June 13, 2003 -

OTTAWA -- The Dance Advance Festival is a 3-day mini-festival of dance which throws a spotlight on some of Canada's finest dance artists, including two terrific Ottawa choreographers. The Dance Advance Festival, co-produced by the Canada Dance Festival (CDF) and the National Arts Centre (NAC), consists of two separate events at two separate venues:

CDF and the NAC with presenting sponsor Swarovski Canada present Two Hot Ottawa Choreographers, showcasing a mixed programme of works by Anik Bouvrette and Sylvie Desrosiers. Two Hot Ottawa Choreographers will be presented at 20:00 on Thursday June 26 in the Studio of the National Arts Centre.

The Pelican Project, conceived and directed by Robin Poitras, consists of a 2-week series of workshops for youth, culminating in The Pelican Nocturne, a spectacular processional performance (including pelican costumes, music, song, and dance) lit only by lanterns. Dozens of participants will perform The Pelican Nocturne at 20:30 in Strathcona Park on Friday June 27 and Saturday June 28.

TWO HOT OTTAWA CHOREOGRAPHERS
New work by two of Ottawa's finest choreographers, Anik Bouvrette and Sylvie Desrosiers, will be shown in a mixed program on June 26. In the premiere of her new solo Ludivine, Anik Bouvrette builds on the collaborative experiences that she and dancer Jacqueline Ethier have shared, creating a piece that leads them into new territory. Sylvie Desrosiers presents excerpts of a trio entitled à tire d'aile. Performed by Susie Burpee, Yvonne Coutts and Owen Montague, the piece showcases the choreographer's unique dance vocabulary, which emphasises strong physicality and exciting movement. “We are thrilled to present the work of these two nationally recognized choreographers to the community in which they live and work. We believe that presenting contemporary dance from our community furthers our mandate of being a community player,” says Brian H. Webb, Artistic Producer of the Canada Dance Festival

THE PELICAN PROJECT AND THE PELICAN NOCTURNE
New Dance Horizons' Pelican Project has a hugely successful 6-year history in Regina, and the CDF in co-production with the NAC is delighted to bring such an innovative artistic adventure to Ottawa. The Pelican Project is an interdisciplinary, multicultural arts program for youth 8 to 24 years of age. Forty youth participants will work with 12 professional artists from June 14-28 in a series of workshops which explore the magic of art, nature, and myth through sound, movement, text and visuals, and hands-on experience. The workshops culminate in The Pelican Nocturne, a gala lantern-lit processional performance which is delightful entertainment for families and children of all ages. Members of the public are warmly invited to create their own lantern (instructions included as an appendix) and participate in The Pelican Nocturne or enjoy the excitement as spectators. The CDF is proud to be working in partnership with local leaders of the aboriginal community. The Canada Dance Festival has also been working with over 100 young people from the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, art classes and schools to begin building some art and costume pieces required for The Pelican Nocturne. Information and registration forms for people who would like to participate in The Pelican Nocturne are available from the Canada Dance Festival at (613) 947-7000 x 576.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
On Sunday June 22 at 15:00, in celebration of National Aboriginal Day, the National Gallery of Canada is pleased to host a special performance of The Pelican Nocturne. The procession of more than two dozen performers will begin in the Water Court Foyer, immediately following the Blessing by Elder Commanda, and weave its way through the Canadian Galleries, which have been newly re-installed with Aboriginal works of art to reflect the Art of this Land.

The Dance Advance Festival is a special smaller scale event presented every second year as part of the Canada Dance Festival (CDF), the premiere showcase of new Canadian choreographic work. When the CDF makes its 10th appearance June 4-12, 2004, the theatres of the NAC and the streets and parks of Ottawa-Gatineau will come alive with the latest creations by outstanding Canadian choreographers and both established and surprising new dance artists. The Canada Dance Festival guarantees a provocative and intriguing array of dance performances and the very best in Canadian dance. The Canada Dance Festival would like to acknowledge its partners and sponsors for their generous contribution to the Dance Advance Festival: National Arts Centre, Canada Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage, City of Ottawa, Ontario Arts Council, Swarovski Canada, Banfield Seguin Limited, Pixel Voodoo, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ottawa Citizen, Rogers Television, F.K. Morrow Foundation, Soloway Wright, Business Development Bank, Corporate Research Group, TD Canada Trust, National Gallery of Canada, Odawa Native Friendship Centre, Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, Minwaashin Lodge, The Minto Foundation

Two Hot Ottawa Choreographers will be performed at 20:00 in the Studio of the National Arts Centre on Thursday June 26. Tickets are $25.50. Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC's web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid 'Live Rush' card. The Pelican Nocturne will be performed in Strathcona Park (located at Laurier Avenue East and Range Road in Sandy Hill) at dusk (approximately 20:30) Friday June 27 and Saturday June 28, 2003. Admission is pay-what-you-can. In case of inclement weather, the procession will take place inside Ottawa City Hall at 111 Lisgar Street.

