneymuxw First Nation (Coast Salish)
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun is a Coast Salish artist and storyteller. He is from the White family of Snuneymuxw, and has roots with the Rice family of Penelakut, in the Nuu Chah Nulth world through the Hamilton family of Hupacasath, and through his mother, Ilse Hill, is of mixed Western-European descent. His practice is rooted in celebrating and honouring the teachings he has received. He hopes to share his appreciation of Coast Salish culture and world view.
About the Project: Sxwuxwa’us (Thunderbird)
Coast Salish art is to make the sacred visible. I believe that is a quote from a Wilson Duff text, and it summarizes Coast Salish art powerfully. Our art is a form of expression that facilitates the transformation of every-day into the sacred. It is a bridge that connects us to the supernatural and spiritual realms that exist just outside of view. It connects us to that place which is the source of our teachings.
The energy is all around us, it radiates from the land. For us to recognize that we must learn how to open ourselves.
With this artwork, I reveal what exists just outside of view here in Snuneymuxw. The sxwuxwa’us (thunderbird) lives in this place. Our stories tell of how they nested on Te’tuxwtun (Mt. Benson). They are powerful beings, who can be helpers to those in need. Through this augmented reality mural, I bring them back to the forefront and honour them, reminding the people here of where we are.
Michael Yaremkewich
It just happened. My father gave me his well-used airbrush when I was between employment early in my career as a Technologist. And right from the first tentative and awkward exploration with this airbrush, a feeling of balance between the natural worlds I so loved to explore and the constrained practically of the technical drawings I produced on a computer in an office cubicle resulted. The creative experience of unbounded expression of colour and form tempered the theoretically rigid discipline of drafting black lines on white paper. From this point onward, painting has been an endeavour to create without having to abide by a purpose or functionality, to be free, to just be there to witness the unfolding of that present moment without thought, judgment or intent, and just flow.
There has not been a linear progression in my development as an artist nor in my professional career. When one dominated my time and attention, the other was present to keep me stable and grounded. I moved from the airbrush to painting on small boards and developed a technique of bold brightly coloured impasto landscapes. I was able to display these in the Vancouver area in the late 1980’s and had success in being accepted to international art exhibitions. Opportunities to practice my career in foreign countries slowed my artistic output, and in returning to Vancouver and eventually settling in Nanaimo at the turn of century, I began to paint on larger canvases. This was a time of experimentation where I explored and manipulated acrylics in a whole new manner loosely based on earlier techniques I had developed. There was no intent to produce art for any other purpose but to see what could be done and to expand my creativity without fear of failure or the pressure of success.
In the passing of time, this duality of practical design and whimsical creativity that I had somehow seen as different and separate have simply become the opposite sides of the same coin. A yin and yang that has followed a remarkably common progression as my life flowed from one state to the other. To be open to change and opportunity, to adapt past skills to new ideas and situations, to mix the old with the new, to lay to rest, or resurrect projects and techniques. My recent artistic exploration reflects this awareness, opening a new way of expression of what once was perceived as separate worlds.
It just happened. My father gave me his well-used airbrush when I was between employment early in my career as a Technologist. And right from the first tentative and awkward exploration with this airbrush, a feeling of balance between the natural worlds I so loved to explore and the constrained practically of the technical drawings I produced on a computer in an office cubicle resulted. The creative experience of unbounded expression of colour and form tempered the theoretically rigid discipline of drafting black lines on white paper. From this point onward, painting has been an endeavour to create without having to abide by a purpose or functionality, to be free, to just be there to witness the unfolding of that present moment without thought, judgment or intent, and just flow.
There has not been a linear progression in my development as an artist nor in my professional career. When one dominated my time and attention, the other was present to keep me stable and grounded. I moved from the airbrush to painting on small boards and developed a technique of bold brightly coloured impasto landscapes. I was able to display these in the Vancouver area in the late 1980’s and had success in being accepted to international art exhibitions. Opportunities to practice my career in foreign countries slowed my artistic output, and in returning to Vancouver and eventually settling in Nanaimo at the turn of century, I began to paint on larger canvases. This was a time of experimentation where I explored and manipulated acrylics in a whole new manner loosely based on earlier techniques I had developed. There was no intent to produce art for any other purpose but to see what could be done and to expand my creativity without fear of failure or the pressure of success.
