SEASON

Jennifer Mascall

Choreographer

Canadian choreographer, teacher, improviser, mentor, and advocate for the art form.

Mascall, a first-generation settler of Norman/Celt descent, is a ceaseless investigator and unquenchable source of ideas. She and her over 200 works have received many awards and continue to challenge dancers and audiences. As a committed dance innovator, practitioner, educator, mentor, and advocate, she encourages new generations of artists through collaboration, creation, choreographic residencies, intensives, and dialogue.

Jennifer Mascall’s somatic movement inquiry is informed by studies with two American master teachers Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Linda Putnam. MascallDance has flourished since 1982.

Previous to !982 Mascall had an international career as a solo improviser and co-founded GRID, TIDE and EDAM, all collectives. Early interests were written dances, which developed into Dial A Dance phone-in dance orders and Footnotes, an anthology containing the written notes of 60 choreographers.

She has received the Canada 125 Confederation Commemorative Medal, the Clifford E. Lee Choreographic Award, the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, a Dora Mavor Moore Award, a Jessie Richardson Award, the Ann O’Connor Award, International Woman’s Day Award, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Best Performers Award (The Brutal Telling), the F.A.N.S. Distinguished Artist Award, and an Isadora for outstanding contribution to dance in B.C.

http://www.mascalldance.ca

Photo: Yukiko Onley

Claire O’Neil

Choreographer

For over 20 years, Claire has been an international performer, choreographer and dance educator.

She lived in Belgium for a decade and worked with some of Europes’ most prestigious contemporary dance companies. In 2016 she achieved a Masters in Dance with first class honours from the University of Auckland.

Claire has researched, experienced and integrated various forms of contemporary dance and related physical practice, movement systems, social philosophy, and somatic inquiries such as Laban, Axis Syllabus, Feldonkrais, Body Weather, Action Theatre Improvisation, Body Mind Centering, yoga and Contact Improvisation.

As the Artistic Director of Fidget Collective, she has created, collaborated, and presented over 35 performances. Her performance works have won awards (Tempo Festival 2008 Best Choreography from an Established Choreographer (‘MTYland’); Wellington Fringe Festival Best Dance Production 2015 (‘Just Between Us’) and she has received several grants and scholarships furthering her investigations in the field of contemporary dance.

Claire features in Sue Healy’s award-winning dance documentary ‘Virtuosi’. She is currently a dance lecturer at Unitec Performing and Screen Arts and a movement coach for well-being programs in corporate business. She sits on the Artistic Advisor Panel for Footnote New Zealand Dance and mentors choreographers with The New Zealand Dance Company.

Photo: Ruthie Stoeffels

Kathleen Nisbet

Musician

Classically trained early on, Vancouver fiddle player, singer and songwriter Kathleen Nisbet has returned to her Métis roots, pursuing more traditional fiddle music, and working in a variety of genres.

She has composed and contributed to multiple theatre and dance productions and collaborates regularly with V’ni Dansi Métis traditional dance, and Acuhko Simowuk Collective.

She’s an active member of Vancouver’s thriving bluegrass and folk scene, performing and touring with her band, Viper Central. With numerous studio recording credits to her name, she’s well known locally for her live music productions, including the annual East Van Opry in Vancouver.

Photo: Gillian Moranz

Allison Brooks

Performer

Artist Allison Brooks, rooted in Western Canada’s First Nations territories, embarked on her creative journey in Penticton, BC.

Training at The Schools of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg ignited her passion for contemporary dance. A recipient of the Banff Centre for the Arts scholarship (2019) and Edam Dance scholarship (2022), Allison thrives at the intersection of music and dance.

Her recent collaborations with Constance Cooke and Mascall Dance span Canada and New Zealand (2023). Notable performances include self-choreographed solos at Boombox (2023) and Impulse Theatre’s Peek Show (2022). With Impulse Theatre and Amok Project, she’s pushed artistic boundaries. Allison danced with Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers for Guest Artist in Residence projects with choreographers Jason Martin and Jasmine Ellis and for the online premiere of Begin Again, by Jera Wolfe. Allison’s artistry resonates globally, leaving an indelible mark.

Photo: Kendra Hope Penner

Ysadora Dias

Performer, Choreographic Assistant

A contemporary dance artist from Brazil, Ysadora’s dance training began at Escola de Danças de Caraguá. After graduating she joined CBMC Dance Company and the collective “Pé na Areia” as creative interpreter having the opportunity to collaborate in the creation and production of several performances throughout Brazil.

She moved to Vancouver to enrich her dance training with Coastal City Ballet, where she stayed for three seasons as a company member. In 2021 she joined Amok Project under the direction of Carol Mendes.  Most recently she has worked with Co.Erasga and MascallDance.

Photo: Caio Silva

Marisa Gold

Performer

Marisa Gold is an intuitive multidisciplinary dance artist with a passion for all things soulful.

She has trained in a variety of Modern/Contemporary styles, with a BFA in dance (SFU), certificate of completion from The Ailey school Independent Study program (NYC), and The Graham school(NYC).

She is an expressive dancer, poet, vocalist, choreographer, stylist, and actor whose work is embedded in self reflection, a deep love for humanity and reverence for our planet earth.

Photo: Kristine Cotsky

Tobias Macfarlane

Performer

Canadian actor and creator Tobias Macfarlane is interested in storytelling and technology.

For several years he has been General Manager of MascallDance, and has made several films about dogs. He has studied Business Economics and Theatre, and currently finds all three immensely useful.

Currently preparing for MD’s Canadian tour of The Impossible Has Already Happened, the environment is on his mind.

Photo: Caio Silva

Iris Mae Shepperd

Photo: Unknown

Jack Chipman

Technical Director

Jack is a Vancouver based projection designer and technologist. His work integrates physical elements into digital spaces through the use of cameras, digital props, and image filtering. He is excited by the merging of different mediums to create an immersive experience. Jack’s past credits include The Flying Dutchman (Vancouver Opera), An Undeveloped Sound (Electric Company Theatre), Szepty/Whispers (Rumble Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Dance Craft (Joe Ink), and Ghost Forest (Simon Fraser University).

Jchipman.com

Photo: Lisa Lauter

John Macfarlane

Technical Consultant

John Macfarlane is a lighting designer and technical director for dance and theatre.

Began touring internationally with New York’s Nikolais Dance Theatre in 1973 and continues to maintain a professional career.

Senior Faculty (retired) Simon Fraser University Contemporary Arts. Teaches technical theatre, lighting design, stage and production management and arts administration.

Photo: John Macfarlane

Beatriz Orbegoso

Tour Manager

MascallDance Operations Manager Bea is of Scottish/Swiss/Spanish descent, Canadian-born of Peruvian parents.

In 2003 she became General Manager of Peru’s largest theatre, managing over 50 productions in Lima throughout the years.

Her sound designs have accompanied works such as Moo (Sally Clark), Lawrence and Hollowman (Morris Panych), Birthday Party (Harold Pinter) and Life is a Dream (Calderon de la Barca).

She has worked in Canadian documentary film production and arts management since 2017.

BA, Languages and Theatre, Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, Quebec; MBA, Management and Administration, UPC, Lima, Peru.

Photo: Luisa Orbegoso