Newsletter

Dear Members,

The Latest from The Crimson Coast Dance Society!

This newsletter contains the following headings:
•Reflections / Holly Bright
•Crimson Coast News
•Sabbatical News/ Holly Bright
•Ongoing membership information/call for volunteers/local class info


•Reflections:
Dance Artist Crystal Pite (Kidd Pivot) has so beautifully articulated the "..metaphor and implications of movement and performance... Dancers sculpt space in real-time, working inside a form that is constantly in a state of vanishing. [Dance artists] embody both the dance and its disappearance, the inevitable dissolution of their work and their bodies made poignantly apparent........the ephemeral body moved by the potent heart."

This not only speaks to dance as an art form, but also to the producers, even the funding, that make dance possible, perhaps even to the ideas of growth and change. It is an elegant and insightful metaphor. The Crimson Coast Dance Society is in a period of growth and review. We are looking at taking the next step in preparing to meet the demands of the future with respect to contemporary dance presentation in Nanaimo. It is a pivotal period full of excitement and fear. It takes nerves of steel...not unlike those of a performer just about to step out of the wings.

We do hope that The Crimson Coast Dance Society is a palpable presence in your life and that you are one in ours in the ways that fit your lifestyle best. If you hold ideas or feedback which you think could help us in our molding and shaping, feel free to mail or email them to us.

•Sabbatical / Holly Bright
This year, the last 3 months in particular, have been stunningly refreshing for me! I have enjoyed spending time with Adrian, the love of my life, as well as a wonderful performance schedule from October '06 to March '07 and it is still unfolding! I have delighted in seeing Anne Caulfield in the audience in Gibsons!, sleeping in, spending uncounted hours in the studio per day, rehearsing and remounting dance works, assisting Margie Gillis in her Hollyhock workshops (10 days of nurturing and dancing and meeting phenomenal individuals....ahhhh life!), tending to my home inside and out, and petting my cat, Rudy Matt, anytime she wants it for as long as she wants.

Now, I am preparing to go to Montreal to work with Margie on a new full length show called M.body.7. The show opens with the solo she created for me, At The Hem Of My Northern Coastal Clouds. That is followed by a new solo she will create for herself. The second half of the show features a series of solos interwoven with dancers. The cast includes Margie, myself, Emily Molnar, Anik Bissonnette, Gioconda Barbuto, Risa Steinberg, Laurence Lemieux, Laurence's six year old daughter, Juliette, and 70 year old dancer and Harvard professor, Eleanor Duckworth. I am pinching myself with excitement. We all head back to Montreal in February for performances at Place des Arts' Théâtre Maisonneuve, February 29 to March 2. Meanwhile her company is booking a tour with dates in Ottawa, Toronto and possibly Vancouver. I hope you can catch this production.

In August it is a full circle pleasure to begin a new solo with Barbara Bourget (Kokoro Dance). Kokoro Dance was the first company I worked with on my arrival in BC and it is very exciting to have the opportunity to spend time with this talented, fierce woman. We will keep you posted on the development of this work.

Iin August/September Chick Snipper has engaged me to begin work with her to develop solos which will complement Winter (the work she set last year). They will be Spring, Summer and Fall of course! At present it is research....that mysterious force...

October offers an opportunity to further explore naked voice (!) and movement with Chloe Goodchild and Shintaido master, Masashi Minagawa in Wales....also, to meet up with a brilliant actress/director I met at Hollyhock, Judith Adams, who lives in the U.K.,...and to try to set foot in Ireland and Scotland...where I have roots.

In November Margie is presenting a full length show in Whitehorse and has invited me to perform At The Hem Of My Northern Coastal Clouds. I have never been there and am looking forward to experiencing November in this area...and to spending time in workshops and performances in the community.

Finally, at this point anyway, it seems that funding has been announced for a project with animator, Leslie Bishko and I, as choreographer, in association with the Children's Festival. We are working out details and are very exciting to have found a great supporter in Colin Gorrie and for this long held vision.

Though, at times, life is as busy as it ever was, there is a distinct difference to the 'busyness' when engaged with the most passionate component of my love of dance...creating with others and performing. So recuperative and life affirming! Inspirational!

The Canada Council for the Arts contributed significantly to this sabbatical through their Grants To Dance Professionals Program. Professional Development funding was also received from the British Columbia Arts Council, toward the exciting work in Wales. And most importantly, The Crimson Coast Dance Society's Board of Directors with Acting Artistic Director, Lori Hamar, passionately supported my need for rest and artistic deepening by taking on the season's work with pride and enthusiasm and a touch of tremendous fortitude.

Kate Hynes now works for the Vancouver Island Symphony. She, too, contributed greatly while on administrative staff. We miss her dearly and wish her all the best.

I sincerely hope that your year is unfolding in the most satisfying, recuperative and creative way. I also hope it is full of dance!

HB

Celebrating our members!
You really should meet each other!
We have begun a new initiative to celebrate the creative folks who make up our membership. We will, occasionally, send out by email and to our membership and supporters, member info...dance class opportunities in town, art openings, news of successes. The idea is to introduce you to who our members are and how wonderful they are. You will get to know them furhter at our shows because they are always there!
These notes will celebrate creativity and opportunities and all of the events that make Nanaimo a fun and artsy place to live.

We will always put "Celebrating our members" in the subject heading. That way, if you are too busy to read them or dis-inclined, you can hit the delete button and voila!...no problem. Do let us know if you are irked by their arrival. We will do our best to filter only to those interested in receiving. Again, we will do this conservatively and as diplomatically as possible.

Enjoy your life and each other....
celebrate often!

The Voice of Our Youth:
The Body Talk Youth Council
We are still working on this initiative. If you are interested in it / being a part of it, let us know.

This entails last years participants between the age of 14 and 24 facilitating this year's first nations, dance and rap Body Talk event and then staying on board next year to help produce Body Talk '07. BY THEN, their experience and enthusiasm nice and high, they can plan their very own event! Yep, decide who the featured artists are and plan and implement away! This is really exciting. The openness, energy and enthusiasm that radiates from this group can't help but create a very positive program. We are currently working on opportunities to get these youth and their friends into our shows, too. We want them to see the stage version of dance, too! Keep your eyes on this initiative as it unfolds. If you or anyone you know would like to support any components of this project financially or as a volunteer, please let us know.

Many thanks to Telus for their support of this project

News that never seems to change:

More Member Perks!

We are still working the kinks out of this plan and hoping to become more consistent with it. We are simply understaffed at the moment.

Members are invited to send information about local classes and performances for posting on our newsletter.

Please send them in the following format:

Title:
Artists involved:
Producer:
Date:
Location:
Ticket/Reg. price and purchase information:
website/contact information:

We will endeavor to update once a month.

Administrative Volunteers / Postering Volunteers
We are looking for a person or two to help in the office. We have some data entry work and some archival work (which also involves working with beautiful dance photographs). If anyone has time (especially on Mondays) we would love your help and would be happy to get you into our shows to thank you. As for postering, we always need help with that. We will provide a designated area and offer a free show ticket for every 50 hung!

Check our blog and myspace!
Become a friend!