supported by The Dance Centre

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our June 8th studio showing!

As part of The Dance Centre‘s DanceLab residency program, we undertook a 3-week research process to explore the relationship between dance, environmental activism and media arts. In Collaboration with Hannah Carpendale (environmental activist) and Leslie Kennah (media artist).

Dancer/collaborators: Jen Aoki, Jen Dunford, Angelina Krahn, Karley Kyle-Moffat, Daphné Paquette, and Rianne Svelnis

View The Dance Centre’s video message, where Anna talks about the work:

http://www.dancemedia.ca/thedancecentre/2014/may/

Our starting point for this research was to explore the ideas behind language and imagery prevalent in the public sphere regarding a current environmental issue- the controversy surrounding tar sands extraction, proposed pipelines from Alberta to BC, and oil tanker use in coastal waters.

Some of the questions we explored:

-How can we harness the ability of dance to shift conventional perspectives surrounding a current environmental issue? Also, what is the role of digital media in helping to bridge the gap between an abstract art form and this concrete idea?

-Does using a more visceral and felt language offer up new ways of relating to and thinking about these issues? 

-By exploring such issues through an artistic medium, can we help to lessen their sobering effect on our collective psyche? Can we then include more people in the conversation if our approach is more playful rather than depressive?

We look forward to the continued development of this work. In the meantime, stay tuned for written updates and video documentation from our June showing!