Information:
Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations,
NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca

Anik Bouvrette
Praised for the organic quality and spiritual nature of her work, Anik Bouvrette is a choreographer living and working in Ottawa. With each piece, she seeks to bring the audience on a journey that leads them to their emotional centres. Through an intimate collaboration between dance, music and lighting, Bouvrette creates a poetic landscape filled with subtle yet deeply evocative images that move the audience emotionally and/or spiritually. Her unique movement vocabulary is visceral and organic, emphasizing the torso, arms, hands and head. Movements are often broken at the hips and arms, adding weight to the overall vocabulary. Anik's choreography has been described as breathtaking, sinuous, intricate and deeply engaging.

Since 1993, her work has been presented at the Dancing on the Edge Festival in Vancouver, the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa, the fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists (fFIDA) in Toronto and the Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax. Anik has also been invited to present her work in performances produced by Peterborough New Dance, the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, and Studio 303 in Montreal. In December 1999, Anik presented her own full-length evening of work at La Nouvelle Scène in Ottawa. Entitled Muralis, the performance included three recent pieces: Rafales (1996), Brigantia (1998) and entre deux murmures (1999). In November 2000, Brigantia was presented in the International Choreographic Platform of the 8th Quinzena de Dança de Almada in Portugal. In August and September 2001, Anik created her latest trio, Lustrale, during a seven-week choreographic residency in the theatre of La Nouvelle Scène in Ottawa. This residency was the first project of its kind in Dance to take place at this venue. Lustrale was presented at the end of the residency on September 13, 14 and 15. In October 2002, an excerpt of Lustrale was presented in the International Choreographic Platform of the 10th Quinzena de Dança de Almada in Portugal. While in Portugal, Anik was also a guest teacher at the Escola Superior de Dança, a post-secondary college in Lisbon. She taught technique classes in Contemporary Dance to fourth year students and re-constructed Brigantia with a group of nine graduating students. This version of the piece will be presented in various performances in 2002/2003 in Portugal and Spain. In April 2003, an excerpt of Anik's new work, Ludivine, was presented in Toronto as a work in progress in the Series 8:08 Choreographic Performance Workshop. In July 2003, Anik will return to La Nouvelle Scène to continue the research and creation of Lustrale. She has also been invited to create a new work for the Vancouver-based company Dancers Dancing in 2004. Anik is a member of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of Ottawa.

à tire d'aile is an adventure in which Desrosiers unveils the essence of her dance vocabulary. Moments of worry and moments of relentlessness lie in the effort and tension of the movements. Moments of abandonment and moments of rest lie in the fluidity and the release of the movements. Moments of confidence, defiance and comfort lie in the interrelation of the beings. à tire d'aile explores the body in its expressive dimension, using a variety of dynamics to inform and reveal the feeling. The shades of movement dynamics, the contrasts between fluidity and tenseness, the refined paths and the exploration of rhythm and impulsions are allowing the body to transcend the form. The intensities of the actions are at the core of this journey. The space explodes, interrelations are amplified creating the unpredictable; man, bird, solitude and tango are intertwined in a unique dance work. Lights, installation, music and movements are gathered together to convey a strange world in which hybrid beings evolve. Charged with emotions this choreography is entrenched in the performers factual experience, generosity and remarkable talent. Performed by Susie Burpee, Yvonne Coutts and Owen Montague, à tire d'aile is an emotionally engaging and physically stunning dance work.

Sylvie Desrosiers
Independent choreographer Sylvie Desrosiers has presented her work in Ottawa at Arts Court, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canada Dance Festival, in Montreal at Tangente, Studio 303 and the Festival international de Nouvelle Danse, in Toronto at the fFida and in Vancouver at the Dancing in the Edge festival. Last summer, reflet, choreographed for the water court of the National Gallery of Canada, was presented regularly in conjunction with the Tom Thomson exhibition.

