DENA DAVIDA, M.A., PhD., Certified Movement Analyst

CURATOR, RESEARCHER, EDUCATOR IN CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND LIVE ARTS

• Born 1949 in New York City, immigrated to Canada in 1977
• Spoken and written languages are English and French
• Citizen of Canada and USA
• Third generation American, Jewish grandparents from Lithuania and Georgia

POSTDOCTORAL PROJECTS IN EDUCATION AND PUBLISHING

2019-2020  Conception and creation, co-editor, managing editor of TURBA: The Journal for Global Practices in Live Arts Curation, Vol. 1 Issue 1 to be launched in spring 2022 with Berghahn Books.

2019  Currently developing a two-week programme in live arts curation for the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada, to be convened in 2020.

2014-2018 Co-editor for an anthology with 60 contributors Curating Live Arts: Critical perspectives, essays and conversations in theory and practice, Berghahn Books, 2018.

2018 Co-organizer of “Interrarium: Symposium on Live Arts Curation” at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada du 2 au 6 avril, 2018.

2014  Conception and realization of “Envisioning the Practice: International symposium on performing arts curation” in Montréal.

2014  Conceived and taught Canada’s first class in live arts curation, taught in the masters’ in Museum Studies, joint programme of the University of Québec and University of Montréal.

2001-11  Conception and co-editorial director for the anthology Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the worlds of dance, with 26 authors from 8 countries, published by Wilfred Laurier Press in Waterloo, Ontario, 2011.

2011   Researching and co-authoring, with Catherine Marcus-Lavoie, of the chapter “Like Cactuses in a Desert: The germination of academic dance in Montréal universities in the 1970s” in Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, Toronto: Dance Collection Danse Press/es, 2012.

2009-11   Co-conception and animation of the Tribune 840, a series of round table discussions with students and professor researchers within the Dance Department of UQAM.

2007   Compilation editor for the bilingual proceedings of the 2007 annual joint conference of the Congress on Research in Dance and the Society for Dance History Scholars, held at the Centre national de danse à Paris.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

1997-2006  Doctorate

Ph.D., Programme d’Études et pratiques des arts, Université de Québec, Montréal, graduated with excellence
Thesis title: Illuminating Luna: An ethnographic study of meaning in a Montréal ‘nouvelle danse’ event
Director: Dr. Nicole Beaudry, Music Dept., UQÀM
Co-director: Dr. Sylvie Fortin, Dance Dept., UQÀM

2000  Additional course work during doctorate

SOCIO/ANTH 315/3A Field Research
Concordia University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Professor: Louise Gauthier
ETA 6512 Analyse de Données Qualitatives
Université de Montréal, Département d’études en éducation
Professor: Jean-Marie Van der Maren

1995

La planification systématique d’un cours (systematic class planning)
Décenat d’études, Université du Québec, Montréal (21 hours)

1994-6

Certification in Laban Movement Studies (530 hours)
Laban/Bartenieff Institute of New York in collaboration with the Dance Department of the Université du Québec, Montréal and directed by Peter Madden

1990

Intensive Seminar: “History of Dance Anthropology”
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA
Professor: Joann Kealiinohomoku

1985-95  Masters of Arts

Masters in Movement Studies Program
Wesleyan University, United States, Liberal Arts Department
Thesis Director: Dr. Dianne Woodruff, York University
Thesis title: “New Dance Essays: Towards A Structure and Analysis”

1975

Certification: “Artist-in-Schools, Dance Specialist”
National Endowment for the Arts, United States

1970  Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts, major in Theater (Interpretation), minor in Dance
University of California, Irvine, United States

UNIVERSITY TEACHING (CHARGÉE DE COURS)

•  “Commissariat des arts de la scène.” Theoretical and practical seminar in the Masters in Museum Studies Programme at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Université de Montréal, winter session 2014.

• “Esthétique chorégraphie contemporaine”, “Danse et Société”, “Dynamique du mouvement”, “Improvisation en danse”, “Mouvement expressif”, “Atelier d’exploration en danse”, “Didactique de la danse à l’élémentaire”,”La danse au primaire”. Theory and practice courses taught on a regular basis at the Université du Québec à Montréal, in the Theatre and Dance Departments from 1985 to 2010.

