Dance@Night

Choreographer: Margarita Rebetskaia

Dancers: Kiauna Harder, Kalyna Howell-Matwichuk, Rachel McKinnon, Rachel Merchant, Allison Vliet

Music: Diogo de Haro "Todos Aguardam a Explosão de Betelgeuse" and "Às Portas de Enlil", as well as Mary Oliver interview for The On Being Project with Krista Tippett

Costume Design: Katya Petukhova

Text: When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn... by Mary Oliver

Choreographer’s Notes: I was struck by the dissonance between the therapeutic aspect of Mary Oliver's poetry and the heavy fate from which, it seems, this poetry grew. Her quotes can be found on bloggers' Instagram pages and  on yoga centers' walls, these "cut-out" wisdoms are tought to inspire and help other people. But my main feeling from reading her poems and knowing about her life is that her poetry is a way to survive. A way to emerge from the darkness into the light. A relentless resistance to darkness, which is immensely admirable. All her dogs were rescue dogs.

Special Thanks: Special thanks to the artist Katya Petukhova for her assistance in creating the wigs, Daniel Galvao for editing the sound track, and Katharina Schier for lending her outside eye.

Choreographer: Shayla Waschuk

Dancers: Lane Sayer, Jamie Stock, Jenna Wadden, Lavender Wong

Music: Insuif by Machinefabriek, ready, set, go. by Kenichi Kasamatsu, Fragment by Rival Consoles

Choreographer’s Notes: This work explores the interplay of movement, body and breath as a means to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety. Amidst life's demands, seeking conscious connection between breath and body can provide transformative healing and nurturing for the soul.

Special Thanks: Thank you to the remarkable dancers who have contributed greatly in shaping this piece and bringing it to life. A huge thank you to Marie France Forcier and those who have guided and supported me throughout this process.

Choreographer: Olyvia Hoban

Dancers: Jaidyn Bloemraad, Eva Chalifoux, Sophia Frenette, Morgan Lawrence, Caitlin Towers, Shayla Waschuk

Music: Spring Birds Chirping Sound Effect, Not My Responsibility (Instrumental) by Billie Eilish, Game Of Survival (Instrumental) by Ruelle, Hostage (Instrumental) by Billie Eilish, Overheated (Instrumental) by Billie Eilish

Choreographer’s Notes: “When we become fixed in our perceptions, we lose our ability to fly.” -Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche 
The idea of bird watching was derived from the concept of perception. Perception is intertwined into our identities and influence who we are, what we feel, how we act, etc. Birdwatching invites you to observe the act of watching and being watched. “Birdwatching goes both ways.”

Special Thanks: This piece is dedicated to my second family, Dinos Football. Thank you to Marie France Forcier for her continuous support, guidance, and mentorship. Thank you to my dancers for their participation and trust through this process.

Choreographer: Kalyna Howell-Matwichuk (they*/she)

Dancers: Madeleine Graham (she/her), Anastaciya Knoll (she/they), Dorothée Tölgyesi (she/her/elle)

Music: And The Flower Have Time For Me' by Felicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Mr. Cellophane by John C. Reilly from Chicago (Music from the Motion Picture)

Additional Credits: The crux of this work is based upon Hélène Cixous' work, 'The Laugh of Medusa'. I credit the additional feminist discourses that I am adding to/commenting on around the woman's body, how it is always being simultaneously stolen and reclaimed by those stolen from.
Choreographer’s Notes: Hélène Cixous, the French feminist said, “We must learn to speak the language that women speak when there is no one there to correct us.” How are women to become permanent at all? Were we ever here? What courage is required of women to remember what our bodies have known but our lives have taken the memory of? What revolution occurs when we demand our bodies back, from patriarchy, from violence, through honesty? Through grief? Through honesty about our grief? To not be written in the language of men, but to write ourselves, our grief, our insistence, is to experience our lives in a body that is self-determined. ‘How Do I Stay?’ explores what it means to come back to a body, what you’ve denied it, what it’s been denied of, and begin writing this body yourself.

Special Thanks: Thank you to Marie France Forcier for her sincere eye she kept on & through my work. To the women / queers in my life who insist on telling the truth about the world around them; about their lives. You help me tell mine, unwaveringly.

Choreographer: Sierra Oszust 

Dancers: Emilie Field, Cydney Jackson, Kiki Roberts & Elexie Tracy 

Music: HYbr:ID Ectopia Quarks Minus/ HYbr:d:ID Ectopia Gravitation by Alva Noto 

Choreographer’s Notes: THE HOLE narratively explores a group of individuals stuck underground. They must learn to behave collaboratively for survival while  experiencing the situation on independent scales. In the end, natural selection prevails. 

Special Thanks: I want to dedicate a special thank you to the dancers who performed this work. I am grateful for your commitment, devotion, and creative interpretation. I also thank Marie France Forcier for her creative direction throughout the creative process. 

Choreographer: Jamie Stock 

Dancers: Jolie Che, Sophia Frenette, Olyvia Hoban, Hazel Lewis, Gabriella Rybar 

Music: QKThr by Aphex Twin, green to blue by daniel.mp3, Beyond by Empty Set, A Sparrow Alighted upon Our Should by Johann Johannsson, Sea Of Love by Cat Power 

Choreographer’s Notes: Sometimes, rather than reminiscing, we are deeply mourning the simplicity of what once was. Reminiscing and mourning are two qualities I believe are interchangeable and I wanted to explore these through organic, individualized movement. We can still appreciate what we once had while understanding how to accept the now. 

Special Thanks: Special thank you to the dancers who made this piece come alive so beautifully. I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness and individuality you each collaborated on in the making of this work. 

Choreographer: Marie France Forcier, with the 2024 BFA graduands

Dancers: Olyvia Hoban, Kalyna Howell-Matwichuk, Sierra Oszust, Jamie Stock, Shayla Waschuk

Music: Metronome 168bpm, Sabotage by Beastie Boys

Other Credits: Marie France Forcier and the performers

Choreographer’s Notes: This piece came together under unexpected and challenging circumstances. While less than ideal, these conditions and the piece itself in the end aptly mirror this cohort of students' university trajectory. Having entered September 2020, they have had to constantly re-adjust their learning to rapidly changing pandemic and endemic realities. There was a lot of grit on the way, and they pushed. And they pushed through.  

Special Thanks: Special thanks and congratulations to the BFA cohort, who effectively put this work together in under 5 rehearsals.