Kitimat: One month after “Light and Metal”

This just in from Anna-Marie Carstens, Dance Outreach Coordinator in Kitimat

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On October 30th, Tara Cheyenne-Friedenberg and MovEnt brought “Light and Metal” to Kitimat. The town was still reeling from the shock announcement on October 28th that Eurocan, one of the two major employers in town, would be shutting down permanently on January 31st, 2010. That would leave 535 people in a town of 8500 out of work. On October 29th, the Mount Elizabeth Secondary School was closed due to a serious outbreak of the H1N1 virus. As a result, the planned “Light and Metal” open rehearsal school show could not take place. Things could hardly get worse! Michael Jeffery, our Presenter, and I were worried that this would affect attendance on October 30th.

In the end, 108 people came to see the show. Tara had us mesmerized with “bANGER” and Day, Amber and Meredith danced their hearts out in “SURGE”. The audience was somewhat quieter than usual, no doubt due to the somber atmosphere in town. A good number of audience members stayed behind for the informal post-show chat with the dancers. After the chat, the dancers were whisked off to Doug and Linda Thomson’s home for a post-show reception, hosted by the Kitimat Concert Association. This is a Kitimat tradition and it is a great opportunity for performers and KCA members to relax, talk about the show, etc.

I spoke to several audience members after the show and the response to “Light and Metal” was overwhelmingly positive. This is an excerpt from an email I received after the show: I also wanted to let you know that my friend & I both really enjoyed the dance performance. After speaking to you about the first act we truly enjoyed the energy and talent of the second group as well. Thank you for your continued efforts both in dance classes and in promoting the modern dance acts in Kitimat. I certainly appreciate and enjoy those evenings

Made in BC – Dance on Tour is very, very important to us in northern BC. Without the program, we would never be able to see shows like “Light and Metal” in Kitimat. It gives us the opportunity to talk about contemporary dance and to introduce more and more people to this art form. Maybe seeing a show will even inspire a young dancer from Kitimat to consider a dance career.

Thank you, Made in BC and thank you Tara, Day, Amber and Meredith. We were honoured to have dancers of your calibre grace the stage of the Mount Elizabeth Theatre with your presence. You are welcome back anytime!

Footnote: One month after the announcement from Eurocan, the mood in town is optimistic. There is talk of new economic developments and there is a possibility that the mill will be sold rather than shut down completely. We’ll keep you posted!

Dance USA - Audience Engagement Study

I recently found this study quite interesting for a getting a sense of what's going on out there in the land of audience engagement, beyond the Made in BC network. It's from the perspective of members of Dance USA.

http://www.danceusa.org/engagingdanceaudiences

Meredith's Tour Blog #12 - Courtenay

So this is the final tour blog. I have to say I have enjoyed getting to write about the tour, it has been a ton of fun to share it with people, I hope you all have enjoyed reading it.

So the morning after our fantastic shows in Salt Spring we departed for Courtenay driving in a rainy down pour listening to great tunes from Jeff's ipod in one van with Tara, Marc and Day in the other car. Once in Courtenay Tara and Day were off to teach workshops as the rest of us grabbed a bite to eat at a pub where Maria and Jeff even had the chance to play a game of pool and darts. After pub food Amber was off to nap/grant writing, I went to check out my favorite knitting store in town, Maria and Jeff went to scope things out at the theater and at the end of all that Maria, Jeff, Marc, Tara and I had a movie night at the hotel watching Anchor Man. (Day and Amber had packed it in for the night). I highly recommend seeing Anchor Man if you haven't, its hysterical. The next day at the theater was filled with constant quotes and reliving of scenes from Anchor Man.

On show day, I think we dancers had finally hit our wall of exhaustion so we each found some time to take a nap, all at different times and in different places throughout the theater. After naps and a lovely soup dinner at the Rose Tea Room (which I highly recommended from eating at on Karen's tour the year before) we were getting ready for our last show. Lights, Sound, and its Showtime! The audience in Courtenay was great. They gave us a warm response and we had a really nice talk back with them after the show. We heard that one elder gentleman wasn't too sure what he was in for when he was brought to the show but upon leaving the theater he commented that he had a fantastic time and really enjoyed himself! Woo hoo! I forgot to mention that we were also welcomed with a lovely array of food at the theater that got us through the day! Thank you Courtenay!