• “Mouvement expressif I, II et III” et “Travaux dirigés: langage de la danse” Courses taught at the Université de Sherbrooke at the Faculté d’éducation under the certificate and diploma program from 1985 to 1996, and the diploma program in teaching from 1996 to 2003.

• “La danse à l’élémentaire” Course taught at the Université de Montréal, section on the proficiency of masters, 1981.

• “Danse II” Course taught at the Université de Montréal for the Department of Physical Education, 1981.

 

CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA, LECTURES AND ROUND TABLE PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION

• Organisation of the forum “Stayin’ Alive: Repenser le (spectacle) vivant à travers les nouvelles formes de téléprésence au temps de la pandémie » with the Comité des diplômés de l’UQÀM, May 21-22 2021.

• “Viral aesthetics, art worlds engagés: Curatorship in North America in the time of COVID-19″ as part of the keynote presentations at the online symposium “Conversations on Curation and Performance in the Time of Halting and Transformation” organized by Performance Curators Initiative, University of the Philippines, Dilman Campus, Manila, October 5-10, 2020.

• Presentation of a keynote paper at the Festival Academy’s Training #3 “Curating Online and Hybrid Festivals,” online event, Belgium, November 25, 2020.

• “Methodologies for Art World Ethnography,” keynote conference for the “Research, Create, Engage” symposium in the Theatre Department of the University of Ottawa, Canada, December 4, 2019.

• Co-organiser for “Interrarium: Symposium on Live Arts Curation” with 30 Canadian and international curators convened at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada, April 2-6, 2018.

• “The live arts curatorial turn and artivist curation,” keynote panel at “Imagining Curatorial Vision in Performance: An International Symposium on Performance Curation” organized by Performance Curators Initiative, University of the Philippines, Dilman Campus, Manila, September 26-October 1, 2017.

• Public presentation for “Creative Mornings” in Montréal at the Museum of Archeologie, October 27, 2017.

• “Whose Authenticity?: ‘Getting real’ in everyday life with dance researchers, anthropologists, curators, choreographers and dancers”, paper presented at the CORD/SDHS annual conference in California, November 6, 2016.

• “Engaging Contemporary Curators,” keynote panel paper presented at the second SPARC Performing Arts Symposium on regional arts developments in Canada, October 27-31, 2016.

• “Dancers’ Health in a Globalizing, Postmodern World,” presented at the annual conference of Healthy Dancer Canada, Québec City, October 4, 2015.

•  Co-founder and co-organizer for “Envisioning the Practice: International symposium on performing arts curation”, in Montréal, sponsored by the Arts Faculty of the University of Québec in Montréal, April 10-13, 2014.  Book project undertaken following the online publication of the proceedings.

•  Co-curator and proceedings compiler for the 2012 Conference of the Canadian Society for Dance Studies, also member of the first interim board of directors in 2011.

• “Montréal 1977:  in-between two revolutions,” presented at  “Renegade Bodies : Dance in Canada During the 1970s,” Society for Canadian Dance Studies, Ottawa, June 2010.

• “Tribune 840,” co-conception, organization and animation of a monthly round table discussion series in the Département de danse de l’Université de Québec à Montréal, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

• ”Perspectives anthropologiques :  Les sens de l’événement de danse contemporaine,” keynote speaker for the Québec presenter’s network meeting, La danse sur les routes du Québec, 2009.

•  “Shedding new light on the Luna choreographic project within a global field of ‘art dance’ ethnographies,” presentation and round table organizer at the annual conference of the Society for Canadian Dance, St-Johns, Newfoundland, June 2008.

•  “Does every little nouvelle danse movement have a meaning of its own? Contours of a contemporary art dance ethnography and the case of the Luna dance event in Montréal,” presented at the annual conference of the Congress on Research in Dance, “Continuing Dance Culture Dialogues, Southwest and Beyond”, Tempe, Arizona, 2006.

• Local organizer for the annual conference of the Congress on Research in Dance “Dance and Human Rights,” Program of Studies and Practices in the Arts of the Dance Department, Université du Québec, Montréal, 2005.

