SOD #2 Performance Schedule

SOD 2: Wednesday, May 15th, at 1:30pm, Shu-Box Theatre, Riddell Centre 

• Field Work | Choreography and performance by Gerry Morita, Mile Zero Dance.​ 
• salute to the early rockin women | Choreography: Connie Moker Wernikowski. Performers: Carleigh Macdonald and Natasha Molnar-Fluter.  
• ReAWaken ​| Choreography: Meghann Michalsky. Performers: Valentia Dimitriou, Sylvie Moquin & Katherine Semchuck.

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​Field Work

Choreographed by: Gerry Morita
Company: Mile Zero Dance
Performers: Gerry Morita
Music Credits: The Cattle Call – Eddy Arnold
Aplhorneinlage – Alphorn
Jodoler (Yodeling Song) – Piedmont
Toroler Yodoler (Female Yodeler) – Regina
Whiskeyclone, Hotel City, 1997 – Beck
Mamas, Don’t Let your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys – Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson
Other Credits: Thank you: Mile Zero Dance, Trant Crosby, Temple Grandin “Animals in Translation,” Kat Smy, Giovanni Young, Alice and Peter Gradauer, Theresa Dextrase, Candy and Merv Mann.
Project Length: 15 minutes

Starting with the idea of creating a concert for cows, Artistic Director of Mile Zero Dance Gerry Morita will create new work that returns to her rural roots to explore movement and images that involve animals, the land, and the infinite impossibility of ever finishing work.

Gerry Morita (BA Dance/ MFA Theatre) has lived and worked in Vancouver, Montréal, and Tokyo as a dancer, choreographer, performance artist and teacher before moving to Edmonton and becoming Mile Zero Dance’s Artistic Director in 2006. Her work has toured Poland, Turkey, Estonia, Canada, and Japan.  

Morita’s body of work involves continuous inquiry into new ways of seeing movement, the body, and the spaces between us. She studies and teaches contact improvisation, Noguchi Taiso and other somatic-based and improving technique, working with artists from all disciplines in a vast array of both conventional and site-specific venues. She has received the Mayor’s Award for Innovation in Artistic Direction, the Edmonton Salute for Excellence, Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund and was one of Alberta’s 25 Influential Artists recognized in 2016.

Kasie Campbell is a visual artist from Grande Prairie, Alberta working out of Edmonton, AB. Campbell focuses on integrating a variety of media, including sculpture, photography, and installation with performative means. In 2015, Campbell won the Outstanding Student Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture. Her work was sent to Grounds for Sculpture South of NYC. The work then travelled for almost two years visiting Mana Contemporary in Hamilton NJ and then Mana Contemporary in Chicago IL. 2016-2017 Campbell was the Edmonton Arts Council’s Artist in Residence. Her role was to engage with staff in hopes of bridging the gap between art and everyday life. Two of the sculptures that were created in her residency were installed in Borden Park in Edmonton, AB as part of the 2nd iteration of the Borden Park Temporary Sculpture Loan Program. In summer 2017, Campbell showed Inside and Out in the Works Art and Design Festival. Inside and Out is a performative installation using large scale sculptural space and women's nylons to address the anxieties and vulnerabilities felt when the artist becomes the object of someone's gaze. 2018, Campbell had two works displayed at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie for the GPRC Alumni show. More recently, Campbell and (late) mother, Ginette Lund shared their work Matrilineal Threads in The Works Art and Design Festival (supported by the Edmonton Arts Council). Interested in fostering matrilineal making, Campbell and her daughter were commissioned by the Mitchell Art Gallery to create large-scale work on the outside gallery wall. From 2019-2021, Campbell and her mother, Ginette Lunds collaborative work will tour with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts TREX Program through the Art Gallery of Alberta. 
For more information on Kasie Campbell’s work, visit https://www.kasiecampbell.com 

salute to the early rocking women

Choreographed by: Connie Moker Wernikowski
Performers: Carleigh Macdonald and Natasha Molnar-Fluter
Music Credits: White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane, Mercedes Benz – Janis Joplin, Little Girl Blue – Janis Joplin
Project Length: 9 minutes

salute to the early rockin women by Connie Moker Wernikowski consists of three short dances to music by Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) and Janis Joplin.  The first dance is reminiscent of a circus act and Alice in Wonderland…. in which the two tall (5’8’’) dancers perform on two tiny chairs.  The second dance, to Joplin’s Mercedes Benz,  is light (potentially humorous) and fast.  The third dance is pure blues to Joplin’s “Little Girl Blue”.

