Current projects

square zero 3: intimate exchanges
May 29, 30, 31, 2009
8:00pm
Movement Arts Ottawa
111a Rideau Street 3rd Floor
$12/$10 at the door - space is limited
More information

Previous projects

This is Real Time
Feedback Series - SAW Video
May 17 2009

SAW Video's FEEDBACK was a series of evenings inviting video artists from the Ottawa-Gatineau region to present their work and to share their creative process.

During our presentation, collective (gulp) dance projects posed questions towards the development of a lexicon of meaning coming out of the interaction of improvised dance performance and video projection. Using recorded and live feed video and real-time video manipulation software, (gulp) set out some terms of reference for working with media and improvised movement.

Using simple variations in scale, speed, placement and repetition of imagery and basic improvisational structures, (gulp) built an improvised performance in front of the audience, taking feedback from the audience and incorporating it into the work. The artists also incorporated theories and writings by other artists, critics and theorists regarding performance, art and the interaction of the live and "virtual" body.

As It Happens - Advanced Studies in Improvisation
This was a special series of workshops that exposed Ottawa artists to innovative approaches to movement and performance creation. Thanks to the City of Ottawa for their support.

Supporting Full-bodied Expression in Movement - A Body-Mind Centering® workshop for movers and performers
Nov 10-11, 2007

Gale Turner (USA) has been a primary teacher for The School for Body-Mind Centering® for thirty years. For eighteen years, she performed and assisted Meredith Monk with direction and choreography of The House. She teaches moving meditation, improvisation and Tai Chi. Gale holds a B.A. in Dance and Theatre, is a Registered Movement Therapist and is certified by the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.More info

This workshop provided tools for artists, performers and movers looking to connect with their bodies in new ways. Using Body-Mind Centering® as a basis for exploration, the workshop focused on the organ systems as supports for postural tone and full-bodied self expression. The workshop was a very special opportunity for participants to study with a leading figure in the BMC community and drew a variety of movement practitioners.

Devised Dance: Interdisciplinary Solo Creation Workshop with Meagan O'Shea

October 11-14, 2007

This workshop took the participant through a range of creation techniques researched and developed in Meagan O’Shea’s signature solo work. Seven talented performance makers of all kinds who are interested in using physicality as a part of their process took part. Participants showed works in progress in an informal setting at the conclusion of the workshop. More info

Meagan O'Shea & collective (gulp) - Storytime
Oct 13, 8pm

Coffee for One - Meagan O'Shea - is an exploration, a dance piece, an improvisation, a study in perspective, a coffee break, a chemistry lesson, an off the cuff afternoon of hanging out with Meagan. At times flippant, at others meticulously calculated, Coffee for One unravels the mysteries of the universe, or at least of Meagan’s life.

Random Access Memory - collective (gulp) dance projects - I remember when... Using the search function, Random Access Memory jumbles memories and gaps, fragments and triggers. Flashes of intimacy, vivid recollections, everyday happenings...

Created and performed by Alexis Kate Andrew & Elizabeth MacKinnon
Photo montage by Elizabeth MacKinnon

Contemporary Dance: State of the Art
A mini-conference for dancers & dancemakers

Saturday, May 18, 2007
10AM - 5:30PM
HUB 14
14 Markham St. (near Bathurst & Queen)
Toronto

In how many fields can you train for a quarter century and still have difficulty being considered “professional”?
You're talented, creative, smart (heck, you can count to eight!) : what future do you envision for yourself in dance and for dance at large?
A group of dance artists gathered for a discussion of the "state of the art" of dance that didn't focus on funding, grant applications or career transitions but rather on ideas about dance - why and how we make it, and the role dance can play in the wider world. This mini-conference was a place for dance artists to share information about vision, process and the place of dance in society. More info

6x2
Chorégraphes d'ICI
Schema Productions
April 4 & 5 2007
La Nouvelle Scène

Photos

6X2 was presented as part of Choregraphes d'ICI along with a host of Ottawa-Gatineau choreographers and creators. It was a great event...

This new piece marked a return to a more improvisational state of mind for us. Combining dance and video, the piece takes place in six spaces and two time frames and plays with perception, memory and dislocation.