• “Silent watching in the dark, enigmatic gesturing in the light: an ethnographic search for meaning in contemporary art dance events,” annual conference of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, New Orleans, April 17-19, 2003.

• “Kinetic Crossroads: Chouinard, Sinha et Castello,” presented at the International Congress of the Association for Intercultural Research, Montréal, May, 1996.

• “The Community: A Place for Dance in Education,” presented at the Saskatchewan Arts in Education Conference, University of Régina, October, 1993

• “Dance Presenters: Are We Social Workers or Power Brokers?” presented at the annual conference of the Congress on Research in Dance, “Of, For and By the People”, New York City, March, 1993.

• “A comparison of post-modern dance and contemporary Kathak using Judy Alters’ framework of analysis,” co-presented with Deepti Gupta at the academic colloquium of the festival “New Directions in East Indian Dance”, Toronto, February, 1993.

• “Inside Information: Native Analysis and Artist Informants,” presented at a round table “Examining Human Sex: New Trends in Dance Analysis” with Marcia Seigal, Janet Adshead and Susan Foster at the Performance Studies Institute, TISCH/NYU, New York City, October, 1990.

• “Post-Modern Dance in Canada,” guest speaker for the class “Dance in the Twentieth Century”, York University, Dance Department, Professor Dianne Woodruff, 1988 and l994.

• “La diffusion des arts actuels,” guest speaker for the class “Visual and Performing Arts in Canada in the 80’s”, Concordia University, Dept. of Visual Arts, Professor Bella Rabinovich, 1987-1988; and at  UQÀM.

• “History of Modern and Post-Modern Dance”, guest speaker, class in visual arts, University of Ottawa, Professor Denis Lessard, 1983.

 

PUBLICATIONS IN BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS

• “Dena Davida, interviewed by Brandon Farnsworth” in Taking the Temperature: Crisis, Curating, and Musical Diversity, eds. Brandon Farnsworth, Anna Jakobsson, Vanessa Massera, OnCurating.org, Zurich, 2020.

•  “Art World Authenticities: Postmodern Curators, Creators and Performers” in the online journal Critical Stages/Scènes Critiques, Issue No. 21, June 2020.

•  “Kinetic Crossroads: Chouinard, Sinha, and Castello” (English version with new epilogue) in Moving Together: Dance and Pluralism in Canadian Dance, Allana Lindgren, ed., Wilfred Laurier Press, 2020.

•  “The Luna Project: Finding meaning in the fields of post-modern dance,” (essay) in the Institute Cultural Anthropology’s online magazine on the theme of “Art and Society,” 2019. See http://www.itiwana.org/ica-1-2019.

•  “Les défis liés à l’intégration de la relève à une programmation: Questions-réponses: entrevues avec les diffuseurs,” (interview) Cahier des routes: Relève, Volume 3, 2018 of La danse sur les routes du Québec (the Québec dance touring association).

• “Symposium Review,” (commissioned review) in the Journal of Curatorial Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2, October 2017: 293-295.

• “État d’artiste,” (essay) TicTocArt #5, Montréal 2015.

• “Like Cactuses in the Desert: the Flourishing of Dance in Montréal Universities,” (author and researcher along with Catherine Lavoie-Marcus,) in Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, Toronto: Dance Collection Danse Press/es, 2012, 155-170.

• Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the worlds of dance, (editor of the anthology & author of two chapters), Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2011.

• “Perspectives anthropologiques :  Les sens de l’événement de danse contemporaine,” (text) developed from a keynote speech for La danse sur les routes du Québec in their publication Cahier des routes,  année 6, No. 2, printemps 2009.

•  “Stone + sand + sea + sky : Environment and dance aesthetics in Vancouver,” text commissioned for the chapbook Outside In/ Inside Out : the Vancouver Dance Aesthetic published by the Festival Dance in Vancouver, November 2007, 4-8.

