A celebration of art in motion, Azimuth Theatre’s Brought to you by Azimuth Theatre, Expanse invites you to be moved by the power of high-velocity body made art.
The Lobbyists
here, there, everywhere throughout Chinook
featuring Moses Kouyaté, Sarah Feutl, Michelle Robb, Carol Chu
Somewhere in-between performance, installation, and party lie The Lobbyists, a yearly collective of emerging, interdisciplinary artists brought together by Expanse Outreach Coordinator Amber Borotsik. This project connects artists emerging into a professional performance practice and charges them with the task of awakening spaces, both on site and in the city surrounding. This year, the Lobbyists will be collaborating with AJA Louden, a visual artist whose work, fuelled by a background in graffiti and the sciences, brings a multifaceted, collaborative, and multi-narrative approach to contemporary urban muralism.
“The goal is making cities and spaces more inspiring, engaging, informed and thoughtful through strategic and compassionate use of art and design.” – AJA Louden
Supported by:
Antiquation
here, there, everywhere throughout Chinook
a lobby installation by NIUBOI
NIUBOI brings their experiments in obsolescence to the ATB Financial Arts Barns Lobby. Antiquation explores where our devices go when they become obsolete. Antiquation was originally workshopped at Theatre Junction GRAND’s TJLAB Series and Nextfest’s Workshop Program with support from the Edmonton Arts Council, the City of Edmonton, and the Canada Council for the Arts. NIUBOI is a trans non-binary alien who came from space to save the world from a life of blasé mundanity.
Supported by:
Paradise
Thursday, February 8 at 7:00PM
Friday, February 9 at 8:45PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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Playwright: Patti Flather
Director: Majdi Bou-Matar
Set & Properties Designer: David Skelton
Sound Designer & Composer: Jordy Walker
Lighting Designer: Jennifer Jimenez
Costume Designer: Melaina Sheldon
Technical Director: Julie Ferguson
Performers: Aldrin Bundoc (Khalil) *; Nicholas Cumming (Wally); Pam Patel (Rachel) ; Michael Peng (George)*
* The participation of these Artists are arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance • Opera • Theatre (DOT) Policy .
An MT Space & Gwaandak Theatre co-production.
An unemployed logger, a young man accused of terrorism, a family doctor and his daughter, all searching for their humanity inside the systems that cage us all. A poetic, complex and challenging work, Paradise is a beautiful marriage of the text and imagery of Patti Flather with the distinct physical style of MT Space.
Supported by:
Script Excerpts
Friday, February 9 at 1:00PM
in the ATB Financial Arts Barns Lobby
FREE Admission
Award-winning playwright Patti Flather will read from her play Paradise, featured in this year’s Chinook Series, as well as her previous plays, West Edmonton Mall, Where the River Meets the Sea, and Sixty Below. The public reading is supported by PlayConnect, PGC’s Readings Program funded by the Canada Council.
Supported by:
Hole in the Sky
Saturday, February 10 at 7:00PM
Sunday, February 11 at 8:30PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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Choreographer: Arik Pipestem
Producer/Director: Joshua Jackson
Producer: Hunter Cardinal
Composer: Benjamin Bubeck
Set and Lighting Designer: Kevin Green
Dancers: Robin Berube and Sabrina Cheung
“Long ago, there were beings of light and energy called Kisikookuk. These ‘star people’ roamed the realities looking for new experiences, new understandings, and new perspectives. The Cree people believe that one of the Kisikookuk, named Atchakos Iskwew, or Star Woman, came down from the Hole in the Sky (Pakone Kisik) into our reality. From her, all people found their way here to learn, experience, gain insight and perspective and teach and then [move] on.” – Wilfred Buck
Journey through the universe as two souls discover themselves through new found love and kinship. This unique exploration transcends the physical world as they discover all sides of their own energy in a space beyond time. Hole in the Sky blends traditionally rooted Indigenous hoop dancing with contemporary combat and mask work.
Supported by:
Coast to Coast
Tuesday, February 13 at 8:30PM
Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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One dynamic showcase featuring three pieces by artists from across Canada curated by the Good Women Dance Collective. This performance is Hard of Hearing and Deaf friendly.
Femme Fatales
Performers: Felicia Lau, Megan Morrison, Meredith Kalaman
Choreography: Meredith Kalaman in collaboration with Kate Franklin,
Felicia Lau, Gabi Beier and Teghan Fedor
Femme Fatales is a poetic trio, blending narrative and contemporary dance to bring to light the impact of gender socialization. The work is performed by three versatile female dancers in a kaleidoscope of moments that each contribute to the questions: “How have we become who we are inside of our gender? How do gender patterns inscribe in our bodies over time?” These questions have driven the work of Femme Fatales to unravel the most important reflections of all, how do we embody gender beyond a conversation from our logical mind and how do we articulate who we are with or without gender?
Supported by:
heart – work
Movement & Performance: Sahara Morimoto
Direction & Concept: Marcela Giesche
heart – work emerged from the necessity to connect to the physicality and power of the heart. Through rhythm, variable frequencies, and incessant pulsing – the body of the dancer becomes the heart of the space.
Supported by:
I can’t sit still
Performers/collaborators: Abbie Cogger, Emily O’Neil, Katherine Semchuk
Choreographed by Katherine Semchuk (recipient of the 2017 Good
Women New Work Award)
Head in ten places
Spread too thin
Bite off more than you can chew
Wears many hats
Bent out of shape
In over your head.
I can’t sit still is an exploration of idiomatic expressions relating to trying to do everything at once. With a compulsion to say yes and urge to remain occupied, three parts of one can very quickly diverge from focus.
Supported by:
The Coast to Coast program is curated by:
Dirt Buffet #31: What (Black) Life Requires
Friday, February 16 at 8:45PM
Saturday, February 17 at 7:00PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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What (Black) Life Requires is an interdisciplinary performance which fuses modern, contemporary and ballet dance styles with spoken word poetry to explore the resilience, ingenuity, diversity and brilliance of Black Life. The piece is a powerful expression of Black creative unity, diversity, and womanhood, which explores the tension between personal narrative and collective experience within the context of Black life in Canada.
Supported by:
Performance Lab: Chinook Series (WORKSHOP)
This weekly, drop-in, pay-what-you-will, performance training and professional practice session is moving to the heart of Old Strathcona to soak up some mid-winter heat at the Chinook Series.
In partnership with The Citadel Theatre and Foote Theatre School, Azimuth is now offering a performance training laboratory for artists who are interested in a long-term, exploratory, physical practice to enhance, supplement, and complement their performative and creative capacities.
A blend of methodologies, these sessions are for artists who are committed to technique, discipline, curiosity, and play. They are set at a professional training level; however the only prerequisite for the class is a commitment to the rigours of the work. For actors, directors, creators, stage managers, playwrights, dancers, performance artists, teachers, technicians, visiting artists, emerging artists, as-yet-undefined artists, administrators, engaged and active community members.
Body, Theatricality and the Creative Space
Sunday, February 11 at 11:00AM – 12:30PM Facilitated by Majdi Bou-Matar and Pam Patel
in the Westbury Theatre
Pay What you Will
This workshop focuses on the body presence, movements and actions in the creation space. It explores how the collective physical presence and interaction on stage could lead into powerful theatricality. It looks at how the idea develops, alongside emotion and movement to achieve a creative moment. Starting from simple improvised everyday gestures and actions the workshop will lead participants to move beyond the usual into unexplored ways of body expression.
The Talking Body Shaping Space
Sunday, February 18 at 11:00AM – 12:30PM Facilitated by Amber Borotsik
in the Westbury Theatre
Pay What you Will
In this fun and physical class we will explore movement improvisation as a tool to open and extend our ability to communicate through the body. Working in groups and in partners we will also play with ways to shape and understand space – refining our ability to use space and proximity as a creation tool.
This class is suitable for dancers, actors and all lovers of movement. Because the floor can be slippery we will work in bare feet.
Supported by:
You Move Me (WORKSHOP)
Wednesday, February 14 from 11:00AM – 12:30PM
in the Westbury Theatre
led by Meredith Kalaman
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Turn off your mind and completely let your body flow in movement during this workshop with contemporary dancer and choreographer, Meredith Kalaman. You will develop new tools of listening in the body that will open new patterns and connections in your body. Come experience yourself in your body in a way you have always known is possible. Suitable for people that have a practice in their body and are comfortable in improvised movement and making your own choices in a directed design.
Senses in Motion (WORKSHOP)
Wednesday, February 14 from 1:00PM – 2:30PM
in the Westbury Theatre
led by Sahara Morimoto
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Through this workshop, Sahara Morimoto will be sharing ways of activating your senses to discover your individual connection to awareness & imagination inside your physicality. Finding familiar and unfamiliar movements within the body, the class challenges duration both with the body and the mind in order to find better stamina and to better utilize moments when you’re in them and when you aren’t. Variations will be offered, and both dance professionals and physical performance enthusiasts are welcome.
Intimacy for the Stage with Siobhan Richardson (WORKSHOP)
Siobhan Richardson from Intimacy Directors International will lead two workshops for
theatre professionals, one for performers and one for directors, coaches and choreographers. This workshop is sponsored by Theatre Alberta with funding from The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Christie Lites Sales.
Intimacy For The Stage – Facilitators
Thursday, February 15 from 10:00AM – 5:00PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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Learn the techniques and the language to stage human sexuality in a way that is professional, dynamic and focused on storytelling. Clarify the artistic and practical approach to this work. Focus is on subtle and specific details in choreography, and on facilitating a workspace that allows for physical and emotional chemistry between characters – without compromising personal boundaries – resulting in powerful chemistry between characters and clear, effective storytelling. Discussion topics include: creating instant chemistry, The Pillars, permission vs. consent, best practices and minimum working conditions, and psychological safety.
Intimacy For The Stage – Performers
Friday, February 16 from 10:00AM – 5:00PM
in the Westbury Theatre
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In this workshop, you’ll learn specific techniques for accessing your vulnerability in a dramatic context, resulting in powerful chemistry between characters without compromising personal boundaries. It’s an exploration of intimacy within a dramatic context for the purpose of telling the story of the scene. The principles can include the intimacy between lovers, between parents and children, between dear friends, and can also apply to scenes of sexual violence. Discussion topics include: consent, boundaries, psychological safety, best practices and working conditions.