MARGIE GILLIS – LEGACY PROJECT EVOLUTIONS
EVOLUTIONS offers a new tour concept: a transcendental and transformative adventure for audiences, with the fluidity and distinctiveness associated with Margie Gillis.
In each show in Winnipeg, Margie is accompanied by eight Legacy Project dancers: Elise Boileau, Genevieve Boulet, Marc Daigle, Caitlin Griffin, Kathleen Hiley, Ruth Naomi Levin, Susan Paulson and Neil Sochasky. Every show includes new choreographies and a Margie Gillis solo performance.
Audiences will be offered an entirely singular experience, depending on the composition of the group performing. Spectators will be transported through a selection of works from from Margie’s prolific repertoire, both in solos and group dances, interpreted acknowledging the individuality of each dancer’s experience.
Choreographer & Dancer:
Margie Gillis
Dancers:
Élise Boileau, Geneviève Boulet, Marc Daigle, Caitlin Griffin, Kathleen Hiley, Ruth Naomi Levin, Susan Paulson and Neil Sochasky
Margie Gillis
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Margie Gillis
Internationally acclaimed solo modern choreographer/ dancer, Margie Gillis has been creating original works for over forty-five years. Her repertoire includes more than one hundred dances, her signature solos, as well as duets and group pieces. She also gives lectures on dance and the role of art in society. With her unique approach of “Dancing from the Inside Out,”she teaches her art form to professionals and aficionados. She also mentors fellow artists of excellence and new dancers alike. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Foundation and the Stella Adler Studio of New York first MAD Spirit Award for Exceptional Humanitarian Actions by an Artist. She is Knight of the Ordre national du Québec and Officer of the Order of Canada. Margie Gillis’ masterful interpretation of the different facets of the human soul has won her loyal audiences over the years. Unwaveringly, she continues to develop her craft through experimenting, teaching and creating.
Photo: V.Tony Hauser
Élise Boileau
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Élise Boileau
Élise Boileau graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris and of the EDCM in Montreal. Since 2014, she has been part of the Quebec dance community as a performer. With her spirit, theatricality and sensibility, she dances and travels.
Montréal, QC
Geneviève Boulet
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Geneviève Boulet
Geneviève Boulet graduated from the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. She has worked with O Vertigo, Roger Sinha, Lina Cruz, Dany Desjardins and Roy Assaf (Israel). She has been a dancer with Destins Croisés since 2009. In addition, she is co-founder of the collective LA TRESSE where she acts as a choreographer and dancer.
Montréal, QC
@Valérie Boulet
Marc Daigle
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Marc Daigle
The Acadian contemporary dancer, Marc Daigle, began his career more than 3 decades ago with the Groupe de la Place Royale in Ottawa. He has danced for Montanaro, JP Perreault, Carbone 14, Red Rabbit Project and Margie Gillis since arriving in Montreal.
Montréal, QC
Caitlin Griffin
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Caitlin Griffin
Over the past decade, Caitlin Griffin has performed in ballet and contemporary productions across Canada, China, Thailand and Israel. She has worked on stage with companies including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and MOVE: the company.
Vancouver, BC
© Kyle Toy
Kathleen Hiley
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Kathleen Hiley
Winnipeg Dance Artist, Kathleen Hiley has performed solo works by Margie Gillis, Isadora Duncan, Rachel Browne, Stephanie Ballard, Jeanne Bresciani, Peter Quanz and Gaile Petursson-Hiley. Her performances have been presented in Europe, Canada and New York. Kathleen graduated from the School of Contemporary Dancers Professional Program in affiliation with the University of Winnipeg.
Ruth Naomi Levin
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Ruth Naomi Levin
Ruth Naomi Levin dances with Calgary’s La Caravan Dance Theatre. She also teaches and facilitates transformation through movement and body awareness through her company embodiedinmotion.com.
Calgary, AB
© Beata Labikova
Susan Paulson
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Susan Paulson
Montreal freelancer, Susan Paulson is honoured to be working with Margie Gillis. She is the co-founder of Le Broke Lab and has worked with Dave St Pierre, Virginie Brunelle and Cas Public among other
Montréal, QC
© Damian Siqueiros
Neil Sochasky
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Neil Sochasky
Neil Sochasky’s career wearing various hats as performer, rehearsal director, œil exterior, choreographer, teacher and coach has spanned four continents working for dance and theatre companies in both Canada and France.
Montréal, QC
©Simon Grenier-Poirier
VERGE - Remembering Rachel Browne
Browne was considered the matriarch of Canadian contemporary dance. She took great pride in the fact that WCD, which she established in 1964, is the oldest modern dance company in Canada. Through the School of Contemporary Dancers, she helped train, nurture and inspire countless choreographers and dancers. Her role as a pioneer in the development of modern dance in Canada is monumental.
Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, 2012
In partnership with the School of Contemporary Dancers. Dancers include current & recent graduates from The School of Contemporary Dancers and Guest Artists.
Choreographer:
Rachel Browne
Directed by:
Stephanie Ballard
Dancers:
Trevor Pick, Shawn Maclaine, Allison Brooks, Ilse Torres-Orozco, Emma Dal Monte, Neilla Hawley, Mark Dela Cruz, Anna Protsiou, Emily Solstice Tait, Kendra Coulter, Kamryn Dyck, Melina Giesbrecht, Joelle Jobin, Shayla Rudd, Kyra Taylor-Gagné, Sharazde Vahid, Fiona Witherell, Colleen Zander, Julius Gambalan, Odette Heyn, Paula Blair, Kathleen Hiley and Robyn Thomson Kacki
LUCAS IS LONELY
The World Premier of WCD’s visiting Artist-in-Residence Munich-based, Canadian choreographer Jasmine Ellis’s full evening work will feature a cast of both Winnipeg dancers and international artists.
“Lucas is lonely” is a dance piece that explores the loneliest moments of life, narrated by a man, inside a dance performance, who isn’t a dancer.
Choreographer & Director:
Jasmine Ellis
Dramaturge:
Martina Missel
Composer:
Christine Fellows
Actor:
Kit Weyman
Dancers:
Allison Brooks, Emma Dal Monte, Mark Dela Cruz and Joseph Picciotto (NYC)
Contributing Artists:
Martina Missel and Christine Fellows
Lighting Design:
Ksenia Broda-Milian
Costume Design:
Stephanie Smith
Jasmine Ellis
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Jasmine Ellis
Jasmine Ellis is a Canadian choreographer and dance film director with based in Munich, Germany. A graduate of Etobicoke School of the Arts, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and Codarts Rotterdam Conservatory, Ellis has worked professionally in dance as a performer and choreographer since 2006.
Ellis’ own works are often collaborative endeavours either for the stage or film. She is regularly commissioned to create stage works internationally for companies, schools and in collaboration with theatre directors.
Ellis is an award-winning film director and artistic director of Bad Posture Productions, founder of Bad Lemons and was resident choreographer for Springboard Dance Montreal Festival 2018.
2018
Recently she premiered “Empathy” an evening length work to such success and positive reviews that it was remounted to open the RODEO festival later that year.
As part of the prestigious position of Resident Choreographer for the Springboard Dance Montreal Festival 2018, Jasmine Ellis showed two new works there: “back” and “until.”
Ellis also created the dance piece „Teil“ on third year students at the School of Toronto dance theatre.
In co-operation with director Caitlin van der Maas, she choreographed for “Romeo & Juliet for f*king ever,” a production by Münchner Kammerspiele.
2019
She was commissioned by Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers – Artist in Resident Program to develop the full length production “Lucas is Lonely” that will premiere in April.
For the year 2019, Jasmine Ellis has received a grant from the Canada Arts Council for the her new production “Toni is lonely” that will premier in Munich as part of the DANCE Festival in May.
In the same year Jasmine Ellis will develop a new dance film as part of the DANCE ALL YEAR LONG residency program in Denmark. Additionally she will release a short film that was created in collaboration with LajaMartin – Physical Dance Theater Company.
Ellis has been awarded a grant from the Kulturreferat of the municipality of Munich and will be collaborating with Vienna based artist Evandro Pedroni for their new production “Everything Blue“ that will premiere at HochX in Munich in the fall.
Ellis is an active member of the independent Munich dance scene and the Artistic director of Bad Lemons that invites internationally renowned artists to teach professional classes in Munich.
Kit Weyman
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Kit Weyman
Kit Weyman is a recognized Toronto actor, writer, and director. Growing up in front of the camera on various lead and supporting roles in film and television, Kit was able to harness his deep love of storytelling into a burgeoning career as a director. His debut short film “Ways to Water” has been featured in the 2017 Coup de Couer at the Cannes Short Film Corner, and screened at the Canadian Film Fest. The exploration of the human relationship to water – metaphorically, scientifically and socially – has been a constant theme within his work. Kit is also known within Toronto’s music community, coming up in the hip hop and music scene. Fusing the two worlds, he started directing music videos and creating visuals in 2012 and has since made a name for himself as a creative force in the city. He attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, Ryerson Theatre school, as well as York University for creative writing and screenplays.