• “Raw Energy – mixing physicality and extravagance: Identity and aesthetic outlooks of twenty-two young Montréal contemporary choreographers / Raw energy: Aesthetic perspectives of the young emerging Montréal dancer” (chapter in book and conference paper), in Canadian dancing bodies then and now, Proceedings (in book form) from the Estivale 2000 conference, May 2000, Dance Dept. of l’UQÀM & Dance Collection Danse, Toronto, 2002, 133-140.

• “Emerging meanings: Viewpoints from various dancing and non-dancing participants in contemporary art dance events” (chapter), in The Responsive Body:  A Language of Contemporary Dance, Brian Webb ed., Banff, Canada: Dance in Canada Festival & Banff Press, 2002, 58-67.

• “Kealiinohomoku’s Legacy: Watching dance as cultural practice through the ‘dance event framework’,” in Dance: Distinctive language and Cross-Cultural Influences (conference proceedings in book form), Chantal Pontbriand, ed., Montréal: Éditions Parachute, 2001, 73-88.

•  “Observations ethnographiques de terrain sur la danse contemporaine de Montréal.” commissioned essay) in La revue Liberté, No. 254, vol. 43, no. 4, novembre 2001, 143-151.

• “Quelques notes de terrain d’une contacteuse-ethnographe,” (essay) in Nouvelles de danse 38/39, Brussels, spring/summer 1999, 101-2.

• “Jeanne Renaud: The Seminal Experimentalist” (chapter/interview), in This Passion, Carol Anderson ed, Toronto, Dance Collection Danse Press/es, 1998, 31-42.

• Entries for William Douglas Tangente, The Festival of New Dance, for the The International Dictionary of Modern Dance. (encyclopedia entries) Detroit, St. James Press/Gale Research, 1997.

• Biographies and critical evaluations of the careers of choreographers Danièle Desnoyers, William Douglas, Jacqueline Lemieux and Pierre-Paul Savoie & Jeff Hall, in the Canadian Encyclopedia on CD-ROM, McClelland and Stewart, 1997.

• “Marché des Arts du Spectacle Africain” (conference report), in Dance Connection Vol. 13 No. 3, September/ October 1995, 40.

• “Congress on Research in Dance” (conference report), in Dance Connection magazine, Calgary, Alberta, February/ March, 1995.

• “Espace dance” (essay in French), in Possibles literary journal, special issue on the artists and scenes of creation, summer 1995.

• “An American déplacée in Quebec” (essay), in Movement Research Performance Journal #8, New York, spring/summer, 1994, 2-3.

• « Croisements cinétiques: Marie Chouinard, Roger Sinha et Maria Castello, »  (analytic essay) in Les cahiers de théâtre Jeu 72, special issue on interculturalism, September 1994, 83-90.

• “The Secret Art of the Performer” (book review), Les cahiers de théâtre Jeu 70, special issue on Eugenio Barba, summer 1994, 87-90.

• ” 5^o Gran Festival Cuidad de México” (report on showcase event), in Dance Connection magazine, Vol. 11 No. 5, Febraury/ March 1994, 45-47.

• “Attitudes corporelles” (essay in French), in Possibles literary journal, special issue on artists and Québec society, Vol. 18 No. 1, hiver 1993, 96-99.

• “Dancing the Body Eclectic: a dance curator reflects on culture and the ‘new dance,’” essay published in:

(1) Canadian Dance Studies 2, Amy Bowring ed., Toronto: York University Graduate Studies in Dance, 1997, 111-124.

(2) Dance Connection magazine, (title “ ‘New Dance’: What it is, why it happened, how it stays that way”), April/May, 1992.

(3) Contact Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 2, summer/fall 1992. 43-46.

(4) Dance Bay Area, (Dance Bay Area, (title “ ‘New Dance’: What it is, why it happened, how it stays that way,”) San Francisco, Vol. 19, No. 6, July/ August, 1992, 1-3.

(5) Les Vendredis du Corps, ed. (in French translation) Aline Gélinas, Montréal: Jeu/ Festival de nouvelle danse, 1993, 19-36.

• “New Dance Spectator: Alone in the Dark” (essay), in Sub Rosa, Artspace Publications, Peterborough, Ontario, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1991, 1.