Although not a commission for this project, Social Mixer is a delightful piece of 3D art that magically moves, shifting and changing with the temperature of the room. Layered with metaphor in its design, the artist notes that it is a reflection of the people of our community – as they pass by doing the business of and with the city. The work is held in the City of Nanaimo’s Public Art Inventory. 411 Dunsmuir -SARC Building Lobby Art in Public Places _ Mark Ashby video
Fleuve | Espace Dance, QC
“Inspired by the beauty of my environment, of its natural and living elements, and by everything that surrounds me daily, I chose to recapture the playgrounds of my childhood in order to share and pay tribute to this infinite universe. Water, white geese, the St. Lawrence River and its shore are powerful sources of inspiration, from which I draw the energy, the strength and the courage humbly embodied in my artistic approach. I live, I love, I dance, under open skies.” Chantal Caron, Choreographer
Clémentine
Fleuve | Espace Dance, QC
Clementine represents a visceral cry between the mineral, animal and human form, an unusual encounter with matter. To become one with it’s shadows and light, by crossing through flakes and mud, leading towards the pure and natural state of mind as the memories are extinguished to release the soul.
Password to watch the film is Clémentine2020
Glace, crevasse et dérive
Fleuve | Espace Dance, QC
Glace, crevasse et dérive is a dance film that meets deep nature, ice, crevice and drift symbolizes life, death and the time that sweeps us away.
Password to watch the film is fleuve123
Réalisation: Chantal Caron et Albert Girard
Chorégraphe: Chantal Caron
Interprètes: Karine Gagné et Thomas Casey
Directeur photo: Richard Saint-Pierre
Musique: Pierre-Marc Beaudoin
PostProduction: Julia Peron Langlois
For 15 years, Fleuve | Espace danse has been able to develop a choreographic specificity in site-specific contemporary dance, positioning itself as a leader in this niche. In 2018, Chantal Caron, Artistic Director of the company, was named Member of the Order of Canada “for her artistic creations highlighting the natural heritage and her contribution to the development of the next generation of dancers.” Chantal Caron’s commitment to the environment and her community, paired with her ability to promote and defend natural heritage, is perfectly integrated into her artistic signature. Her work, raising awareness of the issues and beauty of nature has also earned her the title of St. Lawrence River Ambassador for the David Suzuki Foundation.
Complimentary events thanks to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign.
Facing the Day
July 8-11, 2021 | 10:00am – 10:20am
Curated by Tstatssaya White
Broadcasting from CHLY on air waves and in the downtown core | 10:00 am – 10:20 am
Uy’ netulth! Sunrise prayer is a fundamental tradition in all Indigenous cultures
Open your heart and spirit to songs from the Coast Salish & Nuu-chah-nulth Nations
- Thursday, July 8th: Edward Johnson, ƛicitatḥ, Huu-ay-aht First Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth
- Friday, July 9th: Wasaskwun Winston Wuttunee, Clear Blue Sky & Spotted Eagle Tail Feather Neyheyow Cree, Saskatchewan & Anishinawbe, Northern Ontario, Cree & Ojibwa
- Saturday, July 10th: Ay’ Lelum The Good Family, Snuneymuxw First Nation, Coast Salish
- Sunday, July 11th: Salish shxw’aluqwa’, Sna’naw’as First Nation, Coast Salish
Complimentary events thanks to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign.
Tsatassaya White, B.A.(Anthropology, UBC) is a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation (Coast Salish) and Earthquake House in Hupacasath, (Nuu-chah-nulth). Carrying knowledge from both of her territories she is a community mobilizer.
