Pro Series I:Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy (Just Breathe, Mother Earth)
SEPTEMBER 23 & 24 • 6:30 PM
SEPTEMBER 25 • 12:30 PM
SEPTEMBER 26 • 6 PM
University Theatre, University of Calgary
FREE
An immersive performance
A collaborative project by Cree artist Sandra Lamouche and settler dance faculty member Melanie Kloetzel.
Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy (Just Breathe, Mother Earth) offers an immersive dance theatre experience for small groups of audience-participants. Come and experience the hope, deceit, folly and alarm of a migratory journey, while also uncovering alternatives to our collective fate.
Each Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy journey concludes with a focus group session that helps audiences process any feelings of climate anxiety that may emerge in the journey.
Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy is a co-production by the SCPA and TRAction, with support from Canada Council for the Arts.
Trigger warning: This is an immersive performance where audience members will be asked to participate. The performance’s themes could trigger climate anxiety.
Accessibility information: Audience members will be required to remove their shoes, walk, use stairs and sit on pillows. A portion of the performance will take place outside.
Audience advisory: mature content, stage fog/haze, and strobe
Artistic Directors' Note
Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy (Just Breathe, Mother Earth) developed from a joined vision. It began when Sandra Lamouche and Melanie Kloetzel met through the 10 Ways project, a social media project curated by TRAction, a climate arts collective based in Moh’kinstsis (Calgary). After being selected through a national call for artists, Sandra created a one-minute short called ‘Stewardess of the Land’ to be included in the ’10 Ways to Fix the Planet’ series. The short offered an ironic collision of flight attendant procedures and Indigenous protocols.
Soon after witnessing Sandra’s short, Melanie received a dream vision that mapped out an evening-length performance work that was clearly inspired by Sandra’s offering. In discussing this vision, Sandra and Melanie decided to pursue a cross-cultural collaboration examining eco-anxiety, its roots and the paradoxes that surround it.
And now, we would like to take you on an immersive journey. As you enter the world of Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy, observe your responses to the various stimuli you may receive. What do these responses tell you? As you and your fellow travelers navigate uncertain waters, we hope you may glimpse some alternatives to what may feel like a shocking fate.
We would like to thank you, as audience – or really participants – for your willingness to be part of this research journey.
Credits
Production support: Melanie Kloetzel/kloetzel&co.
Devised script: Melanie Kloetzel and Jocelyn H. Leiver
Script adaptation (meditation): Camille Mori
Voiceover: Jocelyn H. Leiver
Music: Sherryl Sewepagaham (performed by Luminous Voices) and Phyllis Sinclair (from the album Ghost Bones)
Sound design: Calum Maunier and Melanie Kloetzel
This project has received funding from a UCalgary Transdisciplinary Connector Grant, as well as through a Mobilizing Alberta: Catalyzing Community Action grant. The project has also received key support from the Office of Sustainability, the UCalgary Division of Dance, and the Centre for the Research in the Fine Arts (CRFA).
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Staff
Director JOELLE WELLING
Associate Director TBD
Dance Division Lead MELANIE KLOETZEL
Drama Division Lead JANE MACFARLANE
Music Division Lead ROD SQUANCE
Performance and Artist Coordinator ALIDA LOWE
Department Operations Manager SACHI PERERA
Administrative Assistant ALEXANDRA LYONS
Academic Program Specialist ROSABEL CHOI
Academic Program Specialist CONSTANTINA CALDIS ROBERTS
Graduate Program Advisor ALISON SCHMAL -
Theatre Services
Venue Business Administrator ABIR BACHIR
Client and Relations Specialist CATHERINE ROULEAU
Front of House Manager LIZZY EVASHEVICH
Lighting Technician JASON SCHWARZ
Scenic Carpenter SCOTT FREEMAN
Stage Technician IAN WILSON
A special thanks to the UCalgary Division of Dance and the Centre for the Research in the Fine Arts (CRFA) for the support for this project, as well as to the amazing group of people who were willing to jump into this project in a very short time frame – Jocelyn, Taylor, Hannah, Shondra, Alèn, Steph, Calum, Katriona, and Camille. Your efforts have been nothing short of remarkable! Also, a huge thanks to Indigenous musician/composers Sherryl Sewepagaham and Phyllis Sinclair for their generous contribution of music to support this project.