• “Vital Needs, Irresistible Forces: Quebec’s Next Dance Generation” (feature article in French translation and in English) in 1992 Festival international de la Nouvelle danse de Montréal programme, Parachute, 30-35; and  Steptext, Vol. 2 Issue 1, Fall 1992, 17-19.

• “Viewing the Body in Three Dimensions” (essay in French translation and in English), in Espace magazine, Montréal, Vol. 6, No. 3, printemps/spring 1990, 16-19.

• “Reviewing the Physical Boundaries in Search of ‘New Dance’ in Canada” (feature article in French translation and in English) in 1989 Festival international de la nouvelle danse de Montréal programme, Parachute, 26-32.

• “Yves Chamberland: Sound samplers for dancers” (interview), in Musicworks 46: Sound & Movement Issue, Music Gallery Publications, Toronto,1989, 20-22.

• “La danse créatrice: la gymnastique douce de la pédagogie,” in Réflex: Cahiers de la danse, FLDQ, September/ October, 1981.

• Founding member and editor, Réflex: Cahiers de la danse, founded in January, 1981 with the Fédération de loisirs-danse du Québec (FLDQ), 1981-1982.

• Dance critic and journalist for Many Corners Newspaper, Minnesota, United States, 1974-1976.

AWARDS

• L’ordre du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, 2021.

• Laureate of the Charlie Biddle Prize, Ministry of Immigration and Culture pour tous, 2019.

• Chosen by the rector of UQÀM to the join “Cercle d’excellence” de l’Université du Québec, 2019.

• Prix de la danse de Montréal, Contribution exceptionnelle, 2018.

• Prix de reconnaissance of the Faculté des arts of UQÀM, 2014.

• First Founder’s Prize of the Canadian Society for Dance Studies, 2012.

• Grand Prix de Conseil des arts de Montréal, 2008.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS & ACCREDITATIONS

• Certified Movement Analyst (Laban/Bartenieff Institute)

• Dance Studies Association (DSA)

• Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD)

• Candance Dance Touring Network (CanDance), co-founder and honorific member

• Réseau de diffuseurs québécois La danse sur les routes du Québec (DSR)

INDEXER

•  For The Methuen Drama Companion to Performance Art, ed. Bertie Ferdman and Jovana Stokic, NY: Methuen/Drama, 2020.

•  For Curating Live Arts: Critical Perspectives, Essays and Conversations in Theory and Practice, ed. Dena Davida, Jane Gabriels, Véronique Hudon, Marc Pronovost, NYC: Berghahn Books, 2019.

•  For Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Art, ed. Dena Davida, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2018.

JURY, EVALUATION, CONSULTATION, TRANSLATION

• Oxford Books, evaluator for new theater anthology by Bertie Ferdman, 2019.

• Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, member of consulting committee, analysis of new artistic models, , 2019.

• Dance in Jerusalem Festival, jury member, 2018.

• Vue sur la Rélève Festival in Montréal, jury member, 2017 et 2018.

•  Compagnie de théâtre autochtone Oondinok, Consultant on mandate and legacy, 2016.

•  Berghahn Books, evaluator for the proposed anthology Cultural Intimacies: Anthropologies of Sound and Movement, 2015.

• World Dance Alliance, evaluator for paper submissions for the annual conferences, 2013 and 2014.

•  Canada Council for the Arts, consultation committee for dance touring and festivals, 2011.

•  RIDEAU, performing arts presenters of Québec, consultation committee for La Bourse, 2010.

• Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, jury member for professional studies, 2010.

•  Dance Dept. of UQAM, co-director for the masters’ thesis of Estelle Charron, 2010.

•  Programme d’études et pratiques des arts, UQAM, jury member for doctoral defense of Suzi Weber Silva, 2010.

•  Society for Canadian Dance Studies, evaluator for paper submissions for the annual conference, 2009.

•  Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, jury member for Circus Arts, 2008.

•  Ontario Arts Council, member of the consultation committee on dance, 2006.

•  Dance Department of the Université du Québec à Montréal, evaluator for the masters’ theses of Nicole Turcotte in 2006, Amy Helmstetter in 2008 and thesis director for Estelle Charron en 2009.

•  Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, evaluator, 2000-2001.