TALK SHOW is a new performance piece by collective (gulp) dance projects. TALK SHOW is about communication and how it permeates the boundaries between private and public spheres. Drawing from the worlds of pop culture, politics, sports and public relations, TALK SHOW explores how language is manipulated to different ends and can be used to conceal our true intentions as much as reveal them. At turns cheekily humourous and others darkly serious, TALK SHOW takes a look at the conventions that surround how information is shared and consumed. It looks at the vulnerability and exposure inherent in public life and what happens when the masks we use as defenses start to slip.
read the blog

Collaborators: Katherine Gillieson (design), Uta Riccius (visual art/installation)
Artistic Advisors: Naomi Sparrow (movement), Lisa Twardowska (theatre/text)

Work in progress showing: Stepping Stones, June 4, 2006
Premiere: Dec 12, 13, 14 Arts Court Theatre
Thanks to the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Ottawa and the Community Foundation of Ottawa for their support of this project.

sounds like... new works (2005)

collective (gulp) brought together some of their friends to show some new works and new collaborations on March 30th at the Mercury Lounge. Elizabeth, back in Ottawa for a brief hiatus from her studies in digital performance in the UK, showed “branches & veins”, an improvisational experiment, using live feed video, based on her explorations in the studio and in the green fields of Yorkshire. Alexis showed the first installment of “The Debt Project” an irreverent look at one woman’s accumulated debt, credit and the interest generated… Also on the program were an improvised trio with collective (gulp) and Kenneth Emig, Suki Lee reading from Sapphic Traffic, a post-feminist rant by Melanie Scott and a new video work by Motria Sabat.

square zero independent dance festival (2004)

The square zero independent dance festival was presented in Ottawa June 10-12, 2004 under the direction of Alexis Kate Andrew and Elizabeth MacKinnon. The festival was supported by an amazing technical team and fabulous volunteers, family and friends. The board of collective (gulp) (Kelly Wilhelm, Marthe Bujold and Anne Thompson) were especially wonderful as midwives to the birth of the “monster”. The festival is also very grateful for the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa which came through after the event. (gulp!)
square zero, whose name literally refers to the “step before square one”, was a celebration of the growth and maturity of the local and national independent dance communities; it built interdisciplinary connections and exposed Ottawa audiences to a range of innovative and exciting dance. The success of the festival demonstrated how strong artistic work, a solid foundation in the community, a do-it-yourself attitude and a dash of reckless optimism can make just about anything possible – including an independent dance festival in Ottawa!

Artists:
Jessica Runge & Barbara Pallomina, Andrew Tay & Sasha Kleinplatz, Louise N. Boucher, Cathy Kyle Fenton, Ame Henderson, hum/Susanna Hood, Mange Mes Pieds/Catherine Lipscombe, lotuslab intermedia/Chanti Wadge, Offshoots Collective/Eryn Dace Trudell, Thea Patterson, Hijack Girl Can Create/Lisa Pijuan, INERTIA, MOTILE, Miriam Colvin, Pam Johnson, Julie Lebel & Yves Candau, Kenneth Emig, Susan Lee & Aidan Baker, Instant Improv, DeCypher Cru, Meagan O'Shea, Bike Ballet Club, Grasshoppa Dance Exchange, Julia Aplin & Maureen Shea, 22 Toes

Venues:
Dance Network / Dance Mosaic / Club SAW

The poodle, the crocodile and the microwave; or, how I lived to tell the tale (2004)
urban myths and how they serve as warnings about things we are otherwise unable to explain.

press star (2003)
We've all had the experience of being in a public place and inadvertently (or not so inadvertently) eavesdropping on someone else's private cell phone conversation. We watch and listen with fascination as the person sheds their public persona, becoming more and more absorbed in conversation with an invisible other, increasingly oblivious to the world around them.

It's a lot like watching a performance, isn't it?

“press star” is an improvisational performance that takes a humorous look at human interaction and how it is becoming increasingly dependent on technology. Please note: Audience members are requested to turn their cell phones on. We just might be standing by for your call.

fresh hot dances, made to order (2003)
your favourite po-mo dance cliches

the promenade project (2002)
...consists of site-specific improvisations in 6 different locations in Ottawa's Byward Market. collective (gulp) was joined by videographers (Zan Chandler, Adrienne Watson) and photographers (Julie Cezer, Melinda Mollineaux), as well as occasionally by another dancer (Maureen Shea), to explore and respond to the different sites and the possibilities each represents. On the last promenade, an audience was invited to view photographs and video from previous Promenades, presented as an installation. The audience then came along with us to the various sites, thereby creating two audiences – a “dedicated” audience there for the purpose of viewing the work, and an “unintentional” or “accidental” one, consisting of the many passers-by who either stopped to watch, ignored what they saw, or were completely oblivious that anything at all was out of the ordinary. Our “dedicated” audience was encouraged to participate by taking photographs with a disposable camera at the various sites and by participating in a discussion session afterwards.

16% (2002)
...a live, unrepeatable performance which cannot be bought or sold, looking at the “business of art” and our culture's obsession with numbers and their meanings .