As a result of investigating my personal journey as a dance artist throughout the past 30 years, I was inspired to pursue numerous projects relating to the investigation and preservation of our Modern Dance Legacy. By example:
I believe that our thoughts, feelings, how we perceive things, our behaviour, our physical and spiritual being, our individual and collective life forces are all interconnected........................
Dance is not a thing that you do or make. It is an experiential process that is in a constant state of evolution........................
Within the circle of eternal change we make choices.
Excerpt from Masters Thesis 2001
We can and do move differently at some point in each and every day of our lives. An unexpected trip that causes a physical re- action that is unfamiliar. The need to break into a run in order to catch a bus might leave us breathless but renews a personal sense of our physical capacity. A change in pace or pattern in order to get through a particularly crowded area....
It has been said that primitive man danced because the dance impulse has been evident throughout recorded history............ The types of dances familiar to early man can be reasonably detected through the study of dances executed & performed by contemporary tribal or primitive peoples.......... Some say that dancing probably preceded man himself.... That dance can be found in recognizable forms in the movement patterns of birds and animals... A possible indication that dance begins with life itself. That dance is impulsive. A natural & integral expression of the very breath and being of our life cycle process..............
Early man might have danced:
1. Sheer physical exuberance.
2. Perhaps in connection to courtship.
3. For ritual purposes.
4. For the need to communicate through gesture and mimicry.
As dance evolved it became a significant part of ceremonies that are celebrated to mark important events in life.
The exploration my personal relationship with movement has enriched my life and become my profession (career).
As a human being I am seeking balance and harmony through the constant investigation of movement and dance. We can all learn so much by simply paying attention to our physicality.
A moment of movement can be the cause of injury or healing.
As we move through life we are creating our own dance.
The question is: How are we moving and what are we creating ?
Excerpt from Masters Thesis 2001
Purpose: To develop and present a basic, comprehensive and informative Modern Dance Legacy course that will compliment and enhance the highly acclaimed Pre Professional Dance Training Program for the School of Contemporary Dancers under the Direction of Co-Directors Odette Heyn-Penner and Faye Thomson. The course will focus on the developmental process of Modern Dance as a performing art and its relevance to our social and cultural well being as we prepare to enter the new millennium. As a modern dance veteran of twenty five years I will include some of my own experiences as a dancer, choreographer and director in order to personalize the course. My intention is to evoke a sense of curiosity and feed a desire for growth within the context of modern dance history.
1. International Modern Dance Legacy
Three two hour discussion sessions : Total 6hrs
2. Canadian Modern Dance Legacy
Three two hour discussion sessions : Total 6hrs
3. Personal Modern Dance Legacy
Three two hour discussion sessions : Total 6hrs
Exerpt from Pilot Project Proposal/Legacy is in its 5th year of being part of the curriculum for the Professional Training Program at SCD
The Video Archive Library provides documentation of current and historic dance works, both on a national and international level. The library serves as an invaluable resource for the history of the Professional Program of School of Contemporary Dancers, Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, and our Manitoban professional dance community at large. For the past three years we have focused on refinement of the library collection and the establishment of physical and administrative systems for the on going maintenance and growth of the library.
The Video Archive Library has become an essential part of the preservation of dance history in the community
We are presently working on a souvenir book for the 40th Anniversary Season in 2004. It's our intention that this book will honour and document the outstanding history of Canada's oldest professional modern dance company. We are choosing material from our extensive collection. It is our hope to represent our past, celebrate our present, and inspire our future.
Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers celebrates 40 years of New Creations