Connie says “I have always been intrigued by these women who stepped into the male world of rock and roll and sang with so much fervour and passion. I listened (and danced wildly)  to their music when I was a young teen. “

​Connie Moker Wernikowski holds an Honours BA in Dance from York University and an M.Ed from the University of Regina. Connie has been actively contributing to dance in this province for over 40 years. She moved to Regina in 1975 to be a company member and teacher with Regina Modern Dance Works. Her professional career, centred in Regina, has included work as an artistic director, dance teacher, dance educator, professional dancer, choreographer and mentor. Connie is a master teacher of contemporary dance technique. She has taught numerous movement and arts education classes at the University of Regina, and has mentored many young dancers who now have careers in dance. Her choreography has been shown internationally. She has developed performances for school children audiences. Connie performed as part of New Dance Horizons InTemp Company and has toured through Canada as an independent soloist. In recent years Connie has created new choreographic works annually. Connie was Artistic Director of Youth Ballet and Contemporary Dance of Saskatchewan (YBCS) from 1994 to 2009. Her work at YBCS has left a significant legacy in ballet and contemporary dance training and in providing performance opportunities and development for young dancers. In 2018 Connie was a short list nominee for a Saskatchewan Arts Award for Arts and Learning. 
Thanks to New Dance Horizons for their continued support. Watch for a full performance of Connie’s recent work which will be held in January 2020 at the Shu-Box theatre, University of Regina.
 
Natasha has performed in the New Dance Horizon’s Stream of Dance Festival 2018, 2016; Secret Garden Tour 2017, 2016, 2015; Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan For the Love of Dance 2016; The Blanket Folding Project 2016; Regina’s Globe Theatre’s Sandbox Series 2015; Sixty/Forty: Recent Works by Connie Moker Wernikowski 2014; and with SQx Dance 2014. She is a former member of the Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan, which provided the opportunity to perform throughout Saskatchewan, Edmonton, and Scotland, as well as the recent opportunity to perform as an alumnus in their 2017 Dance Me a Song company performance. Natasha has completed a B.Sc in Mathematics and is now in the midst of finishing a B.Ed to teach high school math.  
 
Carleigh performed pre-professionally as a member of Regina’s Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan for eight years; culminating in attendance at the Aberdeen, International Youth Festival in Scotland (2013). Since graduating from Youth Ballet, she has participated in professional projects with local choreographers including Connie Moker Wernikowski, Johanna Bundon, Caitlin Coflin, and Karen Rose. She has performed in collaboration with Regina’s Globe Theatre’s Sandbox Series (2015), New Dance Horizon’s Stream of Dance Festival (2016, 2018), and Secret Garden Tour (2016, 2017), Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan’s For the Love of Dance (2016) and the University of Regina’s Music and Dance Project (2018, 2019). Carleigh’s continues to share her passion for dance by teaching ballet and modern at Youth Ballet and Contemporary Dance of Saskatchewan. 

ReAWaken

Choreographed by:Meghann Michalsky
Performers:Sylvie Moquin, Valentina Dimitriou, and Katherine Semchuk
Music Credits: Original composition by Nathaniel Schmidt & David Burnett
Other Credits:
Costume Designer: Myah Van Horn
Presentations: Fluid Festival 2018
Invited Outside Eyes: Davida Monk, Mike Czuba, and Linnea Swan
Supported by/thanks to: Alberta Foundation for the Arts, University of Calgary Dance Alumni Residency Program, W&M Dance Projects - Artist in Residence and Artist Support Programs, Dance Explosions, Ruth Levin, and Canada Council for the Arts
Project Length: 20 minutes

​ReAWaken is the process of rediscovering the power of the primal female body. ReAWaken draws inspiration from one of the most devastating forces on earth, a Volcano. It simmers intensely beneath the earth's skin, always volatile, always on the verge of breaking through.  