So 7 shows later and the tour is done. I have to say that I have absolutely loved dancing Surge and loved even more the chance to dance it in 7 different cities in BC. By the last show in Courtenay Surge felt like it had a real continuity and energy between the three of us that rocked. And getting to listen to/watch Tara from backstage so many times on the road was a real treat, she is brilliant and her work gets funnier and funnier every time you see it. Another amazing part of this whole experience is getting to see some of the most beautiful parts of our province and getting to build connections with so many absolutely wonderful people.

Of course this whole tour would never have been possible without the combined efforts of all of the presenters, theaters, outreach workers, teachers, theater technicians, audiences, choreographers, grant writers, grant support, tour managers, the New Works Team, Movent and the fabulous work of Joyce and Caroline at Made in BC. Thank you to everyone for making this tour so special and such a hit! We had a spectacular time and felt grateful to have the opportunity to share Surge and Banger with so many different communities! At the end of it all I think everyone from tour was inspired by the support for the arts that exists throughout our beautiful province. We experienced more than ever on the road that art changes people, it makes a difference and that what we do does matter. Thank you BC for reminding us of that!

Meredith's Tour Blog #11 - Salt Spring

After a couple days off in Vancity we were back en route for the island leg of the tour. As nice as it was to sleep in my own bed for a couple nights it was also hard to be back home in the middle of tour. I had endless amounts of emails that wanted responses but I just wanted to hibernate at home as in my head I wasn't in the mind set to get back to Vancouver life. Not too surprisingly I wasn't the only one on the tour who felt this way, Amber found time to rehearse her own company and work on a film project (she's amazing), but felt the quick stop off at home a bit surreal.

En route to Salt Spring Island Amber and Maria took the opportunity to nap on the ferry as you can see from the photos. The amazing thing that happens on tour is that you find every opportunity you can to sleep and anywhere that you can, ferries, dressing room floors, stairwells. Dancers are incredibly inventive at finding cozy places to sleep.

Once in Salt Spring Tara and Day taught workshops, the rest of us went shopping and we all met up for a fantastic dinner at the Salt Spring Inn where Marc performed his rendition of Surge in the middle of the restaurant. Yes, it was just as amazing as it sounds. Soon after dinner we were off to bed in preparation for the long theater day ahead.

Our Salt Spring show was a little different this time around as we had a performance group from the island called the Lobby Dancers open the show for us. It was a treat to meet some local dancers and share the stage. Salt Spring was our most responsive audience on the tour! They hooted and hollered and gave both Banger and Surge standing ovations!!!!! Anna the outreach work is a true gem, we literally saw our posters all over town and people knew about the show when we went into stores because of the work she did getting the word out about the show. George the presenter is incredible at what he does and took great care of us at the theater. Sonja a teacher at the high school in Salt Spring bought 30 tickets to the show and sold them to her students herself. Its these kind of people that make all the difference, talk about a strong sense of community and support for the arts, Salt Spring sure has it! After the show we had the chance to go out for a drink with the Lobby Dancers, Anna, Sonja and some other people. We had a fantastic time! We love Salt Spring!

Throughout all these blogs I forgot to mention the fantastic tour binders that the New Works team put together for us. They have been our lifesavers and helped us get through this tour and through BC, literally. Thank you Bev, Andrea, Bonnie, Diana and Barb! We love our tour binders!

We really do try and find any opportunity on the road to catch up on sleep. Check out Maria and Amber snoozing on the ferry. And here we all are post show in Salt Spring joined by the fantastic Lobby Dancers, Anna, Sonja and some other friends. Cheers to Salt Spring!

This just in- Contributor to the Arts Award in Terrace!

