Choreographic Series
December 2023

I am in my family church in my usual place, near the back, on the aisle. It is a large church with over 2000 members. It is a regular Sunday morning service. Way down near the front, I watch someone stand and start to walk up the aisle toward me. This is during the service, the pastor is preaching. I assume this person is going to the bathroom or something. I see that he is older than me, in his mid-twenties or so. He is wearing a suit. He is moving swiftly, silently up the aisle toward me. When he gets to me, he stops suddenly, in mid-stride, like someone pushed pause on the remote. It is not possible for a human being to stop like that. I turn my head to look at him. He is absolutely still, stuck in mid-stride. He turns his head to look at me. A sneer on his face. A beautiful face made horrible by this sneer. I wake up.

Katie Cassady is a Japanese-Canadian performer, teacher, and choreographer based in Vancouver, BC, the unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Katie completed her training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Simon Fraser University, and holds a BA in Art History from the University of British Columbia. Katie has had the honour to work with artists including Kokoro Dance, Amber Funk Barton, and Evann Siebens; and has presented her choreographic work locally at Vines Art Festival, SKAMpede, and New Works’s All Over the Map. Katie is thrilled to be a part of Edam’s Choreographic Series.

Ellie Bishop was born on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəyə̓ m, Sḵwxw̱ ú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples. She is a graduate of the Modus Operandi contemporary dance program, and holds a BA in Modern Ballet from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is based in Brussels, working on her solo ‘Self Portrait’, and the projects ‘Instinction’ with Sintija Žīgure in Latvia, and ‘Hallelujah Junction’ with Lewis Normand, in Scotland.

Steph is a queer settler, living and working as a freelance artist and clinic receptionist, on the unceded and occupied ancestral lands of the ḵwx̱wú7mesh, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh peoples. They've been performing, dreaming, teaching and collaborating in various capacities with fellow artists and friends within the local dance/arts community since 2011. https://stephcyr.cargo.site/

Daisy Thompson is a European settler, dance artist, educator, writer, and mother, based on the unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories (Vancouver). Through performance, teaching, and writing, she seeks to extend ideas of the dancing body as a key site for the questioning and interruption of logics of control in relation to culture and identity.

@daisythompsonsugark | www.daisythompsondance.com

Hari Alluri (he/him/siya) is author of The Flayed City (Kaya Press), Our Echo of Sudden Mercy (Next Page Press) and, forthcoming in 2025, Like a Feather Holds the Sky (Brick Books). Siya is co-editor We Were Not Alone (Community Building Art Works) and co-founding editor at Locked Horn Press. Recipient of the Vera Manuel Award for Poetry, among other awards, grants, fellowships, and residencies, his work appears widely in journals, anthologies, and online.

@harialluri | https://linktr.ee/harialluri

Emmalena Fredriksson is a contemporary dance artist interested in choreography as a relational practice in the expanded fields of dance, often collaborating with artists of other disciplines, creating choreographic experiences and dance for social events, film, galleries, and performance.

@emmalenafredriksson | www.emmalenafredriksson.com

Rianne Svelnis is a settler of European descent, a queer dance artist, teacher and community facilitator based on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories (Vancouver). Rianne facilitates inclusive, free dance classes at Carnegie Community Centre as part of the All Bodies Dance Project. She also works as an associate producer with the Coast Salish-centred performing arts presenter, Holy Crow Arts Society.

Bingham is one of the pioneers of Contact Improvisation, a dance form that emphasizes flow and the cooperative exchange of weight between partners. The "touch and tumble" of Contact is a hallmark of much of Peter’s choreography, lending both athleticism and graceful elegance to his partnering and ensemble work.

Bingham has created over 50 choreographed works and performed in hundreds of improvised performances in theatres, dance festivals and universities across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.

EDAM is renowned for its enduring commitment to presenting dance improvisation as an art form. Many key figures in the Contact world have performed at EDAM's Studio Theatre, including Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Chris Aiken, Ray Chung, Lisa Nelson, KJ Holmes, Karen Nelson, Simone Forti and Andrew Harwood.

EDAM encourages collaborative creative productions and showcases work by local dance artists. Each season the Company produces a number of shows at its Studio Theatre, premiering new work by guest artists.

EDAM (an acronym for Experimental Dance and Music) was formed in 1982 by seven independent artists: Peter Bingham, Jay Hirabayashi, Lola MacLaughlin, Jennifer Mascall, Peter Ryan, Barbara Bourget and Ahmed Hassan. In 1989, Peter Bingham became the company's sole Artistic Director.

Raïna Von Waldenburg, former full-time faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, adjunct at SFU and UFV, currently teaches workshops in Grotowski-based physical performance. Raïna is a dramaturg, writer, director, and performer in Vancouver and the experimental downtown NYC theatre scene. She has been facilitating artists in the development of original performance material for thirty years.

Olivia’s Shaffer dancing began with years of ballet, a degree from SFU, some training in Europe, and a deep dive into somatics, improvisation, and Contact Improvisation. She has performed with EDAM since 2014. Olivia is also a choreographer and a dedicated scholar of dance and composition; she shares her knowledge through the classes she teaches locally and abroad. www.oliviashaffer.ca.

Anne Cooper is happy to dance in this latest piece by Peter/EDAM, and has danced in many others. She’s danced in the US ‘Glimpse’ Performances under the direction of Nancy Stark Smith from 2012-2018, and for choreographers and companies in Vancouver, Winnipeg & Quebec city. Anne’s own work has been presented at Vancouver venues EDAM, The Firehall Arts Centre & others. She’s taught Contact Improv at EDAM and elsewhere since 2000 and hosts ‘the Jam’.

Originally from Tehran, Arash Khakpour, is privileged to be a dance artist who has immigrated to the ancestral and unseeded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. Arash is very lucky to work with and learn from Peter Bingham. He is overjoyed to have been dancing and performing with the exceptional EDAM ensemble for the past 6 years.

Alex Mah is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose scores use verbal notation to deal with ideas of indeterminacy, performer choices, and the sensing body. He has participated in festivals, workshops, and performed across Canada, Germany, Denmark, and the U.K.

www.cargocollective.com/alexmah

Hayley Gawthrop received their contemporary dance training through Modus Operandi (Vancouver). Since graduating in 2016, Hayley has interpreted works by Emmalena Fredriksson, Arash Khakpour, Antonio Somera Jr, Fight With a Stick, Dumb Instrument Dance, Omer Keinan, Kelly McInnes, The Response, and MACHiNENOiSEY. Their current interests in regards to making/doing are driven by their desire to disrupt gender binaries and are deeply rooted in radical tenderness and gender nihilism.

Francesca Frewer is a contemporary dance artist living as a grateful guest on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh first nations. She loves dancing with EDAM.

Antonio Somera Jr is a queer and quirky freelance dance artist who lives and works on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. His interests lie in improvisation, whether it be through contact dance, freestyling in street dance battles or becoming an adult.