•  Montréal Arts Interculturelles, dance advisor, 1999-2006.

•  International Symposium of Electronic Arts, member, jury for performing arts, Montréal, 1997.

•  25th Birthday Celebration of Contact Improvisation, curator for resource and reference room, Oberlin College, United States, 1997.

• International Choreographic Competition of Mexico, jury member, 1996.

• Congress on Research in Dance, blind jury member for conference proposals, 1995, 1996, 1997.

• Dance Department of  the Université du Québec, research assistant, English translation and copy editing for professors Madeleine Lord et Sylvie Fortin, 1995-97.

• Ministère de la culture et des communications du Québec, evaluator, 1995.

• Canada Council for the Arts, Dance Office, evaluator, 1993-99.

• CINARS Showcase, 1987, member of advisory committee, 1992, 1993 and 1998.

• Council of Arts of Canada, Explorations Program, member of the jury, 1989 and 1991; evaluator, 1994-6.

• Ministère des affaires culturelles du Québec, Multimedia, 1989, and grants to dance artists, member of the jury, 1992.

• Ministère de l’éducation du Québec, Art projects in schools, member of the jury, 1989.

• RIDEAU performing arts convention, member of the advisory committee, 1988.

• Massachusetts Artists’ “Interarts and New Genres” Panel, Boston, member of the jury, 1988.

• Montréal New Music Festival, committee on the selection of artists, 1988. Chalmers Award for Canadian choreography, member of the jury, 1988.

• Chalmers Award for Canadian choreography, member of the jury, 1988.

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE IN THEATRE

• Private classes in elocution (4 years)

• Classical singing ( 3 years)

• Lighting and costume design, stage production, makeup, publicity (14 years)

• Participation in community theatre productions (3 years) and professional theatre companies (4 years)

• University courses in acting, dramatic criticism, theater history during a B.A. in Theater at the University of California at Irvine (4 years)

 

TRAINING IN CONTEMPORARY DANCE

• A Laban-based dance education workshop for professionals and dance educators with Shirley Rire in “Creative dance in elementary schools”, University of Minnesota, summer, 1974; with Dianne Woodruff in “Laban Analysis” at the Wesleyan University, Connecticut, summer 1984.

• Member of a study group on education and creative dance according to Laban with Molly Lynn at Caravan Dance Collective, Minnesota, United States, 1973-1974.

• Training and practice in Contact Improvisation (25 years) with Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Byron Brown, Marsha Padulin, Barbara Dilley, Mark Tompkins, Kris Wheeler, Lisa Kraus, Lisa Nelson, Andrew Harwood and others.

• Improvisation in dance (intensive training periods) and visualization of movement with Joan Skinner, John Gamble, Nancy Topf, Marsha Paludin; the spatial grid with Barbara Dilley; movement phrases with Twyla Tharp and Douglas Dunn; imagery with Deborah Hay, Eiko and Koma; Laban with Murray Louis and Diane Elliot; inspired by nature with Simone Forti and others.

• Technique, composition and improvisation in modern dance (9 years) Styles: Holm and Nikolais (principal coach), also Graham, Horton, Humphrey, Lechay, Cunningham, Hawkins; summer training with Hanya Holm.

• Classical ballet (4 years); jazz and afro-american (2 years); tap dance (1 year).

• Kinesiology training and study with Annette Atwood (2 years), Susan Higgins (45 hours) and Irene Dowd (90 hours).

• Yoga Iyengar (19 years), level 4-5 at the Yoga Iyengar Center with Lucie Guindon; intensive workshops with B. S. Iyengar, Shirley Daventry; currently training with Henriette Viens.

• Skinner Release Technique (2 summer training periods, 6 weeks with Joan Skinner).

• Training in “Developmental Movement” With Marsha Paludin, Beth Goren, John Rolland.

• Feldenkrais technique (4 years) with Terry Berns and Yvan Joly; Alexander Technique (series de ten courses) with Steve Glassman.

EXPERIENCE IN CHOREOGRAPHY, IMPROVISATION INTERPRETATION

• Performer in the installation “Two Planets Have Been Colliding for Thousands of Years” by the visual artist Dora Garcia, at the Fondation PHI in Montréal, during the month of July 2021.

