Earlier this week, Springboard Danse Montréal announced which emerging choreographers they’ve invited to participate in the program this year. Among them, Canadians Hanna Kiel (Toronto), Colleen Snell (Hamilton) and Heather Myers (Vancouver).
“I was thrilled and excited to be accepted into the emerging choreographers program,” says Snell. “It’s a chance to connect with a new generation of dancers and a great opportunity to participate in and reconnect with Montréal culture and the city. It is a wonderful city to make art in.” Snell, who attended LADMMI in Montréal and the London Contemporary Dance School in the UK, is also the co-artistic director of Frog in Hand productions based in Mississauga, Ont. Snell is also a participant in The National Ballet of Canada and The Dance Current’s Emerging Dance Critics Programme. Heather Myers is also looking forward to her time at Springboard. “Having heard great things about Springboard, I am so looking forward to participating in this program and residency opportunity. For me, I see it as a rich situation for exploring my work as well as mixing and collaborating w ith the great variety of dance artists and creatives who will be there.”
Springboard Danse Montréal was founded in 2001 by Alexandra Wells and Susan Alexander to help emerging dancers transition into professional careers. The program continues to do so, but has found new ways of giving emerging choreographers access to studios and quality emerging dancers with whom they work for a six-week period alongside some of the most important choreographers in the world.
In recent years, Hanna Kiel has worked extensively with emerging dancers. From starting The Garage (a kind of cooperative of dance artists and choreographers designed to foster community and create productive exchange) to students in the Ryerson dance program, Kiel is a loud supporter of young dance in Canada. In an interview conducted by The Dance Current last summer, Kiel said: “I’m very curious to learn more about new dancers, because I like to work with a lot of emerging dancers.” With a commission for Dance Ontario’s Dance Weekend at Harbourfront Centre this weekend, Kiel’s work is garnering a lot of attention and her commitment to emerging dancers will likely be galvanized by her time at Springboard.
Previous emerging choreographers invited to Springboard include some of today’s most important and dynamic creators, including Kyle Abraham, Freya Olafson, Mélanie Demers, Ben Kamino and Dorian Nuskind-Oder. ~
Tagged: Choreography, Contemporary, Uncategorized, Montréal , QC
