2023 Film Festival Feature
Check out Titan Intensive Dance’s film project at the NextGen Dance Film Festival - Tickets on sale now!
@titanintensivedance
What inspires you as an artist?
There are many different things that inspire me as an artist. Often music is the main catalyst, but often I am struck by an image, idea, theme or story.
What other artistic project(s) are you currently working on?
I am currently co-producing and choreographing an AFA (Alberta Foundation for the Arts) funded show with my teaching partner and artistic collaborator Elise Janz. The show is called "Everyday Life" and was created using students' lived experiences and stories as inspiration for the over-arching narrative. Elise and I have been working with various well-known Calgary based artists (including Tara Wilson, Jason Galeos, Lyla Charanek, Edgar Reyes, Katherine Burrowes and Eugenio Hipolito) to create the choreography for this show. Elise and I started creating this show in June of 2022, so we are excited to see all the pieces start coming together. The show will run at Forest Lawn High School (in the theatre) on May 31st, June 1st & 2nd at 7PM. Tickets will be $5 each.
What is a quote that resonates with you as an artist?
"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery"- Martha Graham
"Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people."- Alvin Ailey
I love both of these quotes because for me, dance is always new, I'm never bored. There is always something interesting and exciting to discover. And, the Ailey quote is really inspiring, because Dance is for everyone. Along the way dance became something that only certain people could access (due to cost, privilege etc.). But dancing is the most human of all expressions, most babies dance before they crawl or walk. Everyone can and should dance.
What are some of your artistic/professional goals?
I am currently one of the dance teachers at Forest Lawn High School, and the co-chair of the East Side Dance Festival Society. Within both of these positions, I strive to provide free quality dance education to students who have limited access to formal dance training and performance opportunities. I would love to one day expand what I've created at Forest Lawn High School and the East Side Dance Festival Society into the larger community/city. I truly believe that all youth should have access to free, high quality fine arts programming within their public schools. My dream is to ensure that all kids, in all grades, have access to free high-quality art, music, drama and dance classes within their public schools. If East Side Dance Festival had enough funding to orchestrate this (and pay me a salary ha!) I would be all over this!!!!
How does location play a role in your film?
Eugenio and I really wanted to play with the ideas of inside vs outside, freedom vs constraint, breathing vs suffocation, and we wanted the location to reflect these ideas.