• Dancer in “La forêt flottante” created by Noèmie Roy, 2019-2021, presented during the OFFTA in the series “Little Fun Palace,” at Bâtiment 7 in Montréal on June 1, and during the series “Les Chantier/constructions artistiques” at the Théâtre du 1er Acte in Québec on June 7.

• Dancer in “Oriri” choreographed by Sarah Dell’Ava at Tangente, November 2014.

• Dancer, recreation of a Contact Improvisation presentation in the spirit of the 70’s with Daniel Godbout during the event “Heaven”, Galerie Articule, Montréal, April, 1996.

• Co-creator and interpreter, performance of dance and monologue: “Decorpstiqué: la sensualité codifiée” with the dancer Daniel Godbout and the performer Geneviève Dussault. Presented by the Galerie Obscur at the Musée nationale des beaux-arts du Québec, 1991.

• Dancer-animator with Daniel Godbout, conference-demonstrations of “Contact Improvisation” and videodance, 1983-1992.

• Creator and interpreter “Pièce de résistance: un exposé de la femme musclée,” multimedia dance work which toured dance studios and art galleries of Québec and Canada, 1985- 1987.

• Creator and interpreter, multimedia dance piece: “Chacun pour elle: un pas de douze pour une femme et onze hommes” which toured Québec, Ontario and Paris, 1983-1984. video produced with Paul Gauvin and distributed by Vidéographe in 1985.

• Interpreter and co-creator Evening Solo of pieces “Not exactly with difficulty but with effort” by Paula Ravitz, “Tocata” by Raphael Bendahan and “Le Puzzlelologue averti” by Silvy Panet-Raymond which toured in Québec and Switzerland, 1982-1983.

• Creator of pieces “Life choreography # 1: Awaiting the spectacle”, presented at the Festival of Performance of the Galerie Motivation V, Montréal.; “Life choreography # 2: 8 months to 2 years / adult translation”, presented at the Contact Festival, Montréal, 1981.

• Dancer-collaborator For the “Joints Actions” performance created by Ted Dawson and presented at the Chambre Blanche in Québec, at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, at the Carnegie Technical Institute in Boston and at the Music Gallery in Toronto, 1981.

• Member of the dance collective of Catpoto Based on the dance form “Contact Improvisation”. over 30 performances in Montréal and Québec, 1977-1980, and a United States tour, 1980.

• Dancer “Déjeûner sur l’herbe”,, choreography by Marie Chouinard, 1979 and “Free Ride” by Paula Ravitz, 1980, created with Catpoto.

• Member of “Collective Exchange” Collective on dance research at the Western Front, Vancouver, organized by Steve Paxton, August, 1979 (4 weeks).

• Dancer / collaborator in “Binaries”, created with composer Ted Dawson, presented at the Pollack Hall in Montréal, 1978, and on tour in Boston, Toronto and Québec, 1979-1980.

• Dancer, narrator, technical director and public relations In three shows of the program “Dance in the Elementary Schools” with the Caravan. Dance Collective of St. Paul, Minnesota. Technical and public relations director, dancer and modern dance teacher (Holm-Nikolais technique), 1973-1976.

• Actress and choreographer for the Minnesota Ensemble Theater and Palace Theater, Minnesota, 1973-1975.

• Actress and lighting designer for the New Shakespeare Company of San Francisco, California, 1970.

COMMUNITY AND YOUTH MOVEMENT EDUCATOR

 Classes and workshops in Québec, 1976-83:

• Contact Improvisation sessions offered to the public at Studio Catpoto, Studio l’Entre-Chat in Québec and Tangente in Montréal, 1977-1981. Québec’s first contact improvisation classes.

• Modern dance, Nikolais style, classes offered at Studio l’Entre-Chat in Québec; Studio Louise Lapierre and l’Ecole l’Entre-Deux in Montréal, 1977-1978.

• Contact Improvisation Intensive training for the CECM, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, 1989.

• Laban based analysis of dance Workshop for the Canada Dance Conference, Toronto, 1984.