Made in BC presenter Karen Birkedal of the Terrace Concert Society has been nominated for the Terrace & District Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award, in the category of Contributor to the Arts. Congratulations Karen and the Terrace Concert Society!

In this photo: Karen Birkedal with Made in BC propaganda for Light & Metal.

Meredith's Tour Blog #10 - Kitimat

After Smithers we were off to Kitimat. It had started snowing the night before our departure and continued to do so as we packed into the vans the next morning. The drive through snow covered mountains and trees was stunning!

In Kitimat we stayed at the Minnet Lodge run by Ruth and Howard who are the loveliest people I have ever meet. I can’t even begin to explain how special this place was. Hidden in the trees, view of the lake, cozy beds and a beautiful breakfast each morning. We were in heaven. Amber kept saying that it felt like we were at a retreat. We didn’t want to leave.

On the flip side of things, Kitimat was hit with some rough news this past week. An announcement was made that a mill is going to close in the next few months. This means at least 500 people are losing their jobs, if not more. This devastating news came in a few days before our arrival but you would never have known it by the beautiful spirits of the people that welcomed us in Kitimat. Michael the presenter, Anna-Marie and the many other people that had a part in bringing us to Kitimat were so warmhearted and welcoming. Their kindness and grace at such a time is a true testament to the kind of quality people that live in Kitimat.

This performance was a particularly special one in my books. We truly danced from the bottom of our hearts hoping to offer the audience a little relief from the harsh news they had received. We were reminded that this is why we do what we do; to offer people a moment of relief, maybe a laugh and a chance to leave all of the other things in life behind, even just for an hour or two.

After the show we were invited to a party! Again the warmth and care that was shown to us was remarkable. We had the opportunity to chat with people who had seen the show and were also fed some amazing dishes they had brought. It felt like we really had the chance to be a part of their community and it was a nice experience to build connections with people instead of just popping in, performing and leaving. Thank you Kitimat for your hospitality and warm hearts!

The next morning we had a mega early wake up to eat breakfast and drive back to Terrace to catch our flight to Vancouver. I have to say I still haven’t become used to the early wake ups after a show day but that might be because it takes so long energetically to come down after a show that my sleeping schedule becomes incredibly wacky and out of sorts. But regardless of the lack of sleep all of our bodies have been holding up and managing the touring/traveling/performing schedule quite well. Thank you dancing gods for taking care of us!

Meredith's Tour Blog #9 - Smithers

We had ten phenomenal and exhausting days in Northern BC. Everyone on tour remarked on how it seemed like we had been on the road for three weeks, not just a week and a half. This might be due to the fact that at some points the schedule is so tightly packed that 5 events in one day seem like they happened over 3 days. Day and Tara didn't have a single day off the whole time but you never would have known it, they are all-stars!

In Smithers we were welcomed by beautiful food baskets at our hotel! Thank you Miriam! Day and Tara did a huge amount of community outreach. They taught workshops at the high school and in the evenings to community dancers and were also part of a lecture. While Tara and Day were teaching the rest of us ate at a great Mexican restaurant (The Cantina) and had a chance to enjoy Smithers. The mountains are so incredibly stunning it is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Fast forward to show day in Smithers. Some students at the high school had the opportunity to hang lights and help with the set up of the show. They seemed so excited to be a part of everything. We could tell that they have some pretty spectacular teachers who have exposed them to many different opportunities and created an incredibly open minded environment. Hans, the technical director of the theater/teacher, watched our dress run and basically went and bought tickets for his students and told them that the show was not to be missed. How awesome is that!

After a great day of teching it was finally show time. The Smithers audience was absolutely amazing! You could hear the excitement in the crowd even before the show started! As performers we can't tell you what a difference it makes to have an audience that is so ready to go! Tara was absolutely phenomenal and had an immediate impact on the crowd and Surge was a huge hit as well! Almost all of the audience stayed for the talk back. It was clear that Smithers has a great community of people who support the arts! Thank you Smithers!

Stay tuned for my blog about Kitimat...its on the way...but I have to get up for a Surge rehearsal tomorrow am and better be in tip top shape. Nite!