She is an event planner who has a keen interest in all aspects of protocol.
Tsatassaya curated a day of dance “Qwuyulush u’ tl Swy a lana” by Indigenous artists for our InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2019, on July 6 at Swy a lana/ Maffeo Sutton Park. In 2020, she conceived and directed the film, Huulth Huultha, 2020, a reflection on Indigneous dance festivals and gatherings. In 2021, we are pleased to program online viewings of Huulth Huultha, 2020. For this year’s festival, Tsatassaya has curated and organized Facing the Day, Morning Prayers by First Nations singers and families.
Huulth Huultha, 2020 (Premiered at InFrinGinG 2020)
“Dancing” in Wakashan language, Nuu-chah-nulth
July 8-11, 2021 | 10:00am – 10:20am
Conceived and directed by Tsatassaya White, edited by Dustin Anderson, this film explores a virtual Indigenous dance festival in these challenging times and features Indigenous song, dance & protocol.
Tsatassaya White, B.A.(Anthropology, UBC) is a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation (Coast Salish) and Earthquake House in Hupacasath, (Nuu-chah-nulth). Carrying knowledge from both of her territories she is a community mobilizer.
She is an event planner who has a keen interest in all aspects of protocol.
Tsatassaya curated a day of dance “Qwuyulush u’ tl Swy a lana” by Indigenous artists for our InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2019, on July 6 at Swy a lana/ Maffeo Sutton Park. In 2020, she conceived and directed the film, Huulth Huultha, 2020, a reflection on Indigneous dance festivals and gatherings. In 2021, we are pleased to program online viewings of Huulth Huultha, 2020. For this year’s festival, Tsatassaya has curated and organized Facing the Day, Morning Prayers by First Nations singers and families.
Kimono Path | Threading Side by Side
a film based installation in a field by Geneviève Johnson
July 10, 2021 | 10:00am – 10:20am
Since January 1, 2021, renown Nanaimo dance artist, Geneviève Johnson, offered a Digital Residency through a CCD blog. It has revealed the in-most workings of her artistry and the intersection of her artistic and personal life.
“My practice is about: fragmenting, layering, dancing in between. becoming multiplicity in one. Creating a doubt, a faultline, an opening to dive in.” ~ Geneviève Johnson
As part of this Digital Residency, she worked one on one with 3 local performers; Renée Poisson, Samantha Letourneau, and Nicola Jackson. Each contributed to the fabric of kimono and shared their story on its accompanying film.
The kimono is made up of square of fabric art, knitted, fabric, crochet, which have been chosen, or made, with thoughtful reflection on a meaningful and specific idea, memory, wish or desire by members of the community where this work tours. The pieces are sewn on by the square contributor becoming a part of a kimono that Genevieve has integrated into a dance work as well. As the dance or installation travels various communities, it grows by the addition of such sections with each touring stop. Your section becomes a part of a greater whole.
Tsatassaya White, B.A.(Anthropology, UBC) is a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation (Coast Salish) and Earthquake House in Hupacasath, (Nuu-chah-nulth). Carrying knowledge from both of her territories she is a community mobilizer.
She is an event planner who has a keen interest in all aspects of protocol.
Tsatassaya curated a day of dance “Qwuyulush u’ tl Swy a lana” by Indigenous artists for our InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2019, on July 6 at Swy a lana/ Maffeo Sutton Park. In 2020, she conceived and directed the film, Huulth Huultha, 2020, a reflection on Indigneous dance festivals and gatherings. In 2021, we are pleased to program online viewings of Huulth Huultha, 2020. For this year’s festival, Tsatassaya has curated and organized Facing the Day, Morning Prayers by First Nations singers and families.