kloetzel&co. is a dance theatre company committed to works that span stage, site, and screen. Begun in New York City, kloetzel&co. now makes its home on Treaty 7 territory (Moh’kinsstis/Calgary) in Canada. The company’s research projects, which frequently address issues of social and environmental justice, emerge from practice-as-research methodologies. kloetzel&co. is particularly dedicated to artistic collaboration and interdisciplinary practices and attempts to foster creative experiments with writers, filmmakers, composers, designers, visual artists, landscape designers, and musicians in each place along its choreographic journey. Award-winning films from the company have been presented across four continents, and live presentation highlights include New York presentations at Movement Research at the Judson Church, Danspace, and The Flea Theatre, international presentations at The Painted Bride Art Center (Philadephia), Dusk Dances (Toronto), Horizons Concert Series (Flagstaff), and The House Theatre (Plymouth, UK), as well as in hotels, train stations, board rooms, parking lots and gallery spaces across Turtle Island. kloetzel&co. is directed by Melanie Kloetzel (MFA, PhD) who has created over fifty works for the company.
Creators and performers
*indicates kloetzel&co. performer
Director and Performer
Sandra Lamouche (she/her; MA) is a Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree Woman) from the Bigstone Cree Nation in Northern Alberta. She married into the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta and is now a proud mother to two boys with braids. In 2007, she completed her BA in Native American Studies from the University of Lethbridge, and in 2021, she successfully defended her MA Thesis at Trent University, titled “Nitona Miyo Pimadisiwin (Seeking a Good Life) Through Indigenous Dance” which examines Indigenous Dance as a Social Determinant of Health and Well Being. Sandra is a multidisciplinary creator, artist, writer and storyteller, a Champion Hoop Dancer, an award winning Indigenous Educational Leader, and a two-time TEDx Speaker. She has over fifteen years of experience in ten international styles of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, contemporary, hip hop and powwow styles, and the hoop dance. She has performed, collaborated with, studied and trained with Indigenous Dance Companies such as "Daystar Modern Dance Creations" with Rosalie Jones, founder of Modern Native Dance (Rochester, NY); "Dancing Earth: Contemporary Indigenous Dance Creations" with Rulan Tangen; "Compaigni V'ni Dansi" Metis and Contemporary dance with Yvonne Chartrand (Vancouver, BC); "Kahawi Dance Theatre" with Santee Smith (Toronto, ON); Jack Gray of "Atamira Dance Company" (New Zealand), O. Dela Arts (Ontario), and Raven Spirit Dance (Vancouver).
Director
Melanie Kloetzel (she/her; MFA, PhD) is a settler performance maker, scholar and educator based in Treaty 7 territory (Moh’kinsstis/Calgary). Director of the dance theatre company kloetzel&co. and co-director of the art intervention collective TRAction (which produces the Climate Art Web), Kloetzel has developed events, workshops and encounters in theatre spaces, alternative venues, spaces of public assembly, and online environments across four continents. Her award-winning films have garnered such awards as Best of Fest (Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, USA), Best Documentary (Mabig Film Festival, Germany), a Boss Female Short (Freedom Festival International) and a Best Experimental Film Award (GO Independent International Film Festival, USA). Her publications can be found in Dance Research Journal, Contemporary Theatre Review, Choreographic Practices, Dance Research, New Theatre Quarterly, and the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, among others, and her books – the co-edited anthology Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces (2009), the co-authored (Re)Positioning Site Dance: Local Acts, Global Perspectives (2019), and the co-authored Covert: A Handbook – are currently available from University Press of Florida, Intellect, and Triarchy Press, respectively.
Performer
Jocelyn Hoover (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary settler artist from Moh’kinstsis (Calgary, AB). She is an alumnus of both the Dance and Music programs at the University of Calgary, and has been a company member of kloetzel&co. since 2015: Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy; VINES; Faust, the Anatomy of a Disease; MEN in Charge (film); It Began with Watching (stage/site/tour); Dance of the Puppets (short film); Rooms; and Tragedy, a sequel. Her background in theatre, musical theatre, film, dance, choreography, and as a collaborative pianist has created many opportunities to share her unique voice abroad, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, California, Ireland, Austria, and India. Recent roles have included Rule of Thumb (Workshop Theatre) and Little Women the Musical (Rosebud Theatre). @Hoovey
Ireland (2014).
