Move It! Week 1, part 2: Prince Rupert

Our week in Prince Rupert really flew by! Lina and I enjoyed working with a wonderful group of ladies at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre this week. Exploring the town's little hiking trails and thrift shops by day, our evenings were dedicated to sharing movement and fun and we were happy that our group of participants were so keen to express themselves. Over the course of the week they approached the creative activities with a great spirit of play and openness, and favourites included the impulse game (where we explored physical contact to inspire movement initiation), and flocking (where we worked as a team to improvise in unison).  We also enjoyed hearing a bit about their lives here in Prince Rupert, and it was neat to see their personal backgrounds come out in their dancing. After saying our goodbyes to all the great folks at the Civic Centre, Lina flew back to Vancouver on Saturday, and I boarded the bus from Prince Rupert to Terrace- which was such a wonderfully scenic and peaceful journey.

Lina and I will meet again in Stewart, but now, on to Kitimat! Caroline Liffmann and I are excited to be working with the wonderful kids at Haisla Community School in Kitamat Village next week. Looking forward to this next adventure…

Joe Ink/Move It! Workshop Tour, Days 1,2 & 3.

Anna Kraulis and myself (Lina Fitzner) made our way to YVR on Sunday March 23rd, 2014 to fly north to Prince Rupert, BC. This is the first of four stops in Northern BC on Joe Ink's Made in BC Move It! Tour. Over the past 12 years, the popular community dance workshop has seen wild success in various locations throughout the Lower Mainland and BC's Interior and we are all very excited to take this further North to new communities in Beautiful BC.

We boarded the miniature plane from the tarmac and buckled in for our two hour flight. As we landed we caught a glimpse at the beautiful mountains and cluster of small islands surrounding Prince Rupert. Anna could hardly contain herself, I believe I heard her say "wow, it's like another world!" 

Our first day in town we took a windy chilly photo walk around to get a feel for the place. We spotted a few bald eagles flying over Cow Bay and a raven building a nest about twenty feet away from us. We're still waiting on the deer and wolves that are rumoured to visit the streets. 

Our participants are a lovely crew of ladies who clearly have some serious love for dance. We're very excited to see what they come up with over this week, they are observant and thoughtful, and were very enthusiastic about the exercises and sharing their experiences. Our recreation co-ordinator, Ann King was very welcoming and has done so much work to get the word out there about this workshop. The sun is trying to make an appearance today and we're super excited to see what happens this evening in class.

Stay tuned for another update with some more photos and maybe even some video documentation!!

Community Engaged Dance Unconference for Artists/Facilitators   RSVP HERE: http://eepurl.com/PAumn Saturday, March 29, 2014 from 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM Calling dance artists working in or interested in working in the field of community engaged dance in all its forms to come together for a day of discussion. What is an Unconference? “An unconference s a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or moreaspects of a conventional conference such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and top-down organization.” How does it work? “The agenda is created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. Unconferences typically feature open discussions rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk, although any format is permitted.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference Bring your own questions and topics, bring information to share, bring your experience to the room: • How do we create more opportunities for community engaged dance? • Do we need a network of community engaged dance artists in BC? • When working with specific communities, what are the challenges, what are the opportunities? • What are the performance opportunities for community engaged dance in Vancouver or in the province? • What resources are available? Who are our mentors? What are the funding opportunities? How to get started? What inspires you? Where can we get training for this practice? • What kind of activities fall under community engaged dance, what are you doing? Schedule Breakfast and lunch provided by Made in BC Dance on Tour. Please email with your food preferences: landon@madeinbc.org 9:30 - 10:00am: Breakfast and gather 10:00 - 10:15: Explain procedures for an unconference 10:15 -10:45: Agenda making by participants 10:45 -11:30: first session (two discussions or more in the same room) 11:30 - 12:15pm: second session (two discussions or more in the same room) 12:15 - 12:30: sandwich break 12:30 - 1:30: gather and share findings in one big group 1:30 - 2:15: action planning This unconference is an initiative of the Artists in Residence at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre; Julie Lebel and Miriam Colvin with the collaboration of Caroline Liffmann. The unconference is made possible with the support of Made in BC - Dance on Tour and the Vancouver Parks Board and Recreation Please RSVP HERE: http://eepurl.com/PAumn

Give the Gift of Dance

--> Give the Gift of Dance Campaign


I am the newly appointed communications coordinator with Made in BC - Dance on Tour Society. Since I started work here I have been amazed and inspired by the work done across the province. My goal is to foster a much greater understanding and appreciation for dance artists across British Columbia. 

I've had the opportunity to witness a community engagement dance program at one of our community centres in Vancouver, British Columbia. This dance program invited people of all ages and abilities to come together united. It was such an inspiration to see the community joined as one. It is important to note that Made in BC funds these kind of activities across the province but does not receive any earned revenues from the community programs. 


Photo credit: Jennifer Ko

You'll find that there are many small towns across British Columbia don't get very much opportunities to see live performances. Made in BC exists to provide the BC touring program and artistic residencies in order to share the art of contemporary dances.

Recently, Made in BC partnered with The Dance Centre's Dance in Vancouver Festival to hold a national conference for dance artstis, managers, and community presenters. During our conference, we hosted an event called the "Democratization of Dance Party!" with Wii dance, a curate-your-own dance Youtube projection screen, and a community dance group performing site-specific work and getting non-dancers moving. There was a donation box set out for people to contribute to community dance programming in Stewart, BC a small community in the north. We raised about $30 but we need a lot more!

What We Need & What You Get:

Usually, it costs us well over $3,000 to send dance artists to small towns for our artistic residencies program. That includes the transportation, artistic fees, hospitality, studio rentals and management.

Made in BC receives limited funding towards these artistic residencies opportunities and it is very challenging to create quality work with limited resources. Your contribution will allow this program to happen in Stewart. 


In Stewart, a town of 500, we are working with the Bear Valley School, who are letting their students out early every day to participate in a community dance program. They are lending us the best room in town, which is the large community room over top of the hockey rink. They’re really hoping to engage the local boys in dance, as this project is scheduled for a slow moment in their hockey season. Last year, we got ½ the town (250 people) to participate in some way in a workshops project held there with Mascall Dance.

This year's project brings 2 dance artists up to Stewart for a week, as part of Joe Ink's Move It! Program.

We've also been working with the Stewart Art Council, which is a newly formed volunteer-run organization, founded 2 years ago.

Other Ways You Can Help:
Spread the word on social media, tell you friends, and "like" our Facebook page!


To submit your donation, please select the "Northern Remote Communities" tab:
https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/9657

Sincerely,

Landon Krentz
Communications Coordinator

Final Stop with Made in BC - Dance on Tour!

Fourth stop, Nanaimo
Here we are at our final stop on the MIBC network!

On Thursday evening Josh and I led a workshop with 12 adults, ranging in ability and experience but sharing a common willingness to take risk. The two-hour session took place at the Rotary Field House, and coincidentally, the floor had three rectangles in its design that worked as territories much like the yellow floor we have for the New Animal set. We spent some time exploring improvisations, as well as each participant creating some set material, and we used the combination of these ideas to stalk, protect, claim, surrender, fight over, and share the three territories in the space. Josh and I were blown away at how open, trusting, and enthusiastic all of the participants were! Thanks to all of you!

On Friday evening we visited a local dance studio called Vibe Dance, where we taught an enthusiastic group of about 18 teens. They were incredibly receptive to 605's movement techniques, as well as fearless improvisers! We can tell they receive a lot of great training (we may be a little biased because some of our friends are on the faculty at the studio).

Saturday November 9th was show day at the Port Theatre. The venue was absolutely gorgeous and there were even enough lighting fixtures to facilitate Rob Sondergaard's complete design, for the first time since New Animal's premiere at the Cultch in 2012! We had a post show artists' talk with some great questions and comments from audience members, and are glad to have finished off our Made-in-BC tour on a high note.

Next, the company is off to finish the New Animal tour in Toronto, Burnaby, Summerside, PEI, and Halifax!

Thanks for reading about the BC portion of the tour! We are so glad you came along for the ride.

About the Lemons:

Source: Thrifty's

Price: non-organic: 5 for $2.00

Origin: California

Size: PERFECT

BC on Tour - Second Stop!

Second Stop, Kitimat, BC

An interesting fact is that you can walk through security at YVR with two-dozen lemons in hand and no one will bat an eye.

We have arrived in Kitimat, which is one of the highlights on tour because of our fantastic accommodations at Minette Bay Lodge. 605 Collective stayed here on tour in 2010 and it is just as dreamy as we had remembered it. Our lovely hosts, Howard, Ruth, and their dog Frank, are making us comfortable during our stay here.

 

On Oct. 28 Josh and I taught 19 students ranging from 8 to 21 on the Mount Elizabeth stage. Their experienced ranged from first-timers to regular dance class attendees, but everyone was keen and eager to get their dance on!

Our performance at Mount Elizabeth Theatre was well attended at almost 3/4 full at 250 audience members, with a small meet and greet after the show where we spoke to some Kitimat locals, new members of the community, and young fans. One of the highlights for me was speaking to a couple from Quebec who had recently moved to Kitimat, and they expressed how grateful they were to see our performance, as they were accustomed to seeing lots of amazing dance in Quebec and were happily surprised to see contemporary performance in their new town.

We had a post-show reception at the lovely Anna-Marie Carstens' home, where we got to chat with board members and supporters, reflecting on changes in the community since 2010 when we toured here last. It is a privilege to have returned to Kitimat three years later, to see how it has changed, and for its audience to see what 605 has been up to since our last work. We hope to be back again sometime!

About the Lemons:

Source: Overwaitea

Price: Overwaitea non-organic: $0.79 each

Origin: USA

Size: PERFECT

Third Stop, Prince Rupert, BC

After a beautiful drive from Kitimat, we have arrived in Prince Rupert, comforted by the West Coast rain and familiar favorite coffee shops. It was Halloween on the day we got in, and we braved the rain to see the fireworks at the community centre. The town was out in full-force with creative costumes and smiles despite the rain that quickly turned to hail. We decided to watch the fireworks from the tour minivan, before heading back to our hotel to watch a scary movie, cozied up in Jeff's room (and dressed in Halloween attire sourced by Shay at the local Sally Anne).

On November 1, Josh and I taught three contemporary classes to students ranging from aged 7 to 17 at Prince Rupert Dance Academy. Everyone worked hard and tired their arms out, and wethank them for taking risks and going outside of their comfort zone to make new discoveries with us.

We performed at Lester Centre of the Arts on November 2, a beautiful venue where we had lots of space to stalk, attack, and throw lemons around. The show was attended by about 100 people, and at the post-show reception in the lobby, we were happy to see so many families in attendance. The general consensus was that people were very impressed by Dave's shaking scene, the climax of the lemon section.

Once again, it has been great to make a return trip to Prince Rupert after touring here in 2010. We had a great time, and owe a huge thanks to Crystal and Made-in-BC for making it possible.

About the Lemons:

Source: Safeway

Price: non-organic: $0.69 each

Origin: South Africa

Size: PERFECT

Photos by Jeff Harrison, Lisa Gelley, Heidi Quicke

New Animal off to BC Dance on Tour !

The 2013 BC Dance on Tour Begins!!

605 Collective is off on their second Made-In-BC tour, this time with commissioned work by Dana Gingras, entitled New Animal. On the road we have with us co-directors Josh Martin and myself, Lisa Gelley, co-founder and performer Shay Kuebler, and guest performers Amber Barton and Dave Raymond, plus crew members Jeff Harrison and Heidi Quicke. New Animal is commonly referred to as the "Lemon Piece", and for those of you who have seen it, it's easy to figure out why. Through our four cities in BC, I will keep you updated with our performances, outreach activities, and the local lemon statistics. 

First stop, Golden, BC

 We arrived in Golden late on Monday October 21st, after a long journey from Vancouver. The next morning we awoke to a thick fog blanket and some hungry locals. We started our residency at Kicking Horse Culture with a bang and a pucker, with Golden students and adults willing to "get their lemon on". As you may or may not know, New Animal includes two films and one live section where the performers play with and fight viciously over lemons as a means to trigger their animal instincts and release the inner beast. This idea originated a few years ago with Dana Gingras' film project, What Is Mine is Yours, and we shot similar footage for the New Animal Films. 

We thought that engaging the community members by recreating the idea of the lemon fights would be the perfect way to dive right into the world of New Animal. With a lemon juice-proof tarp and about 40 lemons of varying sizes and shapes, we spent three hours egging on our brave volunteer community members, encouraging them to tear lemons to shreds and grab them out of each others' mouths. The results were both funny and feral, with Dave and Shay from 605, and several local photographers capturing images of giggling sour-faced pre-teens to ferocious female residents. By the end of our session, everyone was a little wilder, and a lot juicier.

That evening we taught a class at the Golden Civic Centre, offering a sample of techniques used in our 605 movementlanguage. The students were open and receptive, ending the evening with a brand-new improv dance, the "Noodle House", that allowed them to let loose, smile, and groove to end the night.

On Wednesday we set out into the woods near the campgrounds, guiding 13 pre-teens, two local physical performers, and a bunch of energetic toddlers and preschoolers, through a series of "animal" habitats and behaviors. The goal was to capture some images of people in the wild, and what we ended up with varied from running, climbing, rolling, skidding, and crawling, up hills, behind trees, between rocks, across trails, and under leaf piles. We caught a variety of animal-like action, from vicious stand-offs on the beach to little bodies bouncing in excitement as the train passed. 

In the evening we led a choreographic workshop at the Civic Centre, and had a great session with some thoughtful and eager local movers, where we explored some techniques and approaches that Dana and 605 used in the making of New Animal. We layered task upon task and ended with a mini-battle, where the dancers fought for, defended, and shared their territory. It was a fantastic evening and we are so grateful to have had this exchange with the Golden community.

Our performance of New Animal was on Friday October 25, set on a small but warm stage for a full house at the Golden Civic Centre. (After all, Bill, the presenter, had given ticket holders a "Money Back Guarantee"!) Previous to our live performance was a video put together by Matt Coté, giving the audience a glimpse of our various activities and accomplishments during our short but fruitful (no pun intended) residency in Golden. We had a wonderful, rich, and, or course, "sour-in-a-good-way " experience, and we owe a huge thanks to Bill Usher and GolnazZad at Kicking Horse Culture, and Abby Watkins, our dear friend and outreach coordinator, as well as our fearless participants from aged 2 to 62.

About the Lemons:

Source: Overwaitea/Sobeys

Price: Overwaitea non-organic: $0.79 each, organic: $4.99 for 4 lbs / Sobeys non-organic: $0.99 each

About: USA grown

Size: Overwaitea non-organic -too large, organic-too small / Sobeys non-organic -PERFECT

Photos by Shay Kuebler, Dave Raymond and Josh Martin
Written by Lisa Martin