Ms. Michalsky is an independent dance artist residing in Calgary, Alberta. She completed her BA in Contemporary Dance, with a concentration in Choreography and Performance, at the University of Calgary. She is the co-creator of Project InTandem and YYC Contemporary Technique Training, two programs that offer support and opportunities to emerging artists in Calgary. She was awarded the 2019 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions - she is the first Dancer/Choreographer to receive this award. Michalsky has worked with an array of artists, including Dancer Studio West, Linnea Swan, Davida Monk, Cloudsway Dance Theatre, kloetzel&co, Dancing Monkey Laboratories, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, and J-Sik Movements, amongst others. Her most recent choreographic works have been presented at Fluid Festival, Annual Alberta Dance Festival, Project InTandem, Convergence, and abroad in Helsinki, Finland. Her supplementary knowledge in Hip-Hop and Krump movement principles has influenced her to highlight isolated, rhythmic, bound, and fast-twitch movement qualities into her contemporary choreographies. Currently, her work focuses on primal movement aesthetics, exploring the power of the female body through a state of nature (not tamed or domesticated). Thank you to New Dance Horizons for providing the opportunity to be able to share ReAWaken again.
 
Sylvie Moquin is a Calgary based dance artist, performer, choreographer and educator. She received her BFA in Performance Dance from Ryerson University in Toronto and has since extended her studies through the Professional Training Program with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Impulstanz (Vienna) and TransFormations (Montréal). She has worked extensively with Rock Bottom Movement, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, Pam Tzeng, Dancing Monkey Laboratories, Meghann Michalsky, kloetzel&co, and has performed in shows such as Dance: made in Canada, CrossCurrents, Ignite! Festival, the Annual Alberta Dance Festival, the Dance Action Lab (Dancers’ Studio West), Fall of the Leaf (J-Sik Movements), Brian Webb Dance Series, and Fluid Festival.

She has showcased her choreographic works in a variety of festivals and also co-created and co-produced Project InTandem. Most recently she has been engaged in a mentorship exchange with Karen Kaeja of Kaeja d’Dance, and received her certification as a Kaeja Elevations teacher.
 
Valentia Dimitriou, born and raised in Calgary, is a 2014 Alumni of the University of Calgary and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance, with distinction, concentrated in Choreography & Performance. With a background focused on Ballet, Contemporary and Physical Theatre, Dimitriou has also trained at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center New York, Toronto Dance Theatre, Transformations Danse Montréal and ImpulsTanz International Dans Festival Vienna. Valentia has been seen performing with Corps Bara Dance Theatre, J-SIK Movements, Dancers’ Studio West and many individual dance artists in and around the city. Miss Dimitriou most recently danced in DSW’s Physic/Alchemy Production, three choreographic works done by Davida Monk (2018), and Meghann Michalsky’s ReAWaken in Calgary’s International Fluid Festival
(2018).
 
Katherine Semchuk developed a passion for contemporary dance at Victoria School of the Arts. She is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she was the recipient of the Kathryn Ash Leadership award and had the privilege of working with many artists including Kate Alton, Peggy Baker, Robert Desrosiers and James Kudelka.

Katherine continues to work and perform in both Toronto and Alberta, collaborating regularly with Nostos Collective (Toronto), Good Women Dance Collective (Edmonton), Toy Guns Dance Theatre (Edmonton), Meghann Michalsky (Calgary) and Sasha Ivanochko (Calgary). Katherine has participated in numerous workshops including PART's Summer School in Brussels and Shay Kuebler's Radical System Art Summer Intensive this year. With a growing interest in choreography, Semchuk has been working to develop her own artistic practice. Most recently, she was the recipient of Good Women Dance Collective’s 2017 New Work Award and a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to develop her work “I can't sit still".