WITS IN MOTION
CREATIVE TEAM
SUDDENLY DANCE THEATRE presents
A SUDDENLY MEDIA PRODUCTION
with
SALVADOR BIGAM, CONNIE DENG, EMILY FINNIS, JAREN GUERREIRO, THERESA KIESMAN, SOMAYA SAID choreography LYNDA RAINO director of photography DANIEL CARRUTHERS editor DAVID FERGUSON
camera assistant PERRY JOHNSTON lighting/key grip LANCE ZISKA make up ALI LOUGHTON
original music by MILES LOWRY director of research BONNIE LEADBEATER
produced by DAVID FERGUSON directed by MILES LOWRY and DAVID FERGUSON
DAVID FERGUSON
co-DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, EDITOR
David Ferguson is a writer, painter, and producer of dance and film. As a Founding Artistic co-Director of Suddenly Dance Theatre (1992-present) in Victoria, B.C. he has been a producer/curator of numerous collaborative, multi-media projects and dance productions, including the annual Romp! Festival. His original works include OPIUM (2005), a made-for-television dance film seen nationally on Canadian Television; NATURE ECSTASY (2007), a silent dance film made for composers; and the Bravo!FACT films AISLING – We Saw A Vision (2007) and GUTHRIE SWIMS THE LAKE (2010). As a writer, supported by The Belfry Theatre’s INCUBATOR/ SPARK! Festival, he premiered his stage play AGNES B (2010). He regularly co-choreographs and performs with dance artist Jung ah Chung, with live appearances in Korea at The World Dance Stars Festival, Busan International Dance Festival, and the Next Wave Dance Festival and at Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge. In 2012, the duo premiered their work RUSH OF WATER / RUSH OF AIR, an outdoor dance-film installation in Victoria’s Centennial Square. They followed up this media work with OPHELIA (2014) a dance film created for an outdoor vertical garden. In 2015, supported by an Artist in Residence (AIR) award from the City of Victoria, he is creating 2 (Eng/Fr) short, youth-engaged dance-videos for the prevention of peer victimization and bullying, with co-Director Miles Lowry and choreographer Lynda Raino. www.davidferguson.ca
MILES LOWRY
co-DIRECTOR, COMPOSER
Miles Lowry is a visual artist, writer, composer and director. He has been exhibiting paintings and sculptures in solo and group exhibitions since 1981. His sculptural installation – DISSOLVE / REVEAL (portraying a group of disappearing figures), was chosen Peoples Choice at Artropolis 2002 in Vancouver BC and his work was subsequently a subject for CBC’s Artspots shown nationally. His recent paintings are drawn from travels, experiences with the natural world, and an ongoing interest in figures and faces. He is an Artistic Co-Director for Suddenly Dance Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia where he is working in video arts and media. He wrote and co-directed OPIUM, based on French poet Jean Cocteau, which was presented on Bravo Television in 2005 and chosen for the 35TH Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center Plaza in New York. OPIUM also had it’s French language debut on ARTV Quebec in 2006. His next two films AISLING and GUTHRIE SWIMS THE LAKE for Bravo!FACT allowed him to also contribute his music and voice to the soundtracks. His current UNTITLED WITS PROJECT aims to stop or reduce bullying by offering highly visual, largely non-verbal dance videos that can be used as perpetual learning tools for youth engagement. Lowry's book BLOOD ORANGE based on the life of Paul Bowles, was released by Ekstasis Editions in 2008 and is being currently being adapted for a new dance film project. www.mileslowry.ca
BONNIE LEADBEATER
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater has been a professor in the Psychology Department, University of Victoria since 1997. Prior to moving to the University of Victoria, she was an associate professor in Psychology at Yale University from 1988 to 1997. Dr. Leadbeater holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Ottawa and a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, New York. She has made internationally recognized contributions to research on adolescent parenting, emerging adulthood, adolescent depression, resilience in high-risk youth, social emotional learning, and the prevention of peer victimization in elementary school children. She is an author and evaluator of the WITS and WITS LEADS elementary school programs for the prevention of peer victimization (www.witsprogram.ca).With her research team, she is currently studying strategies for the widespread dissemination of this program. She is highly committed to efforts to translate theory and research into training and into policy and program actions that can improve the lives of children, youth, and their families.
LYNDA RAINO
CHOREOGRAPHER
Lynda Raino (Dramaturg): Lynda received a lifetime achievement award for her work in dance, though she is currently crossing the floor more and more into theatre. She first appeared at the Belfry in ‘A Guide to Mourning’. She also worked with Puente Theatre’s ‘Letters for Thomas; Langham Court’s ‘Waiting in the Wings’; and the Belfry’s spectacular ‘Urinetown, The Musical’. She has worked many times with Victoria’s Suddenly Dance Theatre - most recently she was the title character in AGNES B in 2010, and she was seen in a workshop of SUGARGLASS in 2013. Lynda ran her dance school Lynda Raino Dance for thirty-four years, where she has had hundreds of students.
PERFORMERS
DANIEL CARRUTHERS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Carruthers has been working in the film industry since 2004. He started out working as a PA and Assistant Camera. He quickly worked his way up to Director of Photography in only two years. Daniel has experience on a number of formats including HD, Super16mm, Red. Daniel recently finished shooting the Telefilm feature Jackhammer, which features Jamie Kennedy from Scream, and Pamela Anderson from Baywatch. The film is planned for a 2013 release. Daniel lives and works in Victoria BC Canada.
SALVADOR BIGAM
CONNIE DENG
EMILY FINNIS
JAREN GUERREIRO
THERESA KIESMAN
SOMAYA SAID
CREDITS:
Suddenly Dance Theatre respectfully acknowledges WITS IN MOTION was created on the traditional and unceded territories of the Lekwungen People, now known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.
The WITS IN MOTION dance-film was produced by Suddenly Dance Theatre as Artist-in-Residence for the City of Victoria with Producing Partners: the WITS PROGRAMS Foundation, the University of Victoria, Suddenly Media Productions; Associate Producer: Maureen Bradley; Thanks to Daniel Hogg. Produced with the assistance of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, and the CFI Hi-Def Story Incubator Laboratory. Created with support from Dance Victoria’s Residency Program. A special thanks to Kim Breiland and Stages Performing Arts School.
The WITS IN MOTION guide was created by University of Victoria educators Drs. Bonnie Leadbeater and Donna McGhie-Richmond, and Suddenly Dance Theatre artists David Ferguson and Miles Lowry. Partial funding came from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Created with support from the Hamber Foundation.