Performer
Alèn Martel (he/him) is a dancer, scholar, university educator, and performing arts centre professional working in Calgary, AB. His research includes examining how dance has been used as propaganda throughout history, dance and technology, including in social and pedagogical contexts, and the history of the intersection of computer science and dance. He has his Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Calgary in Canada (2012) and his Master of Arts in Ethnochoreology from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick in Ireland (2014).
Co-designer
Katriona Dunn, SCPA: Set, props, and costume design for Our Town (2025); design for Wagonstage (2022, 2024); co-design Pro Series II: Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy (2022, 2023); costume design Horse Girls (2022); production design assistant Formations (2022) and We The Same (2021). Other Credits: Assistant lighting and projection design The Lehman Trilogy (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); assistant lighting designer Begin Again and Play Cowboy (Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers); apprentice lighting designer The Mountaintop (RMTC); assistant set and props design Casey and Diana and Women of the Fur Trade (Stratford Festival); assistant costume design Murder on the Orient Express (Vertigo Theatre). Training: BFA in Drama, U of C; MAIS, Royal Roads University. Other work can be found online at @k.dunn.designs
Calum Maunier (He/Him) is a technical director, theatrical designer, technician and creator. He not so recently graduated from the University of Calgary Drama program with distinction. His most recent design work was for Silent Sky with Fire Exit. He is currently working at Wordfest as their technical director for the fourth year running, and as well as providing technical and design support at cSpace for the last three and a half years. He shows no sign of slowing down, and looks forward to what comes next. Find more at https://www.calummaunier.ca/
Other recent credits include: Cantata 2023 w/ Sage Theatre (Light/Costume Design), Just Breath 2023 w/ UofC (Set/Lighting Design), Frankenstein w/ Jupiter theatre (Technical director/Production manager), Wagonstage 2023 w/ UofC (Set/Costume Design), MoRF w/ UofC (Lighting Design), Just Breathe 2024 w/ UofC (Production Management and Co-Design), Cantata 2024 w/ Fire Exit (Production Design),The Play that goes wrong w/ WIC (Lighting Design) Starslingers w/ Theatre Jupiter and Cirque De Nuit (Lighting Design), MoRF 2024 w/UofC (Lighting Design), Starslingers w/Jupiter Theatre and Cirque De Nuit (Lighting Design), Silent Sky w/ Fire Exit (Lighting Design), Celexia w/ Citizen Theatre (Design).
Performer
Taylor MacLeod (she/her) is a performer, dance educator and arts enthusiast from Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with a concentration in choreography and performance with distinction from the University of Calgary. Since emerging in the local arts scene, she has performed with Kloetzel and Co., WM2, Project InTandem, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, and Ballet Bodies. Taylor has had the opportunity to perform across Canada in Regina’s Stream of Dance, Calgary’s Fluid Festival, Annual Alberta Dance Festival, and Skylines Dance & Film Series, as well as Edmonton’s The Works Festival and Prairie Dance Circuit.
Performer
Hannah (she/they) is a mixed Michif, Dutch and Irish artist currently residing in Mohkinstsis. Their ancestry and relatives link them to Treaty 6 territory through the Isbister, Sinclair and Dreaver Métis families and through the immigration and settlement of her grandparents and great-grandparents from the Netherlands and Ireland. They have been grateful to work with Kloetzel & Co. throughout the years since graduating from the University of Calgary dance program (2020), including in the previous 2023 iteration of Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy. Recently, Hannah has finished a Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work from the University of Victoria and is now working in the harm reduction field, along with continuing to create art through movement and crafts as a member of Meltshot Brownie Art and Performance Collective.
Performer
Shondra Cromwell-Krywulak (she/her) is a dance artist based out of Mohkinstsis (Calgary) Alberta and is a graduate of the Univeristy of Calgary’s BFA Dance Program (2019). After graduation she has continued her training with YYC Contemporary Training and recently completed a residency with Dancer’s Studio West. Shondra has performed for established artists including Melanie Kloetzel, Michèle Moss, Marie France Forcier, and Heather Ware. Her work has been presented in university performances, and most recently her film French Vanilla with Chocolate Sprinkles was presented in Dancer’s Studio West Quick and Dirty Festival (2021).