Allison Brooks
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Allison Brooks
Born in Penticton BC, Allison Brooks is a Winnipeg-based dance artist. She has worked with Stephanie Ballard, Odette Heyn, Roger Sinha, Constance Cooke, Brent Lott, Meagan O’Shea and Jason Martin. She is a member of GPS collective for their performance tour to Leon Mexico. Allison is currently working with Sam Penner and Alexandra Winters in research and creation for an upcoming project that premiers this fall. In addition to her dance practice, she is also a Pilates instructor at Core Centric under the direction of Leslie Crozier. Allison is a 2017 graduate of the School of Contemporary Dancers.
Emma Dal Monte
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Emma Dal Monte
Emma Dal Monte is a recent graduate of the Professional Program of the School of Contemporary Dancers. She has had the privilege of performing works by several artists including; Harold Rheaume, Sharon Moore, Jennifer Mascall, Constance Cooke and Susie Burpee. She recently danced with Sinha Danse for the CINARS Festival, was a co producer of Bloom II 2018, performed in the 2018 Dancing On The Edge festival with Mascall Dance, and has been a cast member of WCD’s Verge for the past two years. She worked with Alexandra Winters on a new creation in February, and is working with Harold Rheaume on a new creation debuting in May.
Mark Dela Cruz
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Mark Dela Cruz
markiatsu (Mark Dela Cruz) is a freelance professional contemporary dance artist. He’s earned a Bachelor’s Honors Degree in Contemporary Dance from the University of Winnipeg in affiliation with the Senior Professional Program of Winnipeg’s School of Contemporary Dancers. Recently, Mark was in Montreal working with Roger Sinha to present in the CINARS Biennial. His upcoming projects include a presentation of his work in Urban Dance Choreography set on Indigenous Youth from Pikangikum First Nation, and Wasagamack First Nation at the Sony Center for the Performing Arts in Toronto, and later this fall, working with Christina Medina in Austria.
Joseph Picciotto (NYC)
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Joseph Picciotto (NYC)
Joseph Picciotto from New Jersey, is a 2018 Cum Laude BFA graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts. Since graduating, Joseph had the opportunity of performing works by Bill T. Jones, Maxine Doyle, Yvonne Rainer, LEV and Ohad Naharin. Joseph is a Springboard Danse alumni, where he first worked closely with Jasmine Ellis. He has also participated in apprenticeships with Gallim Dance Company, and is currently a NYC based Freelance Artist.
Martina Missel
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Martina Missel
Martina Missel works as a freelance dramaturg for dance, theatre and performance projects. She worked as an assistant director and dramaturg at various theatres including Schauspielhaus Zürich and at Burgtheater in Vienna.
Since 2012, she is the dramaturg of satellit produktion, and annually realizes political-documentary project developments e.g. at the Residenztheater München and as part of the SpielArt Festival 2015. Since 2018 she also works as a dramaturg and publicist through the production office Rat&Tat Kulturbüro.
She has worked with various artists in Munich over the years including the collective Pandora Pop and most recently the choreographers David Russo and Cristina D’Alberto. Martina Missel was the dramaturg for “Empathy” by Jasmine Ellis in 2018 and will continue this fruitful collaboration for the upcoming project “Toni is lonely” that will premiere at Residenztheater in Munich as part of DANCE Festival. www.martinamissel.orgw
Christine Fellows
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Christine Fellows
Christine Fellows finds music in sounds we tend to take for granted: the voices of the people we love, the sounds of the spaces we move through as part of our daily lives. Fellows is based in Winnipeg, where she collaborates with artists from all disciplines to create and produce performance works and recordings. In 2018, she released her seventh solo album, Roses on the Vine.
Fellows has created scores for choreographic works by Susie Burpee, Brent Lott and Lesandra Dodson; she and Dodson are currently collaborating with Montreal dancers Marc Boivin and Elise Vanderborght on a new work. She is thrilled to be collaborating with Jasmine Ellis on this project.christinefellows.com
Ksenia Broda-Milian
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Ksenia Broda-Milian
Ksenia is glad to do her first show with WCD! A longtime student of the School of Contemporary Dancers’ pre-professional and intensive programs, she loves when that experience can inform her practice. Other training comes from the University of Alberta (MFA) and University of Winnipeg (BAH), Off the Wall Artist’s Alliance, Ghost River Theatre, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Creative Manitoba. This season she has worked on productions by Winnipeg Studio Theatre/Village Conservatory, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, University of Winnipeg, RMTC as an assistant and designer on the upcoming Lawyer Show, Mamma Mia. Thanks to my parents for their support, and to Jasmine and Martina for inviting me to collaborate!
Stephanie Smith
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Stephanie Smith
Made by Josephine is designed and produced by Stephanie Smith in a shared studio in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. Upon graduating in 2010 from the Fashion and Costume Design program from Collège LaSalle in Montreal, Stephanie moved back home to Winnipeg to start her clothing company. From design to production, it’s slow fashion made locally, worn globally. Simple designs and straight cuts to keep you comfortable throughout your day.