Jenn Doan
Project Creation & Development | Head of Production | Dancer
Jenn Doan is a producer, choreographer, dancer, yoga teacher, and dance talk radio host based in Montreal, QC. She began her dance studies at the University of Calgary and while finishing a BFA in Contemporary Choreography at Concordia University in 2007, began to self-produce her own work, primarily within the Canadian Fringe Festivals, with a co-founded dance theater company called Inertia Productions.
Currently, Jenn is the co-artistic director of Woo Me Myth, a dance rock opera (DRO) performance company. The company produced The Duck Wife (2010), an Inuit myth based DRO touring across Fringe Festivals in Canada and receiving audience acclaim throughout. The work won Best Ensemble Performance, Best of the Fest, nominated for Best English Production, and made Centaur Theater’s Top Ten Productions of 2010.
Jenn has collaborated on many creative projects with vocalists, composers, filmmakers, visual artists, and theater artists. She co-choreographed ADDICTED (2009) with House of Dangerkat touring to NYC and Europe, produced Transfigurations (2009) at Dancers’ Studio West with spoken word artist Moe Clark, and both the 1st & 2nd installment of inlayers: an interactive online dance creation. Most productions have been self-supported and only two out of six with small public funding support.
Jenn has been a guest speaker at YES Montreal’s 2011 Artist Conference and Quebec Drama Federation’s 2011 Artist Symposium speaking on topics of Alternative Fundraising for Artists and Diversity in the Arts.
Taryn Javier
Project Creation & Development | Production | Artistic Direction & Choreography
Javier has received European, national, and provincial funding for both her training and work. With or without funding, Taryn has created and shown work across Canada, producing work in Montreal and now here in Calgary. She has been shown at the University of Calgary’s Dance Montage, Aleatoires 48 heures, Alberta Dance Explosions, plink plink plink, c.a.k.e.’s midway at the High Performance Rodeo, Spark in the Fluid Festival and most recently completed Dancers’ Studio West’s Artist in Residence. Currently, Taryn runs a community Class Towards Creation. The class examines and practices methods in refining how and where movement can be developed with a focus on producing statements of substance holding strong personal reference. She searches to find the place where we can all connect to one another, through movement and self expression. Javier has taught actors, contemporary dancers, athletes, voice and visual artists and urban movers alike. Recently, Javier began her own company entitled, lookworks. At present, Taryn is constructing a piece for the Site Specific Tours in the 2012 High Performance Rodeo, in addition to this second installment of inlayers.
Natalie Poissant
Rehearsal Director
Natalie has 17 years of professional training/performance experience ranging from 9 years as a full-time company member, to myriad independent theatre productions and organizations, film, festivals, and television work. In 1994, Natalie became one of the youngest dancers with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and was recognized as a soloist within the modern jazz ensemble. Independently, she has been in production with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Spring Board Dance, Taiwan’s International Arts festival, W&M Physical Theatre, Bloom Series, Dancer’s for Life, Feats, Canada Dance Festival, High Performance Rodeo, and most recent – Calgary’s Fluid Festival. Rooted with strong technical abilities, Natalie has a sensual approach to movement that has made her distinct in her aesthetic. With a strong sense of musicality and interpretive skills, she is recognized for her versatility and is known for her natural instincts. Her unique experiences and background have made her a compelling performer to watch and an inspired artist to learn from. Currently, she is creating work with NEW MEDIA artist Michael Bussiere and Choreographer Helen Husak.
Kaelen Ohm
Film Maker | Documenteur
Kaelen Ohm is an AMPIA award nominated Director/Editor whose work has been aired on CTV, Global and Shaw, as well as in Cineplex Odeon theatres across Alberta. Over the last six years she has spent time in the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia and Canada creating Fashion Films, Music Videos, and Short Documentaries. Her work has been seen by audiences in New York City, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Her most recent fashion film “HEAVEN” was commissioned by XXXX Magazine and premiered in New York City in September 2011 in association with The Big Screen Project during New York Fashion Week. She currently lives in Calgary, Alberta.
Mohamed Hamad
Web Developer | Social Media Advisor
Mohamed Hamad is a web developer, designer and photographer from Auckland, New Zealand, currently based in Montreal. Mohamed’s background is in web development and social media marketing, with an affinity for gadgets and life changing technologies. When not changing the world behind the scenes, Mohamed moonlights as a photographer.
Melina Stinson
Dancer
Originally from Calgary, Alberta, where she completed a BA in dance, Melina Stinson is a contemporary dance artist currently based in Montreal. Since graduating from LADMMI l’ecole de danse contemporaine in May 2009, she has worked professionally with such companies as Carré des Lombes, Bouge de là, Manon fait de la danse, Human Playground, Woo Me Myth, Pulse and Puppet and most recently for Melanie Demers with “As Yet Untitled”. Stinson is passionate about creating her own choreography and often works in close collaboration with musicians. She has shown work at several events and festivals in both Montreal and Winnipeg. In 2008 Stinson cofounded AléAcréation, a contemporary dance company geared towards collaborative projects that bring together emerging and experienced artists.
Pamela Tzeng
Dancer
Native to Alberta, Tzeng’s artistic journey has brought her to train and perform in Canada and across Europe and Brazil. As a performer she has worked with Arsenale
della Danza, W&M Physical Theatre, La Caravan Dance Theatre and choreographers Ismael Ivo, Laura Boato, Stephen Thompson and Taryn Javier. Her choreography has been presented in several festivals in Alberta including Alberta Dance Festival and Springboard’s Fluid Movement Arts Festival. With the kind support of The Canada Council for the Arts and The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, she been able to pursue, produce and create dance by attending the 2010 ImPuls Tanz Festival in Vienna, Austria and choreographing ‘Fragile Ground’, premiered this fall in Dancers’ Studio West Artist in Residence 2011.
Ralph Escamillan
Dancer
Ralph has been dancing since tender age of 14. His first exposure was from watching the Philippine all stars on YouTube, after which he fell in love with dance. He started with break dancing at HarbourDanceCentre and expanded his learning later taking hiphop. At harbour he also tried a multitude of genres such as ballet, contemporary, modern , waacking, house, locking and popping. He trained with Freshgroove productions learning hiphop fundamentals inside and outside the company. He has also been a fortunate to be a part of other companies such as SickStylz and 247Comapny. He was recently currently affiliated with KillTheLight and HouseofLadouche and Contemporary Dance Education Company Modus Operandi just this past year. Ralph has recently worked with Kinesis Dance Somatheatro, Box4 piece, which toured to Calgary. He is now currently lives in Toronto working with urban dance company Gadfly.
Simon Portigal
Dancer
Simon Portigal is a choreographer/dancer based in Montreal, QC. Simon studied at the Performing Arts and Research Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S.) in Brussels, Belgium, and he strives to use the body as a discursive medium. In addressing the contextualized body, a movement dialectic, he reveals what lies on the periphery of language and where phenomenological experience transcends the relationship between audience and performer. He has performed in Europe and Canada, most recently at Montreal’s Studio 303, as a collaborator in Chad Dembski’s “Utopia: Est-Ce Possible?”.
