 photo by: Kelly Hofer Can you tell us about yourself and your relationship with dance? It’s really important to set the tone in making sure that everybody feels welcome to our programs. That is what I am trying to do and to hold the space for people and be inviting. I am a two-time immigrant. I was born in Guatemala and then emigrated to the US in the state of Utah, and then I emigrated to Canada, first to Calgary. I've spent some time in Montreal as well as Toronto but I am back to Calgary now after about six years of being away. I've been a bit of a nomad traveling here and there. I started dancing because of a fluke. I was new at a new school and there were only two elective classes that I could choose from; one of them being young astronauts, and the other one being social dance. I ended up taking social dance and immediately loving it, which led me to competitive ballroom dance. I started dancing because of a fluke. I was new at a new school and there were only two elective classes that I could choose from; one of them being young astronauts, and the other one being social dance. And so I went into contemporary dance and was a practicing artist. I've completed my school and the Masters in dance. Currently I am finishing a PhD in performance studies with a focus in dance as well.  photo by: Nancy Yeboah The topics that I'm really interested in arise from all of the experiences that I've gained from the different places. It’s like this chimera or this collage of different times and places. I have so much in me that is still so fascinating to explore and investigate. I can't speak on behalf of other people but people seem to respond really well to the sorts of experiences that I've had and expressed through my artistic practice. How did you transition from dancesport to contemporary dance? Before I answer that, I'll contextualize it by saying that I feel I have been informed by three different contradictions in my life. I understand the tension caused between the way you think and the way you are required to think. The first contradiction is being Guatemalteco in Canada. The second contradiction is being gay and having been raised Mormon; having a very religious background, but also, you know, being very different from what was being taught at the time. And then the third, is that I manage neurodivergence, which basically means I think differently than the average person. I’ve also spent a lot of time in school. So those three things have really come together in very fascinating ways. Dancesport is a very specific form and I love that specificity. That really appealed to me.  photo by: Marlowe Porter After some time, I became aware that it didn't tell any stories that aligned with my life. I didn't really feel included as a person in the practice, so I started wanting to experiment a little bit more creatively and looking for spaces in which I could continue to practice dance, but that were a little bit more open. And those those thoughts and yearnings led me to the University of Calgary where I took on contemporary dance. How do you approach storytelling in your productions? Touching on creativity; I think people who have immigrated and have passed through geopolitical boundaries, like countries or state lines or any of the such. That allows for such incredible creativity. So being a multifaceted artist may be a complex construct to understand for some people but if it makes sense for you, there is no explanation required, for yourself. I feel that is a capacity we have when we really change the space in which we live in. And so I would not dismiss or underestimate the power and the creativity that's possible when we physically change our space.  photo by: R.A. Bloom Photography I am an immigrant myself, so the way I’m seeing how we can support as an organization - is by spreading awareness of what DSW is and does. Can you tell us more about your role at Dancers' Studio West? My role at Dancers’ Studio West is I am the Artistic Director and have been for two years now. DSW is in the middle of a beautiful transformation! We became a service organization in 2018, before my time there. That transition is still being clarified and we've just come from a two year organizational review that the Rozsa Foundation generously supported. My role has been to catalyze this transformation and to further open the organization. Oftentimes, people who have been familiar with DSW associate it with kind of a very narrow artistic scope but I come with a very open and capacious understanding of what contemporary dance is.  photo by: Kelly Hofer Contemporary dance to me - is dance which is practiced now and happening right now. I also don't dismiss the original intentions that it was meant to serve within postmodern dance practices. Personally, I find that sort of definition is tightly related to Western theatre and I believe that it creates a very narrow kind of slice of the population which we serve. In the last couple of years, what I've done is endeavor to create a new idea of contemporary dance that is informed by the values of these early dance pioneers. That is my directional role in the organization and how I'm trying to craft the organization. On a more pragmatic level - I am here to serve. I am here to provide the time and the space for dance artists to create their work. Are there any projects or exciting collaborations you are currently looking forward to? Absolutely! On the 15th through the 17th of June, we are presenting a show from local artists. It's called the Quick and Dirty and we have three Calgary artists and one artist from Edmonton who are presenting.
We've got two contemporary pieces, one Afro-Caribbean contemporary, and one Flamenco contemporary. So it’s all very eclectic! And the sort of energy that is in the space as I see these artists rehearse, is really infectious and very exciting. I'm thrilled to be presenting this! The call for dancers started about two months before the actual project start time. We circulated it online and also asked to circulate it widely among communities that would normally not apply to DSW programs. We made it very explicit that we were looking for all movement genres.  photo by: Marlowe Porter It was important for us to involve things that weren’t just contemporary but opening it up to any movement discipline. The selection process was quite interesting. It was based on a written application and it mirrors the types of applications that you would need for a grant from CADA, AFA, CCA. That was done intentionally to try to help develop application skills, even with the applicants who might not have been invited to participate in this iteration of the Quick and Dirty. We've provided feedback to all the artists and I really tried to understand the projects from the dancer’s perspectives. So there were some pieces that I felt were much more appropriate in different spaces. And I mentioned to these artists that if it was helpful, I could provide letters of recommendations so that they could get grant money in order to present it in a space that would support the concept of their work. Finally, I personally narrowed down the list to a few - and then consulted with some community members in order to make final decisions. What are some of the further steps we can take to contribute to a broader and more welcoming arts culture in Alberta? It's one question but it's very multifaceted and very complex. There are so many small and large things that we can talk about and I always have to position ourselves within the greater scheme. We're not going to influence things at a provincial level completely because we are more or less local, even though we do have aspirations to be a provincial wide organization. So I think the first thing that I would say is to focus on our own sphere of influence. I say this because we all have a sphere of influence and it's all different. Everybody's sphere of influence is specific to them. Focusing on things that are outside of that sphere is never helpful because they're not going to really impact anything if they're outside of that sphere of influence. First and foremost, I think it’s important to realize our capabilities and hone in on what we can do. So for example, we recently tried forming a Programming Advisory Committee. Our board normally serves on a volunteer basis but you have to be in a specific financial situation in order to be able to volunteer the time and energy to serve on a board. And so, the Programming Advisory Committee was provided an honorarium, hopefully eliminating some of the financial barriers to being part of the conversations that lead to specific choices. I really made it a point to reach out to people who I normally don't interact with; a lot of people outside of the immediate contemporary dance community but who have been practicing artists for a long time. I don't know how it's like in other artistic fields but sometimes the dance community can feel fragmented, with different dance styles living in little bubbles. And so a challenge is to try to find ways to connect all these bubbles. At DSW we see the importance of bringing in people to speak to us from these different bubbles, which helps to inform us on how to make better decisions for a broader community. It is also helping people laterally, meaning that participants of the Programming Advisory Committee become familiar with one another. This sort of model is also present in our programming. We have recently some group works, where we check in with artists every week. These groups come from very different perspectives, aesthetically speaking, so week after week of these check-ins and working together, they start to be really inspired by each other. There are collaborations happening today that can be attributed to these programs that happened months and months ago. Comments are closed.
|
