battery opera presents
SO YOU THINK YOU DON’T FOLK DANCE
May 23-25, 2008
A conversation about the contemporary body, folk practice and the palace.
What is folk dance? Is it what folk do? Who are today’s folk?
And in an age where there is no royal patron for dance, what is the equivalent of the palace? Is it the marketplace? Our governments? The Canada Council?
How do different contexts change how we use our bodies in performance?
Su-Feh Lee has invited Hari Krishnan, Dr Anis Nor, Michelle Olson, Zab Maboungou and Jennifer Mascall to grapple with these questions over drinks and food, over meeting tables, in a dance studio at the intersection of Granville and Davie Street.
You are invited to attend any part or all, of the conversations. Incredibly, it is all free (except for the drinks).
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Who ARE these people? Well,
Su-Feh Lee is the Artistic Director of battery opera. Dancer, choreographer, teacher and occasional shit-disturber, her work is concerned with the multiple histories and influences that are contained in the human body.
Toronto based Hari Krishnan is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and dance scholar, he is Artistic Director of inDANCE (Toronto) and World Dance Artist in Residence at the department of dance in Wesleyan University (Connecticut USA). A world leader/specialist in Devadasi dance, he also works in a contemporary vein abstracting and drawing elements from a variety of sources and sensibilities. Hari Krishnan's creative output is holistic, combining the allied arts of Bharatanatyam dance, music, theatre and theory with contemporary, urban, post-modern culture.
Mohd Anis Md Nor is Professor of Ethnochoreology and Ethnomusicology at the University of Malaya. He earned his B.A. Honors from the University of Malaya, M.A. (Dance Ethnology) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and PhD. (Southeast Asia Studies and Musicology) from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Professor Anis has pioneered the study of Zapin dance and music in Southeast Asia and has published widely on the said topic. Although his foremost research area deals with Malay dance and music in Southeast Asia, his current studies are on the interfacing of dance traditions among the Malayo-Polynesian societies in Southeast Asia and Polynesia and the making of new traditions through contemporary performances.
Zab Maboungou, choreographer and performer, founded Le cercle d'expression artistique Nyata Nyata in 1986 for the creation, presentation and promotion of her work in a local, national and international context. This prolific artist is active on many fronts: as choreographer, performer, musician, author, and teacher of philosophy and dance, she has been working for the development and promotion of African dance in Quebec, across Canada and abroad. Zab Maboungou has been teaching the technique "Rhythms and movement" in Montreal for 20 years. She has developed a unique style and teaching method called "the rhythmic of breathing" that she describes in her book HEYA: an historic, poetic and didactic treatise of African dance. She has also taught Western philosophy at Laval's Collège Montmorency since 1982. Her reputation as artist, thinker and activist is well established, and she is often invited to hold workshops in universities and cultural centres.
Michelle Olson is a member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation and the Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance, a company that investigates, creates and produces contemporary aboriginal dance. Her work as a performer and creator embraces the arenas of dance, choreography, theatre and community development.
Jennifer Mascall is the Artistic Director of Mascall Dance. As choreographer, teacher, educator and BMC practitioner, her research is the function and expression of the body's systems in the action of leading the body into images that could be considered universal.
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When and Where:
Friday May 23
Reception and introduction to topics and guests (accompanied by very good cheese, oysters and charcuterie. Cash bar.)
6 pm - 10 pm Faris Studio, Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street)
Saturday May 24
Conversation I
10 am – 12 pm Boardroom, Scotia Bank Dance Centre
12 pm – 2 pm Lunch (offsite)
Conversation II
2 pm – 5 pm The Marcuse Studio, Scotiabank Dance Centre
Sunday May 25
Brunch and wrap-up (please RSVP)
11 am – 1 pm (offsite – TBA)
battery opera gratefully acknowledges the support of the Equity Office of The Canada Council and The Dance Centre.
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battery opera is hiring a student this summer:
Symposium Assistant – SO YOU THINK YOU DON’T FOLK DANCE
battery opera performing arts society is looking for a Symposium Assistant to take on a temporary contract from May 16, 2008 to August 15, 2008.
battery opera is facilitating a conversation about the contemporary body, folk practice and the palace.
What is folk dance? Is it what folk do? Who are today’s folk?
And in an age where there is no royal patron for dance, what is the equivalent of the palace? Is it the marketplace? Our governments? The Canada Council?
How do different contexts change how we use our bodies in performance?
This forum is a part of Artistic Director, Su-Feh Lee’s second season of Artist in Residence at The Scotiabank Dance Center.
Job Description
Symposium Assistant will help organize and facilitate a panel symposium, coordinate schedules, host guests, act as a contact and liaison for the panel speakers, administrative work, help with production of podcast., record, transcribe, as well as coordinate & disseminate follow-up discussions.
Wage: $12 / hour 30 hours per week from May 16, 2008 - August 15, 2008
Please respond with a resume and cover letter to info@batteryopera.com by May 12, 2008
Symoposium Information
Facilitator & Moderator: Su-Feh Lee: Dancer, Choreographer, Artistic Director of battery opera
Guest Speaker & Writers: Hari Krishnan, Anis Nor, Michelle Olson, Zab Maboungou & Jennifer Mascall
Dates: May 23, 24, 25 2008
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Su-Feh Teaches at Way Out West
August 25-29, 2008
Approaching Dance Through Martial Arts
This is Su-Feh's kick-ass, released-based class. Using principles from internal martial arts - spiraling and circular energies, clarity of intention, softness of body - this class gets you to move like a river and be still as a mountain. Sometimes the class takes on a somatic approach and is free-form, sometimes it uses Wushu basic drills as a way to practice moving through space with clarity and integrity of structure.
For more info visit:
http://www.mascalldance.ca/classes/wow/