Geneviève Johnson
Actress and dancer, Geneviève Johnson, meshes dance to theatre, poetry to movement, in her work. Trained in a variety of dance styles, it is through butoh – a Japanese contemporary dance – that this interweaving comes fully to fruition. After completing a bachelor degree in theatre (acting) at University of Quebec in Montreal, she perfected her butoh skills in Japan under the tutelage of Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno, Min Tanaka and the Dairakudakan group. Since then, she developed her own creative language of poetic dance – Landscape Under Skin Theatre – in a series of solo works and workshops. In 2007, she completed a PhD on the dynamic of “metissage” in theatre and dance performance, using butoh as a base for her reflection. Through her career she worked with companies like La Nef, Pigeons International, Trans-Theatre, Microclimat Theatre as well as directors and choreographers like Larry Tremblay, Martine Beaulne, Holly Bright, Estelle Clareton, Eric Jean.Through her shows and education, Geneviève continues to go into greater depth with her quest to marry poetry to the body in motion. She is regularly teaching Contemporary Creative Dance at Vancouver Island University and is currently teaching Pilates and Corealign at Fine Balance Pilates in Nanaimo.
Motus Domum
Meet your friends from anywhere in the world & enjoy the show together!
July 9-10, 2021 | 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Conceived and directed by Tsatassaya White, edited by Dustin Anderson, this film explores a virtual Indigenous dance festival in these challenging times and features Indigenous song, dance & protocol.
Montreal
Composer: Zack Settel • Choreographer: Peter Trosztmer • Creative Technologist: Osman Zeki
Nanaimo: Valerie Mermet (Friday show) • Chantelle Norris (Saturday show)
Situated at an especially exciting moment, as novel and sophisticated technologies to augment reality become widely available to artists and the general public, our research / creation efforts seek to discover new modes of artistic expression / experience and audience engagement that will lead to new forms and contexts for future Music/Dance performance experiences by Montreal artists; composer Zack Settel, choreographer Peter Trosztmer, creative technologist Osman Zeki.
Motus Domus is a duet built around such notions such as presence, connection, memory, and intimacy. Connecting Nanaimo performers, Valerie Mermet and Chantelle Norris, with Peter Trosztmer, dancing in Montreal, divided by 6000kms. We integrate real-time capture and reveal to manipulate otherwise invisible immersive traces of sound and motion in space. This is a beta test of an ongoing project.
Motus Domum is a new way of meeting people and bringing back the body… re-experiencing closeness and intimacy. It is built for a small audience and is viewed through an AR capable iPad or iPhone whether you are in the studio or elsewhere. Please see the list of recommended and compatible devices. Headphones are necessary.
Original Immersive music: elements of an immersive composition floating in space as sound particles displaced by movement and energy of performance.
Local performers, Valerie Mermet and Chantelle Norris dance in Nanaimo with Peter Trosztmer, who will be dancing in Montreal! Audiences ‘gather’ from anywhere there is wifi or data OR at the venue itself (per health authority regulations).
Friday, July 9 – Dance artist: Valerie Mermet
Saturday, July 10 – Dance artist: Chantelle Norris
- a translocal performance (Nanaimo/Montreal simultaneously)
- every ticket holder shows up in the room as avatars who’s speaking breathe we see
- we hear each other & the distance between us -choose a spot to connect with your friend/s in the room
- we see the same thing (a room turned set, 2 dancers dancing, all other audience members whether they are in the room live or online)
Tickets: 2 for 1, $25.00 (plan to invite a friend from around the world, someone you have not seen in awhile to meet you and see a show together)
Location: Harbour Dance Studios, 139 Bastion St, Nanaimo, BC
To fully experience this event you are required to bring your own headphones and an apple device that is compatible. Please review the list of devices recommended but if you do not have one, please email dance@crimsoncoast.org and we may be able to provide you with one.
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone Xs
- iPhone Xs Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPad Pro (all models)
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad (5th generation or later)
- iPad mini (5th generation)
- iPod touch (7th generation)
About the Dancers
Valerie Mermet – Valerie Mermet is an enthusiastic dancer, joyful human being and she loves to bring people together to celebrate life. She also teaches 3 to 6 years old children at Discover Montessori School in Nanaimo and in her spare time she grows food in community gardens. Currently Valerie is gratefully living on the peaceful Gabriola Island with her husband, their 11 year old son, 2 cats and a dog.
