Mile Zero Staff
Originally from rural Saskatchewan, Gerry Morita (BA Dance/ MFA Theatre. She has lived and worked in Vancouver, Montréal, and Tokyo as a dancer, choreographer, performance artist and teacher before moving to Edmonton and becoming Mile Zero Dance’s Artistic Director in 2006. Her work has toured Poland, Turkey, Estonia, Canada, and Japan.
Morita’s body of work involves continuous inquiry into new ways of seeing movement, the body, and the spaces between us. She studies and teaches contact improvisation, Noguchi Taiso and other somatic-based and improvising techniques, working with artists from all disciplines in a vast array of both conventional and site-specific venues. She has received the Mayor’s Award for Innovation in Artistic Direction, the Edmonton Salute for Excellence, Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund and was one of Alberta’s 25 Influential Artists recognized in 2016.
Stacey Cann is a multidisciplinary artist working in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work has been shown at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery, The Ministry of Casual Living, Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture, Harcourt House Artist Run Centre and the International Print Centre New York among others. Her work involves durational elements whose mundane nature borders on the absurd, and she is interested in how we present ourselves in the commonplace of our daily life. She is also a member of the Bureau of Noncompetitive Research, a collective based in Canada.
She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Print Media from Alberta College of Art and Design as well as a Masters of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Art Education from Concordia University.
Lexi Pendzich is a lens-based artist whose work focuses on documentary photography and portraiture. She’s inspired by the power of images to tell stories, personal narratives and capture moments that wouldn’t otherwise be documented.
Lexi is a communications strategist with experience working at the intersection of marketing, social media, media relations, and web for arts and culture.
Trent is an Edmonton based artist and arts enabler with a specialty in activating non-traditional performance spaces. A graduate of Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Production program and The Banff Centre for the Arts, Trent has spent the last 10 years as a Lighting Designer, Production Manager, Technical Director, Entertainment Programmer, Site Manager, and Theatre Technician.
Katrina Smy has been living and dancing in amiskwacîwâskahikan, Treaty 6 Territory, all of her life. Her early training grounds include the Edmonton School of Ballet, Alberta Ballet School, and Grant MacEwan Community College, where she graduated from the Dance Program in 1992. She has performed extensively with KO Dance Projects, with Mistress Nancy Sandercock, and with Mile Zero Dance, where she held the position of General Manager from 2008-2014. Across her artistic career, she has enjoyed co-creating with New Music Edmonton, BEAMS, Jen Mesch Dance Conspiracy, Don Ross, Allison Balcetis, Jeannie Vandekerkhove, Theresa Dextrase, Izumi Kuribayashi, Dave Wall, Michelle Milenkovic, naming only a few from a gorgeous array of artists she has been fortunate to work with. She gravitates toward improv-based performance, site-specific, and installation work, and is able to specialize in eccentric or unusual roles. Katrina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Eastern Philosophy and Drama.
board of directors
Idris is a self-professed word nerd who, in grade 6, read the 40-volume World Book Encyclopedia on a dare to earn a computer from his parents. A failed child actor who ‘leaned in’ late, Idris cut his teeth on direct response, email newsletters, fundraising, and web design before finally dedicating his life to unpacking technology, community, and message in mutually beneficial ways.
He is a graduate of MacEwan University and currently studies Climate Leadership at Royal Roads University. Idris is MZD’s Board of Directors President (2023-2024, 2024-25).
Jen Mesch has been a full time cardiac sonographer for 20 years. She is currently in the role of clinical educator for sonographers and physicians, and has been on the planning committees for several international cardiology conferences. She has served as a volunteer over the past 12 years in Alberta paleontology at University of Alberta and University of Toronto’s Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project, and she has also served on the board of Dinosaur Research Institute.
For 35 years Jen has been an independent artist, choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, filmmaker and advocate. She is thrilled to be serving another year on the board of Mile Zero Dance.
Deviani Andrea (she/her) is a dance artist based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / Edmonton. Originally from Mexico City, she holds a BA in Literature from the University of Mexico and studied at the Mexico City’s Dance School and Ema Pulido’s Dance Studio. Since landing in Canada, Deviani has worked as performer, instructor, and choreographer with many local dance and theatre companies such as the Citadel Theatre, Azimuth Theatre, Skirts Afire, Mile Zero Dance, Fringe Festival, Found Festival, Alberta Musical Theatre Company, among others. She has been a Good Woman since 2022.
She is certified in Trauma Informed Care and as a Kaeja Elevations teacher; has trained at Decidedly Jazz Dance (Calgary), and her independent work has been kindly supported by the Edmonton Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and The CanDance Network.
She likes biking in the summer and skiing in the winter, brewing kombucha, and consuming content in different languages. Catch her on Instagram at @deviani.andrea
Falon Scheers is a dedicated Board member and Volunteer Coordinator for Mile Zero Dance. With a committed yet intermittent practice in Contact Improvisation, Falon also enjoys tackling hands-on projects that highlight her inventive spirit. A software developer by profession, she brings a unique blend of technical and environmental expertise, drawing from her background in forestry, homesteading and home renovations.
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. Photo credit | Armand Bladon
Mpoe Mogale (they/them) reigns from Lebowakgomo, South Africa and splits their time between amiskwaciywâskahikan and moh’kínst’sis, in the colonial state of Canada. They hold a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science, and a wealth of expertise in community-based research, facilitation, and arts administration.
Mpoe’s primary artmaking form is dance, with a curiosity in the place of Blackness in spaces that deny it, as explored through several projects including a project they are currently collaborating on with the Prairie Place-Ancestors Collective produced by Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre. Mpoe has taken up positions within the arts community to facilitate the creation of better and abundant workplaces for arts workers, and does so by facilitating spaces where nourishment, imagination, and joy abound. Photo credit | gbohunmi
Shrina Patel (she/they) is a South Asian, Gujarati dance artist, choreographer, playwright and actor. She lovingly creates with the philosophy of Wahkohtowin and currently resides in Amiskwacîwâskahikan Edmonton, Alberta.
A 2023 recipient of the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes award for her choreography work in the category of Outstanding Artistic Achievement for Younger Audiences, she has set herself apart as a performance artist who consistently flourishes in groundbreaking spaces and in collaborations with Citadel Theatre, Roxy Theatre, Alberta Musical Theatre Company and Alberta Theatre Projects.
Since 2022, Shrina has been crafting digital narratives that connect and engage audiences, bringing the works of Postmarginal to the social media forefront. She specializes in marketing, social media, and content creation for the theatre and arts industry.