• Laban based creative workshops for the Federation of Loisirs-danse du Québec, 1982-1983.

• Contact Improvisation, workshops offered in France and Switzerland, 1980-1981.

• Laban-based creative dance for music specialists, intensive workshop for the CECM North Region, Montréal, 1980.

• Laban-based creative dance Workshop for Dance Ontario and Ontario/CAPHR at the University of Toronto, 1980.

• Contact Improvisation classes offered during the “Week-end dansant”, Loisirs Laval, 1979.

• Expression corporelle classes based on Laban for specialists in physical education Training sessions for the Regional Association of School Sports of the Outaouais, 1982-1983.

• Laban-based creative movement education, three workshops for the School Commission of Ste-Croix, 1979.

• Rhythmic dance workshop for special education and elementary school teachers, series of workshops based on Laban for the GMMA of Protestant schools, 1978-1979.

• Art and movement workshop based on Laban, in collaboration with painter Louise Pelland, PSBGM, 1978.

• Creative dance workshop during the Stage-conférence, given at the CEPSUM of l’Université de Montréal, 1977.

• Laban-based creative dance workshops offered at the Festival Creation Danse, Fédération de loisirs-danse du Québec, 1978-1981.

• Laban-based training in creative dance for dance professionals, workshops during the “Québec Summer Dance” training, Lennoxville, 1976.

Classes and workshops in Minnesota, 1974-76:

• Creative movement, project “Dance in the Elementary Schools” based on Laban, Program of Department of Education, Hill Elementary School, St. Paul Minnesota, 24 weeks, 4 courses per week, 1974-1976.

• Dance and creative movement specialist residencies for the National Endowment for the Arts: Wells Elementary School, Minnesota, two weeks, 1976; St-Pius X School, Ohio, two weeks, 1977; Winchester-Thurston School, Pennsylvania, 3 periods of 2 weeks, 1978.

• Laban-based creative movement for elementary students, Lyndale School and Bethune School in Minneapolis, 2 week residency, 1976.

• Movement for actors based on Laban in the secondary schools of Minneapolis, Urban Arts program, one month residency, 1974.

• Nikolais-based modern dance technique for adults at the Caravan Dance Collective, St-Paul, 1 1/2 years, 1973-1974.

• Creative dance classes in pilot program in “Dance and Poetry”, Webster School Magnet Program, St-Paul, 2 weeks, 1974.

• Modern dance and costume design at the Performing Arts Learning Center, high school students, 1 year full-time at St. Paul Open School Magnet Program, 1974.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ARTS MANAGEMENT, ARTISTIC DIRECTION AND CURATION, AND ARCHIVING

• Co-founder in 1980, artistic director and curator of Tangente, dance presenting organization with an on-going seasons of contemporary dance, 1980-2019.

•  Co-founding member of numerous arts organizations:  Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec, Regroupement pour le développement des pratiques artistiques interculturelles, CanDance Canadian dance touring network. Development of an international dance resource center, archives and a video library open to the public.

• Conception and completion of a documentation center for the CI25 colloquium in June, 1998 which marked the 25 years of existence of Dance Contact Improvisation followed in 1999 by preparation of a Contact Improvisation Collection for the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts in New York in January, 2000, with Nancy Stark Smith in 2001.

• Founding member, vice-president and programmer for the Festival internationale de la nouvelle danse de Montréal from 1985 to 2001. Member of the programming committee in charge of outreach activities (shows for children, workshops, animation of public meetings with choreographers).

• Founding member and artistic direction of the “Qui danse?” collective of choreographers and independent dancers in Québec, collective of artists and presentation of performances, 1978-1980.

• Promotion and administration of Catpoto Dance Collective, organization of classes, presentation of foreign touring artists, organization of an American tour, 1977-1980.

• Curation, public relations and lighting design for a post-modern dance series at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal with artists from the Judson Dance Theater and from across Canada, 1978-1980.

• Direction, public relations and production of performances for Caravan Dance Collective, Minnesota, 1975-1976.

• Apprentice with American Actor’s Equity in box office management, administration and public relations for six summer theaters in the United States from 1963 to 1970.