Chantelle Norris – Over her 12 years on Vancouver Island, Chantelle’s creative, award winning choreography and classical knowledge has gained her respect in the community, classroom and on the stage. Many of her students have gone on to dance full time with prestigious ballet schools such as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, and have received coveted top placements at international ballet competitions such as the Youth American Grand Prix. She is currently Artistic Director of the Kirkwood Academy Pre-Professional Program, and owner of both Nanaimo Contemporary Ballet, and Shoreline Dance Academy.
Nordic/Nanaimo Exchange - New Translocal Initiatives
Part 1: Re-Scripting Dance - New Translocal Initiatives
July 11, 2021 | 1:00pm PST / 22:00 CET
In fall of 2018 we, Artistic Director Holly Bright and Curator Rickard Borgström, met in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. We found common ground through curiosities in recent artistic developments and experiences in working with performing arts festivals on the edge, in the province, where one engages in one’s local community as much as connecting to the rest of the world, where one finds affinities as shared interests.
In our discussion we recognized that the last two decades within the performing arts field in these regions has seen the rise of artistic practices that thematisize social-political matters within the work itself, in what it does (e.g. relational strategies or social engagement), more so than representational ‘aboutness’ (e.g. as regards political points of view). As we discussed these developments we wondered if these artistic practices and works were implicit reactions to the ongoing dismantling of the State, or in Nordic Terms the Welfare State.
We could also see an urgent shift in these art practices in our recent decade, where the relational strategies expanded into a register of the senses and affect. This has led toward a more porous, entangled, environment beyond the social human-to-human logic, opening dance up to a more complex web of human and non-human actors, or in other words a more-than-human ecology, of coexistence and interdependence. The latter questions intersect with social, cultural, political, economic, scientific, ecological concerns of our time that call for expansive visions on how to organize life on a global, even planetary scale, as well on an everyday, social, sphere.
Meanwhile the pandemic has paralyzed the global performing arts system. The hold has put unjust structures to the fore and the current model has proven itself to be unsustainable, be it ecologically or socially, already in pre-pandemic time. Business as usual is no longer an alternative.
The pandemic reinforces our dire need to reimagine our artistic and curatorial practices from a vantage point that acknowledges its deep entanglement with ecological systems and the social fabric, both local as global, without losing sight of the asymmetrical relations of resources. That is, how do we, in our communities, despite the current state of geopolitical tensions, environmental injustice (and pandemic), explore new forms of collaborations, working models and dance, and rethink our infrastructure, within these conditions?
This has led Holly and Rickard to initiate a research project into these new formats between 2021- 2023 in the Nordic region and Canada. In the process we let our desires and imagination move us to reshape the relations between dance, stages, audience, artists, curators, contexts and discourses.
As part of our research, we are interested in reaching out to peers who work in disparate contexts, with specific discourses, to discuss these emergent forms with us in a public forum.
Our first short pilot (April- July 2021) is an artistic exchange between two artists from Vancouver Island and two artists from Sweden, as well as a series of public conversations.
Curators, Holly Bright, Crimson Coast, Snuneymuxw [also Nanaimo] and Rickard Borgstrøm [Fl/Nordic Regions] paired artists from our respective region to share artistic voice and practice as a time of reflection and revelation for themselves as well as an opportunity to navigate the discovery of another. The challenge was to be true to oneself while getting to know a stranger, navigating difference, recognizing interdependence. No outcome, no right or wrong, no requirement for production. Only the invitation to acquaint themselves [online] with each other’s artistic voices through difference and in consideration of interdependence.
