New Works Cohort 2024

Meet the Cohort 2024

Generouss Mess - Sarah Hutton & Aiden Cass

Bio
Generous Mess is an emerging contemporary dance company based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Their choreography plays between delicate details and outlandish, exaggerated scenes. Unruly and vulnerable lifts and pathways make up their partner work. Storytelling, humour, and autobiographical themes have molded the context for their first works. Their Vancouver debut, by means of each other, was a duet commissioned and presented at Dancing On the Edge Festival in July 2021. by means of each other - pt. 2 recently premiered at Left of Push in January 2023 in Vancouver, BC. Their first ensemble work, heirloom, premiered at the EDAM Spring Choreographic Series in March 2022 in Vancouver, BC.
Cohort Expectations
"The aspirations we have for our artistic practice require us to go further with our understanding of what we have to offer as artists and what needs to happen on a practical level to achieve those goals. We are excited and grateful to undergo this moment of growth alongside the mentors and peers of the New Works Cohort Program to make what can feel like a scary thing, slightly less scary and definitely less lonely!"

Clala Dance Project

Bio
Clala Dance Project was originally based in Japan under the direction of Tomoyo Yamada and Chihiro Nukuto, both graduates from Mukogawa Women's University located in Hyogo, Japan. Their works have been presented in various places including the REVERBdance Festival (New York, USA) and festivals in Japan such as Dance Jewels (Hyogo). Currently, the collective is based out of Vancouver, BC and run by Tomoyo Yamada (dance/choreography), Charlotte Telfer-Wan (dance), and Sam Mason (film), who are all graduates of Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts. They most recently performed their self-produced show UCHI (2023) at the Beaumont Studios in April, and notably have been presented by the Dance Centre in Open Stage (2020), Dancing on The Edge (2019) and Vines Art Festival (2019). // Photo by Lula-Belle Jedynak
Cohort Expectations
"The past few years we have been able to work on multiple projects and hire a handful of additional artists outside of our collective for collaboration, and we yearn to take one step forward to establishing our collective. We are considering becoming a non-profit organization, enabling ourselves to exist not only during a project’s timeline, but in the gaps between and around them. However, we lack the knowledge of how to achieve that and hope to learn through our participation as part of the New Works Cohort."

Isak Enquist

Bio
Isak Doran Enquist is a movement artist, choreographer, teacher, and experimental musician/sound designer living on Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh, Skwxwú7mesh, and xʷməθkwəy̓əm nations. Raised in the Kootenays/Ktunaxa of Canada, he began formal training in Shotokan Karate-Do before pursuing post-secondary dance education at Simon Fraser University and Modus Operandi (Vancouver). He has performed nationally and internationally with Canadian performing companies such as: Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Compagnie Vision Impure, Shay Kuebler Radical System Art, Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien, Amber Funk Barton, Mascall Dance, Generous Mess, Enquist X Enquist, Anne Plamondon Productions, and Corporeal Imago. Isak is faculty with Vancouver’s Harbour Dance Centre and Lamon Dance Company, and a guest teacher with institutions such as Training Society of Vancouver, Goh Ballet Academy, and GötesborgOperan Danskompani (Sweden). // Photo by Richie Lubaton
Cohort Expectations
"Through this Cohort Program, I want to learn more about defining healthy roles for producers, choreographers, and dance artists as I navigate projects from each perspective. Collecting and sharing resources that support the people who are making, so that the work itself has the best chance possible to become something generous, thought provoking, and impactful to its community."

Antonio Somera (TSV)

Bio
Training Society of Vancouver (TSV) is a not-for-profit organization providing professional and pre-professional dance technique training to the TSV community of dancers, movers, performers and folks with physical practices. TSV was created and is organized by a team of dance artists who make up the board and are volunteer administrators. Antonio Jr. Somera, who has been a director of the board since 2018, aims to continue TSV's artistic goals and uphold the organization's mandates to provide accessible, inclusive training practices to the community. Antonio is a freelance dance artist based in Vancouver, the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations. He has helped organize and support community events such as Here For Now, Shooting Gallery Performance, Faux Real Battles, and Vancouver Street Dance Community (VSDF). // Photo by Alanna Milaney
Cohort Expectations
As a representative of TSV, Antonio aims to gain mentorship and guidance from the Cohort Program in hopes to find skills on how to keep TSV sustainable in this current economy and maintain growth and diversity for the community.

Check out the Cohort Program from past seasons

2023 Cohort Program
2023 New Works Cohort Program:
Alexis Fletcher
Carol Mendes | AMOK
Alexandra Clancy | Soleful Dance Collective
Carla Alcántara
Kami Reed Schuyler
Kaili Che
Kiera Shaw
Luciana Freire D’Anunciacao
Melissa Sorge | The Body Project
Punit Singh
Subscura | hushhush

2023 Cohort Program Coordinators:
Michelle Kneale,
& Jason Dubois, New Works Executive Director.
2022 Cohort Program
2022 Cohort Program Participants:
Jade A. Hails
Sarah Hin Ching U
COME EMOTE WITH ME, Rita Sheena
Shanny Rann, International Tristar Taiji Association
Paige McConnell and Kenzie Skoglund, Counterbalance Projects
Kaia Shukin
Rachel Helten
Elizabeth Ferns
Anya Saugstad
Sierra Megas

2022 Cohort Program Coordinators:
Michelle Kneale is an arts administrator, and dramaturg with over 10 years experience in professional theatre; She has worked for companies such as Boca del Lupo, Pi Theatre, Alberta Playwrights Network, Pumphouse Theatre, Handsome Alice Theatre, African Friendship Society, and Ne. Sans Opera and Dance. Michelle is currently Board Past President of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, and Board Vice President of Playwrights Canada Press. Michelle has experience with producing, governance, operations, administration, communications & outreach, grant writing, planning, leadership transitions, artist support, programming, as well as physical and digital organizing. & Julie Mamias, Former New Works Executive Director.
2021 Cohort Program
2021 Cohort Program Participants:
Jhoely Triana
Ne.Sans Opera and Dance (Idan Cohen)
Tamar Zehava Tabori
Stephanie Cyr
Joshua Ongcol
Kayla De Vos
Kelly McInnes
Lily Cryan
CAMP (Brenna Metzmeier, Sarah Formosa, Ted Littlemore, Isak Enquist, Eowynn Enquist) VD/CM Productions (Kay Huang Crossmaneuver & Virginia Duivenvoorden) 2021 Cohort Program Coordinators: Kristina Lemieux, arts manager with more than 20 years of professional experience. She is also a contemporary dancer. Raised in Treaty 6 territory (rural Alberta), Kristina lived in Edmonton, attending the University of Alberta, for 10 years before heading to Vancouver where her passion for the arts has driven collaboration, creation, and innovation in the Vancouver arts scene for over a decade. After working with Generator in a freelance capacity for several years, Kristina made the move to Toronto in January 2017 to take on the role of Lead Producer of Generator. She is also the proud co-founder and Creative Producer of F-O-R-M. Kristina is passionate about generating dialogue in the arts and, to this end, earned a certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement from Simon Fraser University. In all that she does she works to support independent artists across performing disciplines in finding ways to make art outside of the currently prescribed modes. & Julie Mamias, Former New Works Executive Director.

Can’t commit to a long term program? No problem! Check out NW for Artists resources below: