Family Room by The Falling Company
Presented by New Works and The Dance Centre
Family Room
Preview Excerpt | Wednesday, 26 April 2023, 6pm
This excerpt will be followed by a discussion with the artists, led by mental health professional Brie-Ana Laboucane.
The Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2G6
Family Room recreates a studio apartment through a set design of furniture and home decor. This set design is the foundation for a series of solos to interact with the same household objects, each object representing a relationship, dynamic, and history between different family members.
This work is presented in partnership with New Works and The Dance Centre. The full length work will premiere in The Dance Centre’s 2023-24 season.
The Falling Company will be in residence at The Dance Centre from April 22 – 26, 2023.
The Falling Company is a project based, contemporary dance company dedicated to the creation of inclusive spaces for dance and collaboration. The Falling Company is a nonprofit dance company under the direction of Marissa Wong. Formerly known as the response. and founded by Amber Funk Barton, the company provides a homebase for creative work from a singular woman of colour. The Falling Company is invested in facilitating arts opportunities for underrepresented artists. These spaces depart from the power dynamics the artistic director experienced as a ballet dancer and are centered around positive mental health. The company creates meaningful relationships with artists, organizations, and opportunities that align with these values. Creations and productions of the company focus on blending classical ballet training with improvisation and release techniques. Works for the company reflect the human condition using movement to create accessible storytelling. Works place bodies and emotions in relatable landscapes to mirror the experiences of those who engage with the work. www.thefallingcompany.com
Family Room Creative Team
Marissa Wong – Choreographer/ Co-Set Designer
Kayleigh Sandomirsky – Production/Stage Manager/ Co-Set Designer
Jono Kim – Lighting Designer
Meagan Woods – Costume Designer
Jamie Bradbury – Sound Composer Raïna Von Waldenburg – Dramaturg
Tamar Tabori – Performer and Creative Collaborator
Justin Calvados – Performer and Creative Collaborator
Shana Wolfe – Performer and Creative Collaborator
Steph Cyr – Creative Research Collaborator
Support: City of Vancouver – Communities and Artists Shifting Culture, Canada Council for the Arts – Research and Creation
Residencies: EDAM Dance Fall Choreographic Series 2021, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, plasticorchidfactory, Dance West Network – Artist in Residence
About the Creatives
Marissa Wong
MARISSA WONG is a Chinese-Canadian dance artist who has the privilege to create, play and share on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Səlílwətaɬ, and xwməθkwəyəm Nations, also named Vancouver, BC. She is the Artistic Director for The Falling Company and her engagement in the Vancouver dance community demonstrates her capability to educate, produce, perform, and host works. Marissa strives to change the systemic structure in dance through facilitating inclusive and sustainable arts spaces. She is invested in continuous learning and her work reflects her observations of the human experience. For more information visit:
www.thefallingcompany.com
Justin Calvadores
Justin Calvadores is a freelance contemporary dance artist based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. They grew up on Treaty No. 1 territory; at the age of they 16 were introduced to dance through a Filipino led hip hop dance community. Justin completed two years of training with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and is a graduate of the Arts Umbrella dance program. Justin has danced with Ballet BC as an emerging artist under the direction of Emily Molnar and continued their contemporary dance career with Ballet Edmonton. As a freelance performer Justin has worked with companies such as Nicole Von Arx and Guests, Mile Zero, Wen Wei Dance, Inverso Productions, and FakeKnot. They are continuing to create and perform work with creators such as Isak Enquist, Dumb Instrument Dance, Lesley Telford, Heather Myers, Alyssa Favero, Kelly McInnes, Daria Mikhaylyuk, Mascall Dance and The Falling Company.
Tamar Tabori
Tamar Zehava Tabori is an emerging dance and video artist. She received a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Montreal’s Concordia University, has created and performed work across Canada and Internationally (on stage and on screen), and has received commissions for both production and instruction roles. Tamar has had the honour to interpret for and learn from Jeanette Kotowich, Company 605, Petrikor Danse, Stéphanie Cyr, Julie Chapple (Future Leisure), The Falling Company, and other artists she admires. She collaborates with artists across disciplines including new media artist Kivanç Tatar, and writer Hannah Karpinski. She maintains an active engagement with the dance community, locally, nationally, and internationally, using digital platforms as sites of creative exchange and connectivity.
Shana Wolfe
Shana Wolfe is a dance artist currently based in so-called Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She completed the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program in 2017 where she toured internationally to the Netherlands, performing in the ITS Festival and Netherlands Dans Theater’s Shortcuts XL’17. She then joined Ballet BC as an apprentice for their 2017/2018 season performing “BILL” by Sharon Eyal throughout England and in Germany for the Movimentos – Autostadt festival and performed on stages such as The Laguna Playhouse in California USA and Sadler Wells in London England. Shana attended Springboard Danse Montreal in 2018 where she performed works by Margie Gillis (The Legacy Project), and Michael Getman. As a freelance performer she has been working locally with OURO Collective, The Falling Company and artists such as Cindy Mochizuki, Lisa Gelley and Justin Calvadores. She was recently a dancer for the Edmonton Operas performance of Orphée+ with choreographer Nicole Von Arx.
Presented in Partnership with The Dance Centre.
Support: City of Vancouver – Communities and Artists Shifting Culture, Canada Council for the Arts – Research and CreationResidencies: EDAM Dance Fall Choreographic Series 2021, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, plasticorchidfactory – Artist in Residence
Photos by Sewari Campillow