The artists share their experience in this online session
Part 2: New Curatorial Initiatives – The lure of the Translocal and its Discontent
July 8-11, 2021 | 10:30am – 1:00pm
The pandemic is a tale of the accelerated transformation of our ecological system and it foregrounds the unjust structures as the asymmetrical relations of resources within our global performing arts field. The need to reformulate international collaboration is inevitable, so how do we reshape our curatorial practice in response to that needt? Would exploring trans-local collaborations, where international aspirations are embedded in one’s locality, be a way forward? A translocality that on one hand engages in the diversity of one’s own locality and on the other operates as a cultural node in a connected network of affinities that transgress, or traverse, national borders. What would such curatorial work look like? What are the critical implications of such trans-local collaboration?
Project Artists:
- Marit Shirin Carolasdotter [Sápmi/SE]
- Geneviève Johnson [French Canadian]
- Samantha Letourneau [CA]
- Mårten Spångberg [SE]
Presenting Curators:
- Martine Dennewald, Co-Artistic Director, Festival TransAmériques, [CA/LU]
- Thorbørn Gabrielsen, Artistic Director, Stamsund Teaterfestival [NO]
- Emily Johnson, Artistic Director, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, Organizer of First Nations Dialogues New York/Lenapehoking [Yup’ik/US]
- Elle Sofe Sara, Choreographer and Founder of Dáiddadállu/ Sámi Artist Collective
Curators/ Moderators:
- Holly Bright [CA]
- Rickard Borgström [FI]
ASL Interpretation Available
When Two People Look At A Distance We’re Already Half Way
July 8-9, 2021 | Nanaimo: 9:30pm PST – Berlin: 06:30am CET
A synchronized duet. One in Berlin, one in Nanaimo. The sun sets as the sun rises.
- Samantha Letourneau [CA]
- Mårten Spångberg [SE]
What if dance was like a song that you could hear from afar? What if dance was like a gentle earthquake that could be felt as a vibration over distance? What if dance was like a wind, a wind that carries fragrances, tiny seeds, lifeforms and care?
Dancing together in two cities simultaneously, this piece is an attempt to dance together far apart; sharing movements as a way of connecting two places. It is a dance that, like whales, communicates through temperature layers in the ocean and allows the dance to be a garden, invited to spend time with plants and the setting, rising, sun.
Here dancers become caretakers for processes too slow for the eyes to comprehend. Dancing and caring without desire to be confirmed.
At a moment in history where social relations are under threat it emphasises dance as something public, something we can experience but never own. This dance is an invitation to a gentle form of mourning, a place and time shared with whoever we are.
8 July
- Waterfront Suites & Marina docks, Nanaimo (Waterfront Walkway)
- Soviet War Memorial Treptow, Berlin
9 July
- Pipers Lagoon, Nanaimo (Picnic Area at Parking Lot)
- Tempelhofer Feldt, Berlin
There is no charge for this event with gratitude to the City of Nanaimo Projects Grants, our funders, donors to #CCDanceFree campaign, for support of this project
Thank you to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign campaign.
Holly Bright
Holly Bright’s professional dance career began in 1986 as a movement educator, dance artist and choreographer. She holds a BA in Dance, a BSc in Human Physiology, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis certification and is licensed to teach GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Movement practice. Holly is the founder and current Artistic Director of Crimson Coast Dance Society, an organization that supports contemporary dance in Nanaimo, BC.
Crimson Coast Dance was founded in 1998 to put a structure around dance events Bright had been creating and producing since 1996 while maintaining her own performing career. She has presented over 400 events: creations, productions, creation residencies for professional, community and students, an annual Mainstage Season, a school-year long youth program and the InFrinGinG dance festival, now in its 23rd year.
Rickard Borgström
Rickard Borgström, Curator, Sibbo, Finland. He works at the fluid intersection of contemporary art, dance and theatre. He deploys a de-central perspective to conceive exhibition and program formats, within diverse backgrounds and geographies, in a collaborative and trans-disciplinary modes, to provide a historical anchoring and engagement with local conditions. Borgström has worked mainly in the Nordic region where his work has been presented at institutions such as Teaterhuset Avant Garden (Rosendal Teater), Bastard Internationella Teaterfestival, Stamsund Teaterfestival, Norsk Kulturråd, Lofoten Internationella Konstfestival, Inkonst, Art Space Sinne, Jyväskylä Art museum, Korjaamo, Nunatta Isiginnaartitsisarfia – The National Theatre of Greenland.