In August 2002, a four-week creation and production residency at La nouvelle Scène was followed by the presentation of the first draft of à tire d'aile; in January 2001, a three-week residency at Le Groupe Dance Lab had been the springboard for the project. It is under Peter Boneham, artistic director of the company, that Ms Desrosiers trained and started her career as a choreographer and a teacher. She eventually directed Le Groupe's dance school from 1991 to 1993. In the fall of 1994, she joined The School of Dance to establish the professional performance training program in modern dance. She is director of the program, teaches modern dance technique, composition and is resident choreographer. Ms Desrosiers has extensive experience in teaching throughout the educational system and has been guest choreographer in many performing arts schools.

The Pelican Project
Following its phenomenal success in Regina – where the human ‘pelicans' lead a procession of thousands who create their own lanterns and follow the pelicans' processional performance -- the Canada Dance Festival is bringing the Pelican Project (conceived and directed by Robin Poitras, Artistic Director of New Dance Horizons in Regina) to Ottawa. Eight professional artists from New Dance Horizons and four professional artists from Ottawa will work together in a ten-day workshop in Ottawa from June 14 to 28, 2003. The workshop is geared towards youth, with a specific focus on including aboriginal youth and youth from other cultures.

The Canada Dance Festival is proud to be working in partnership with local leaders of the aboriginal community. Ottawa partners include Odawa Native Friendship Centre, Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, Minwaashin Lodge -and Jeffery Lee, Allan Laplante and Paula du Hamel, who are all members of the Ottawa aboriginal community. Other community organizations involved are the Dunlop and Pincrest Elementary Schools and Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School.

Robin Poitras leads the Pelican Project in collaboration with acclaimed artists from a variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The project brings together young people and professional artists in an engrossing animation activity and encourages youth to express themselves through contemporary dance. Workshop participants learn contemporary choreography for processional movement, original songs from many different cultures, and create some of the costume and props required for their performance of The Pelican Nocturne. They acquire a better understanding of the language of dance and movement, as well as choreography and interdisciplinary activity. Dance artists gain the opportunity to celebrate their unique personal and cultural voices and to share and exchange this understanding with others.

The Pelican Project is a special opportunity that traverses the worlds of art, science, and nature. Navigating between urban and natural spaces, between animal, vegetable and human worlds, and between the delicate and often blurred lines that history has left on artistic practices, it explores many individual and combined artistic threads. The project is a rare opportunity for Ottawa young people to work with and learn from such exceptionally talented and creative artists as those involved with this project from New Dance Horizons. Since the project's inception, Robin has been fortunate for the collaborative vision of both visual artist Edward Poitras and theatre artist Floyd Starr, as well as a team of professional dance and sound artists. Robin Poitras' artistic practice is rooted in a physical world comprised of choreography, dancing and actions/acts. Our need to play, create and physically reciprocate with this life through dance, movement, vocalization and music-making are, in part, realized through opportunities such as the Pelican Project.

The Pelican Nocturne

Make your own lantern at home and bring it down to Strathcona Park to join in the procession!

Materials Required

1 balloon

paint brush

3-4 sheets of orange tissue paper

fishing line

bamboo pole or stick

white glue (diluted: mix 2 parts glue to 1 part water)

light source with a small battery or glow stick **

a cardboard balloon holder: cut a slit halfway through a square piece of cardboard for the knot of the balloon

masking tape and scissors

covered flat work surface

** Please note: for safety reasons we do not recommend using a candle as your light source.

Instructions

1) Inflate the balloon and tie it. Slide the knot into the slit made in the cardboard balloon holder. Tape the stand to your covered work surface.

2) Rip the tissue paper into pieces and place in a box so they do not get glue on them

3) Starting at the bottom of the balloon: coat the balloon with some glue and place pieces of tissue paper on the balloon. Make sure the pieces of tissue paper are overlapping. Continue covering your balloon all the up to 2 or 3 inches from the top of the balloon and the knot.

4) After putting on two layers allow the lantern to dry overnight. The next day you may find you want to cover up a few areas a bit more. Make sure you have many strong layers at the bottom of the balloon where your light source will sit inside and have reinforced the top area around the edge well where you will carry the lantern with the fishing line on your stick.

5) Once you have covered the balloon well and it is completely dry, then break the balloon and remove it from the lantern.

6) Using scissors cut around the opening to make a nice smooth edge about 5 inches wide.

7) Poke a hole in either side of the lantern close to the top rim edge. Run the fishing line through the hole and tie a knot. Do the same on the other side.

8) Place your light source and battery inside the lantern

9) Attach the stick to the centre of the fishing line