Whispering Winds: Western Canada Summer Games Opening Ceremonies and the Regina Folk Festival

Western Canada Summer Games Opening Ceremonies

Don't miss New Dance Horizons' creation company, Rouge-gorge, and their special contribution to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current, SK, this August 9th at 7 p.m. in the Innovation Cedit Union i-Plex arena. They will perform as a central element of the dramatization of the original Games theme song, The Spirit of Play, Tom Jackson/ producer, music and lyrics, arranger, acoustic guitar and lead vocals... Shannon Gaye/ lead vocals and BGs, ...Darren Savard /Guitar, ...Kristian Alexandrov/Synth arraignments, …Carley Savard/vocal/ BG arrangements, ...Tom Mckillip, Craig Bignell, Suzanne Levesque/ BGs, …Darlene Auger/ Cree vocals…mixed by Tom Jackson and Josh Gwilliam, song consultants Gordon McCall and Stefan Rumpel. 

Rouge-gorge will perform as the character, Spirit of Play, embodied in the spirit and movement of prairie wind and water. Saskatoon's, Free Flow Dance Theatre Company, will represent the spirit of the athletes. All will be accomapnied by a group of young Swift Current dancers and actors, in association with choreographer, Alice Lundy. The whole will be under the direction of Creative Director/Producer, Gordon McCall, and Associate Producer, Stefan Rumpel.

This dance/movment creation will be the grand finale to the Opening Ceremonies and launch the more than 800 athletes into the first week of competition.

Western Canada Summer Games Opening Ceremonies 
7PM Friday, August 9, 2019 - doors open at 5:30pm
Innovation Credit Union iPlex 
2201 Chaplin Street East
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
http://2019wcsg.ca/ceremonies/

Regina Folk Festival's 50th Anniversary

Join NDH in kicking off our 34th Performing Series in tribute performances for the Regina Folk Festival’s 50th Anniversary!
 
Guest artist Susan McKenzie of Vancouver joins R-g Artistic co-directors Robin Poitras and Edward Poitras in the creation of a new work for a series of site-specific outdoor dances entitled whispering winds, celebrating the Regina Folk Festival’s 50th Anniversary.
 
Created with dance artists Anastasia Evsigneeva, Kana Nemoto, Robin Poitras, Krista Solheim and Paige Culley, whispering winds employs a unique silk garment that extends the body developed in a lineage of the silk designs of American dance pioneer Loie Fuller (1862-1928).  Susan and Robin’s dance journeys with SILKS, collaborative and independent, include dances performed in gardens around the world.  For these two unique Saskatchewan-based celebratory events, the duo is excited to collaborate with visual artist Edward Poitras to explore the spiraling forces of the Saskatchewan sea floor and its’ wondrous winds through a series of dances. 

Rouge-gorge co-Artistic Director Robin Poitras says:
 
“The Saskatchewan Prairie is a virtual sea of wind whose tendrils have danced me many times. Dancing with wind is a seminal force in my dance life.  This ongoing dance research, creation and performance project is partnered by wind. The silks are a second skin that carry impressions of flight, waves and wind.  This research / performance continuum dances with the winds of many places using a series of silk dresses derived from the work of American modern dance pioneer Loie Fuller (1862-1928). 
 
I first encountered Fuller through Vancouver choreographer Susan McKenzie, whose choreography with silk garments echoes Fuller’s provocative work. Susan's extensive creation with silks includes Proverb, a duet for myself and Ron Stewart, followed by The STILL Project, an evening-length silk quintet Ron and I joined.  Susan's silk work is a gift that has greatly impacted my own work and continues to pull between the wave and shore of my body’s imagination.  Our creative journeys with silk, collaborative and independent, include dances performed in gardens around the world.   
 
For many years, I have traversed between the formal worlds of dance and performance art. My practice is rooted in a physical world comprised of choreography, dancing and actions/acts. My performance works often involve the use of found or formed: objects, texts, visuals, sound and/or other media. I am curious about relationships and resonance among the worlds of art, science and nature and in exploring how these worlds feed back and forth in mythical, mysterious, familiar yet elusive ways.” 

Regina Folk Festival 50th Anniversary Celebration
12:45, 2:15, 4:00              Saturday August 10, 2019
12:45, 2:15                              Sunday August 11, 2019  

Artists

Paige Culley, a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s professional training program, is a dance artist based in Montréal. Culley has performed and worked extensively with Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Daina Ashbee, and Danièle Desnoyers, and in collaborations spanning film, performance and new music settings with artists including Albéric Aurtenèche, Mich Cota, Dae Courtney, Louis Dufort, Emily Gan, Lucy May, Tedd Robinson, Marten Spangberg and Doris Uhlich. Culley is the recipient of the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant for contemporary dance, the 2012 danceWEB scholarship at ImPulsTanz, and the “Découverte” award at the Prix de la Danse de Montréal. Proceeding with gratitude, she acknowledges the many forces who have nourished and embodied the movements and traditions from which she receives so much.
 
Anastasia Evsigneeva is a contemporary dancer, contortionist and circus performer. She is a graduate of the Professional Program of the School of Contemporary Dancers with a BA Honors in Dance. Anastasia is a combination of dance and circus, with her own vision of contemporary dance art. She has trained under the guidance of Samantha Halas, as well as Andrey Bondarenko, Yamoussa Bangoura, Kimberley Craig, Liz Cooper and Amara Conde.
 
Kana Nemoto is a bodyworker, dancer and a musician. Originally from Kobe, Japan, Kana started training in classical piano (Yamaha Music School) at age 4 and classical ballet (Kobe Ballet Studio) at age 6, with further ballet training at Tottori City Ballet during her University years. In her early ballet training, Kana was introduced to the restorative postural alignment technique, Mitzvah Technique and Itcush Method by Amelia Itcush. Amelia’s influence was resounding, prompting Kana to move to Canada in 2009 to pursue direct training with her. While still continuing to pursue recreational ballet training at the University of Saskatchewan, Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Recreational Division) and Institute of Dance of Manitoba, Kana became certified in MT and IM in 2013. Kana teaches Mitzvah and Itcush throughout Canada and Japan.
 
Robin Poitras is one of Saskatchewan’s most prolific dance and performance creators. Creating dance, performance and installation works, she has been actively engaged in contemporary dance practice since the early 80s. For many years Robin has traversed the formal worlds of dance and performance art. She co-founded New Dance Horizons in 1986, with Dianne Fraser where she continues to act as Artistic Director. With an interest in research into diverse fields of artistic and somatic practice she has developed a unique interdisciplinary approach. Robin’s works have been presented across Canada, in Spain, France, Germany, Mongolia and Mexico. She is a recipient of the 2016 Lieutenant Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2006 Mayor’s Awards for Business & The Arts’ Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2004 Women of Distinction Award for the Arts. 

Krista Solheim is an independent dance artist and movement teacher based in Regina, SK. She received her early dance training at the Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan, then completed a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University in 1998. In 2014, she became STOTT PILATES® certified instructor. Over the past 20 years, Krista has pursued an independent creative and performative dance practice. As choreographer, Krista has been active in developing her voice as a soloist. As performer, she has worked with a range of choreographers from across Canada. Since 2017, Krista has been working with New Dance Horizons (NDH) Creation Base, NDH/ Rouge-gorge; dancing in the creations of Robin Poitras and Edward Poitras.