He regularly lectures in contemporary dramaturgies in dance and theatre at Uniarts Dance department Stockholm. Borgström writes for Norsk Shakespearetidskrift and Ny tid. Currently he is co-curating a platform for dance, art and critical ecology with Rebecca Chentinell, the first pilot “Symbiotic – Erotics” takes place at Färgabriken, Stockholm fall 2021, followed by “Dances and Songs of Soil” at Havremagasinet Boden/Suttes spring 2022. He was a member of the committee of Dance at the Swedish Art Council 2018-2021. Borgström is educated at Dramatiska Institutet and Stockholms Universitet. rickardborgstrom.com
Geneviève Johnson
Actress and dancer, Geneviève Johnson, meshes dance to theatre, poetry to movement, in her work. Trained in a variety of dance styles, it is through butoh – a Japanese contemporary dance – that this interweaving comes fully to fruition. After completing a bachelor degree in theatre (acting) at University of Quebec in Montreal, she perfected her butoh skills in Japan under the tutelage of Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno, Min Tanaka and the Dairakudakan group. Since then, she developed her own creative language of poetic dance – Landscape Under Skin Theatre – in a series of solo works and workshops.
In 2007, she completed a PhD on the dynamic of “metissage” in theatre and dance performance, using butoh as a base for her reflection. Through her career she worked with companies like La Nef, Pigeons International, Trans-Theatre, Microclimat Theatre as well as directors and choreographers like Larry Tremblay, Martine Beaulne, Holly Bright, Estelle Clareton, Eric Jean.Through her shows and education, Geneviève continues to go into greater depth with her quest to marry poetry to the body in motion. She is regularly teaching Contemporary Creative Dance at Vancouver Island University and is currently teaching Pilates and Corealign at Fine Balance Pilates in Nanaimo.
Marit Shirin Carolasdotter
Marit Shirin Carolasdotter is a choreographer and dancer with Sámi and Kurdish descent, currently residing in Ubmeje, Sápmi where she works with her international network organisation Humans & Soil. She is an artistic researcher that recently finished her MA in International Performing Arts at Stockholm University of the Arts. She is currently working on the production of itself : in itself that has its world premiere at Norrlandsoperan, August 2021. www.humansandsoil.com
Mårten Spångberg
Mårten Spångberg is a choreographer and writer living and working in Berlin and Stockholm. His interest concerns dance and choreography in an expanded field, something he has approached through experimental practice in a multiplicity of formats and expressions.
He has been active on stage as a performer and creator since 1994, and since 1999 has created his own choreographies, from solos to larger scale works, which have toured internationally. Under the label International Festival, Spångberg collaborated with the architect Tor Lindstrand and engaged in social and expanded choreography.
His more recent performances La Substance, but in English, The Internet, Natten and Gerhard Richter, une pièce pour le théâtre has gained extensive international recognition. His current work concerns ecology and post-anthropocene aesthetics.
Samantha Letourneau
Samantha Letourneau is a performing artist /social justice activist based in the unceded territory of the Coast Salish people on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Drawing on transformative pedagogy, her performance work explores how shifts in perspectives resonate within the body, affecting the relationship one has with their physical /social environment.
In 2015, she was the recipient of the Marie Gillen award for her master’s research on using art as a tool in examining violence towards women. In 2016, she was awarded a seat at the International Women Human Rights Education Institute. Through her studies there she developed a performance piece, with Holly Bright titled Movement 19, making the UN Convention on discrimination against women a “moveable” human rights experience.
Letourneau’s studies have led her to developing social justice arts programming in partnership with various not for- profits and art organizations in British Columbia and Quebec.
She holds a Masters in Adult Education with a focus on transformative learning, a Bachelor degree in Global Studies/ Human Rights, Laban Movement Analysis training and Somatic and Mindful Yin Yoga teacher training.
- Martine Dennewald, Co-Artistic Director, Festival TransAmériques, [CA/LU] fta.ca
- Thorbjørn Gabrielsen, Artistic Director, Stamsund Teaterfestival [NO] teaternor.com
- Emily Johnson, Artistic Director, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, Organizer of First Nations Dialogues New York/Lenapehoking [Yup’ik/US] catalystdance.com
- Elle Sofe Sara, Choreographer and Founder of Dáiddadállu/ Sámi Artist Collective ellesofe.com
SOLD OUT: Silent Disco with Collective Groove
Meet your friends from anywhere in the world & enjoy the show together!
July 10, 2021 | 8:30pm – 12:00am
Collective Groove is an evolving collective of Nanaimo’s dancers, groovers, and music lovers who will do almost anything to bust a move with their friends. Health and safety protocols are in place as participants don [provided sanitized] headphones and switch between 2 dj’s throughout the party. Melophiles meet dancephanatics all night long. Without the headphones you’ll only hear laughter.
No noise, no curfews, no rest for the dancer in you! Be shiny!
Location: German Hall, Outside
Currently Sold Out!
Please check out the other events during the festival, both online and in person. We recommend Modus Domom (see above) where you can meet with your friends from anywhere in the world & enjoy the show together. Join us for this augmented reality beta test dance experience!
Tsatassaya White, B.A.(Anthropology, UBC) is a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation (Coast Salish) and Earthquake House in Hupacasath, (Nuu-chah-nulth). Carrying knowledge from both of her territories she is a community mobilizer.
She is an event planner who has a keen interest in all aspects of protocol.
Tsatassaya curated a day of dance “Qwuyulush u’ tl Swy a lana” by Indigenous artists for our InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2019, on July 6 at Swy a lana/ Maffeo Sutton Park. In 2020, she conceived and directed the film, Huulth Huultha, 2020, a reflection on Indigneous dance festivals and gatherings. In 2021, we are pleased to program online viewings of Huulth Huultha, 2020. For this year’s festival, Tsatassaya has curated and organized Facing the Day, Morning Prayers by First Nations singers and families.
Stay updated on music lineup and future silent dance events by following Collective Groove on Facebook and Instagram @collective.groove.nan
THRU THE ROOF
July 9-11, 2021 | 12:00pm – 12:20pm
The sounds of music fill the air, the sights of YOU dancing on the street at InFrinGinG
A Pop-Up Dance Party
listen for it ~ noon, downtown Nanaimo via CHLY and VI Sound
- Friday: DJ Andfriends
- Saturday: The Big Mess
- Sunday: DJ All Good
Location: Downtown Nanaimo ~ Wherever you are, that is where the dancing is on Commercial St
Music will waft through the streets. Bring your own speaker to add to the pop up dance break!
Dial into CHLY 101.7FM to listen for it!
Health restrictions in place
Thanks to CHLY and VI Sound
To Take in the Morning - An Awakening Ritual
Meet your friends from anywhere in the world & enjoy the show together!
July 9-10, 2021 | 6:00am-7:00am
Fleuve Espace Dance | QC | Chantal Caron
First light, first breath, eternal hope. Gather. Celebrate the day. Guided by voice and sound experience in the freshness of dawn, our first breath is celebrated in unison at first light through an audio ritual. The participants live a collective tribute, orchestrated by choreographer Chantal Caron. This experience by the choreographer invites a deep rooting that will awaken your senses to the welcoming of a new day.
Dates: July 9, 10, 11
Location: Meet at Pipers Lagoon parking
Use appropriate protocol | Bring water and something to sit on
*Brochure correction: This event is not available by download & is only available in person as scheduled.
Complimentary events thanks to our funders and donors to the #CCDanceFree campaign.
Crimson Coast Dance is thankful to have the support of the following sponsors: