Connections//Collisions Cabaret

Connections//Collisions
New interdisciplinary works curated by Josh Languedoc

Event details:
December 31
$25 | $20 MZD Members
Doors | 7 PM
Show | 7:30 PM
Mile Zero Dance, 9931-78 Avenue
Get tickets in advance online! A limited quantity will be available at the door.

CURATORIAL STATEMENT//Josh Languedoc
Winter. The time of storytelling. Reflection. Reminding ourselves of the connection we have to one another. “SOULstice,” final Connections//Collisions Cabaret of the 2023 year, captures the spirit of winter joy and connection. This music and comedy-filled cabaret will brighten the spirits and get us feeling festive. Joy is the central feeling of this cabaret as we prepare for the welcoming of a new year.

2023-24 dates:
December 31
March 2
April 27

“We’re in a pivotal time right now. So much history is whizzing by us at such a fast pace. So much our bodies are absorbing. There is no better time to create art and be a part of the change!

Mile Zero Dance is hosting a new incubation Cabaret called Connections//Collisions, curated by Josh Languedoc. In these challenging times, the body knows all and the body can express what text cannot.

Featuring a variety of artists, this exciting new series will welcome new audiences to experience a series of multiple new art pieces.”

Thank you to the Edmonton Community Foundation for supporting the new cabaret series at Mile Zero Dance.

Image | Connections//Collisions Cabaret, September 2023, Photo: Daniel Torres

STAY FOR THE AFTER PARTY

We’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party following the Connections//Collisions Cabaret! Celebrate the evening with music from DJ The Giovanni., dancing, and a toast to 2024.

If you have a ticket to the Cabaret, you’re invited to stick around for the after party (free for cabaret attendees). If you’re just joining for the NYE after-party, tickets are pay what you will ($10 minimum). Event info

Featuring

This series curated by Josh Languedoc

“Originally called The Dirt Buffet Cabaret, this new cabaret, is all about breathing new life into art and our current world. As we navigate a radically rapid changing landscape, art is the best way to respond to the world around us. Often, the body knows the truth. This new cabaret series, with alternating themes each time, showcases new and daring works by a variety of artists. Meant to be an incubation process for artists to explore themes of societal change and embodied empowerment, this cabaret will feature movement pieces, solo pieces, and cross-disciplinary explorations between artists."

Molly McDermott

Molly McDermott is a dance artist performing, creating, and teaching movement in
Amiskwaciwâskahikan, colonially know as Edmonton. Upon receiving her BFA in 2007, she spent over a decade interpreting and performing work by Kokoro Dance, Mascall Dance, Co. Erasga Dance, Les Productions Figlio, Justine A. Chambers, Deanna Peters and Billy Marchenski among others.

Charlie Peters

Charlie Peters (ze/hir/hirs) is a proudly queer theatre and opera director, performer, creator, lighting designer, dramaturg, playwright, poet, and clown. Born, raised, and still living on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation, hir family traces its roots back to England, Poland, and the Campbell lands of Scotland. Hir artistic work has been seen on stages (and in parks, fields, school gyms, living rooms, and swimming pools) across Western Canada. Hir degrees include a BFA in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan as well as an MFA in Theatre Practice and an MA in Gender and Social Justice Studies from the University of Alberta. Ze trained extensively at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance and currently serves as secretary of the Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals. Ze is Folk Trail and Live Theatre Coordinator at the Silver Skate Festival, Founding Director of Embrace Theatre, and a former Artistic Associate with Sum Theatre. Hir scholarly work has been published in Theatre Research in Canada, Canadian Theatre Review, Comedy Studies, Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, and on HowlRound.

Jacqueline Ohm

Jacqueline Ohm, a dedicated visual and sound artist, has cultivated her practice over the past two decades. Although not formally trained, she has carved a path in both mediums, guided by a commitment to remain curious in her work and authentic in her approach. Jacqueline is inspired by the mundane and profound, harvesting ideas from daily life and her philosophical conversations with friends. Prior to becoming a mother in 2012, Jacqueline collaborated with numerous photographers across North America and Europe, and since motherhood she exclusively works with local film photographer, Sandy Phimester. Under her musical guise, Conjvr, she explores the realms of electric guitar and loop pedals, writing songs about her work in academia, archetypes and her travels. Recently, she's rediscovered her musical roots through classical piano, finding delight in spontaneous composition. In the past year, Jacqueline has been building on her illustration portfolio by experimenting with animated shorts to accompany recent musical work.

Sara Campos-Silvius

Sara Campos-Silvius (she/her) is a versatile artist based in amiskwacîwâskahican (Edmonton), Alberta, in Treaty 6 territory excelling in writing, directing, producing, and performing. As a queer and multiracial Latine individual, she brings diverse perspectives to her work, ranging from comedy to horror and spanning prose, poetry, theatre, and film. Currently, she serves as one of the Alberta Playwrights' Network IBPOC Playwrights In Residence and has garnered recognition for projects like the comedy-horror "Moonie And Maybee Dig Up A Grave" at Nextfest. Her short films, including "Power Chord" and "The Inner Ring," have gained acclaim at festivals such as the Edmonton International Film Festival and Toronto International Women Film Festival. Sara's literary achievements include the poetry chapbook "Sword and Smoke," published by Armistice Press, and contributions to publications like Capital City Press Anthology and Hungry Zine. In addition, she has captivated audiences as a spoken word and theatre performer at events like CONNECTIONS//COLLISIONS, Fringe, and Found Fest. Since 2013, Sara has been an active company member of the integrated disability arts dance company CRIPSiE. She is a vibrant force enriching the Canadian arts scene with her contributions.

Tia Ashley Kushniruk (亚 女弟)

Tia Ashley Kushniruk (亚 女弟) is a Chinese-Ukrainian Queer Woman based in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) Treaty 6/Métis Territory of Edmonton AB. She is a dance-theatre performance artist whose body of work primarily encompasses the deconstruction and annotation of societal narratives and in-group rules, to reveal irony, hypocrisy and contradiction in everyday truths. Kushniruk is currently undergoing a mentorship with Toronto-based performance artist Bridget Moser, and has upcoming collaborations with Arash Kapour/Biting School, Tessa Kuz, Philip Geller and Antony Hamilton/Chunky Move.

Lauren Brady

Lauren Brady, an award-winning clown artist in Edmonton, Alberta. She is trained in Baby Clown, Neo-Bouffon, Bouffon, and Neutral Mask. Brady began her journey in dance and then ventured into acting, where she trained at the BFA in Acting program at the University of Alberta until Brady found her footing in physical theatre through training with Jan Henderson studying Neutral Mask and Michael Kennard studying Pochinko Clown. Since then, she has continued to pursue clowning through Michael Kennard’s mentorship and explores physical theatre with Denise Clark through One Yellow Rabbit’s BYA Ensemble.In 2021 Brady received a Canada Council Grant to pursue clown training with John Turner, Karen Hines, and Michael Kennard (The team of Mump & Smoot). In 2022 she came from One North Clown & Creation, where she studied with John Turner. In 2023 Brady toured her first solo clown show @interWEBBED across Canada and notable received a 5 star review from the Edmonton Journal.

Yuliia Tvorilova

My name is Yuliia Tvorilova.

I am a Ukrainian artist. I have been living in Edmonton for 9 months. I continue my way in the art here; look for my own place in this interesting country, in this incredible city. Now I am going through an amazing period where all my previous experiences in creativity are being transformed and given new meaning. What fascinates me most about art now is the ability of an artist to change space by existing inside.

Performer, dance teacher, canonical wife and mother of three sons

Will Scott

Will Scott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound artist, music teacher, and recording engineer residing in Edmonton, AB, Canada. He currently performs in local experimental improvisational act Pigeon Breeders, as well as the pretentiously titled Will Scott Band. His previous credits include Brazilian Money, The Wicked Awesomes!, MS DOS, and the University of Alberta’s improv collective XiME. He has collaborated/improvised with many musical artists, including Scott Smallwood, Smokey, Jung People, Tim Mikula, as well as various dancers from Mile Zero Dance, Good Women Dance Collective, and KO Dance projects. While having a genuine distaste for the music of Phish, he does like the concept of them.

Bukunmi Oyewole

Bukunmi Oyewole is a travel and documentary photographer whose works primarily spotlights present day realities in Africa, so that future generations can experience Africa through his pictures. One of his many dreams is to travel round the world, capturing astonishing moments with his camera.

Erin Pettifor

Erin Pettifor (she/her) is an emerging queer theatre artist based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan/Edmonton. She is thrilled to be collaborating with the artists of Mile Zero Dance's final Connections and Collisions of 2023. This past August, Erin premiered her show Stigma, Pistil and Style at the Edmonton Fringe Festival. She recently toured in the copro of Larrikin Entertainment/Atomic Vaudeville’s new musical, WYRD, to the Yukon and Victoria. In the fall of 2022, Erin worked with the Soloss cohort, a network of individuals who bear witness to loss and co-create artistic rituals for healing. She has co-created and performed multiple physical theatre pieces for various festivals, in the Edmonton Fringe Festival, and with various companies within Alberta. She graduated from the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program in 2018 and from Red Deer College’s Theatre Performance and Creation Program in 2015. Enjoy "Wild," for the last moments of 2023!

DJ ShakiñaRay

Misty Dawn aka ShakinaRay is Nehiyaw & European mix from Woodland Cree First Nations. Her love for music and the mystical arts has her making love with life as a DJ, Poetic Liberator, Dancer, Singer, Drummer and a Safe Space Creeator; Intuitive Guide, RMT, Neurofascial Reset Specialist, Quantum Healer and Light Worker. She is devoted to the mystical, cultural and healing arts and is now fully exploring her 'Artist' more passionately. She loves to create heart coherent spaces that fuel and ignite liberation, beauty and spirit. She is a catalyst into oneself, a promoter of self love and is surrendered to living life as a sacred ceremony.

Kathy Metzger

Kathy Metzger is a dance artist, choreographer and teacher of ballet,
contemporary modern, and Pilates since 1990. Kathy has choreographed works
for Dirty Feet Productions, Alberta Dance Explosions, Edmonton Dance Centre,
Citie Ballet and Orchesis since 1995. Her professional performing experience includes Mile Zero Dance Co., Brian Webb Dance Co., Usha Gupta, Heidi
Bunting, Tamara Bliss, Citie Ballet, The New Dance Collective, Kathy Ochoa and Kathleen Hughes. After finishing her Masters of Arts in 2017, Kathy teaches dance studies for KSR at the University of Alberta, Concordia University, as well as Pilates and dance for CCR at the UofA. Kathy performs and choreographs
regularly with the Initial 6 dance research group, and performs with the KO Dance Projects.

Buy Tickets