a little bit about us

collective (gulp) is an Ottawa-based improvisational dance initiative formed by Alexis Kate Andrew and Elizabeth MacKinnon.

Alexis Kate Andrew is a dance artist and teacher, working in the field of improvisation. She graduated from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and went on to further studies in new dance and improvisation at the European Dance Development Centre in the Netherlands. Alexis lived and worked in a multi-disciplinary artists' collective in Brussels, Belgium while dancing with La Cie Nadine Ganase, David Hernandez, Cie Irene K. and Sarah Manya, among others.

Her own work, both choreographed and improvised, has been shown in Canada, the US and Europe. For the past few years, Alexis has been exploring the links between language and movement as well as collaborating with artists from other disciplines. She is currently working on a solo piece entitled "The Debt Project" a subject with which she is intimately familiar.

Elizabeth MacKinnon is a dance artist working primarily in improvisation. Graduate of the Contemporary Dance Programme at Concordia University (Montreal). Elizabeth has created and performed numerous solo and collaborative projects in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Philadelphia. Her writing on dance has appeared in Contact Quarterly and the Dance Current. For the past several years she has been involved in Dance Network, an artist-run association dedicated to the development of a community of independent dance artists in the Ottawa area. Elizabeth has recently completed a MA in Digital Performance in the UK, and looks forward to creating more interdisciplinary works in the future.

As she is now practically physically attached to her laptop, it's a safe bet that some of the works will have technology in them. Check out her blog: motive (reason to move)

(gulp) is an incorporated non-profit under Ontario law.
(gulp) board of directors: Marthe Bujold, Kerridwen Harvey and Meena Peruvemba