THE CONDITIONS Work-in-Progress by LUCY M. MAY F F O N D U H C A C S E C N A R F © O T O H P , Y A M . M Y C U L DETAILS TITLE OF THE PIECE: THE CONDITIONS (WORKING TITLE) CREATION: LUCY M. MAY & GUESTS DIRECTION & PRODUCTION: LUCY M. MAY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CANADA CITY: TIOHTIÁ:KE/MOONIYAANG/MONTRÉAL CREATION PHASE II: PROJECTED FOR FALL 2021-SUMMER 2022 PRESENTATION: PROJECTED FOR 2022-3 SEASON DURATION: TBC SPECTATORS: TBC CREDITS RESEARCH PHASE: OCTOBER 2019-OCTOBER 2020 CREATION PHASE I: NOVEMBER 2020-FEBRUARY 2021 DIRECTION: LUCY M. MAY DANCE & VOICE: PETER JASKO, JA BRITTON JOHNSON, FRANCESCA CHUDNOFF, MARIE-REINE KABASHA, LUCY M. MAY, SOVANN ROCHON-PROM TEP MUSIC: PATRICK CONAN & VICKY METTLER (KEE AVIL) SCENOGRAPHY & VISUAL ART: MAISIE O'BRIEN LIGHTING DESIGN: JON CLEVELAND ARTISTIC ADVISOR: OLA MACIEJEWSKA TAROT CONSULTANT: EROCA NICOLS VOICE COACH & MENTOR: JUDITH KOLTAI PHOTOGRAPHERS: FRANCESCA CHUDNOFF, KINGA MICHALSKA VIDEOGRAPHERS: FRANCESCA CHUDNOFF, DO PHAN HOI, F. CHRIS GILES VIDEO EDITING: LUCY M. MAY A PRODUCTION OF: LUCY M. MAY WITH THE SUPPORT OF: CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS, FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES (MONTRÉAL), THE BEAVERBROOK ART GALLERY (FREDERICTON), STUDIO 303 (MONTRÉAL), CIRCUIT-EST (MONTRÉAL), GALLERY TPW (TORONTO), MAISON DE LA CULTURE MARIE- UGUAY/CHARLES BRECARD/LE SUD-OUEST (MONTRÉAL) © LUCY M. MAY THE WORK In collaboration with musician-composers Patrick Conan and Vicky Mettler, choreographer Lucy M. May is currently building a container for new improvisational research. The Conditions (working title) is envisioned as an installation and performance for gallery space, to be complimented by video works. Third in a series of pieces investigating the ecologies of place, it will follow Vivarium (2014/17), created in alleyways and rail yards, and Anima / Darkroom (2019), a Krump solo for black box theatres. Recalling the emotion of dancing alone at the Reversing Falls in New Brunswick (The Lips of the River, 2017) and drawn to the intimacy of gazing in the gallery, Lucy M. May is investigating processes that entrain gesture and feeling. The Conditions seeks to track and induce fleeting sensations (butterflies, shivers) through voice and movement. Experimental Western microtonal scales, as well as new and archaïc methods of sense- perception (Microphenomenology, the Occult) inform the work. Joining the project are freestylers from both contemporary and street dance styles: Ja Britton Johnson (Jigsaw/Ozcar the Grouch), Francesca Chudnoff, Peter Jasko, and Marie-Reine Kabasha. A visual environment for The Conditions is being created by cut-paper artist Maisie O’Brien and lighting designer Jon Cleveland. LUCY M. MAY © FRANCESCA CHUDNOFF LUCY M. MAY © CALOPE BIOGRAPHY Lucy M. May is a Contemporary dance artist based in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyaang/Montréal since 2003. Attracted to the porousness of collaboration and the vastness of dancing, Lucy has developed choreography for stage, screen, and unusual locations. Her creations, such as Anima / Darkroom (2019), in collaboration with the Krump artist 7Starr, and Vivarium (2014/17) with Noémie Avidar, Patrick Conan, and Paige Culley, often ask how environments thread their way through human movement. She deepened her research in New Brunswick, her native province, during a land-based project entitled Esemplastic Landing (2016-17). Between 2009 and 2016, Lucy was a member of Compagnie Marie Chouinard, creating roles for twelve works and performing across five continents. As a freelance dancer, she has recently worked with such artists as Susanna Hood, Alejandro de Leon, Frédérick Gravel, Ariane Boulet, and Helen Simard. She is an affiliated artist of Margie Gillis’s Legacy Project since 2014 and has been entrusted with two solos, The Complex Simplicity of Love and Give Me Your Heart Tonight. A graduate of EDCM in Montréal and Rotterdamse Dansacademie, she began practicing Krump in 2016. Her work has been programmed in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Sweden, and the UK. GUEST DANCERS & VOICERS Francesca Chudnoff is a Toronto based millennial, with a BFA in performance. She is a dance artist, film maker, photographer, a Sagittarius sun and collector of all things shiny. She began her Contemporary dance training working as a company member at Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre. Francesca continued her studies at Ryerson Theatre School while also working independently in street dance forms such as Breaking and House. After graduating, Francesca became Co-Assistant Director of Alias Dance Project until Spring 2017. She has presented her dance work at Dancematters, PS We Are All Here, Flowchart, Wind Down Dance, and Nuit Blanche Toronto. Her film work has been presented at Toronto Urban Film Festival, F-O-R-M, ArtSpin, On Common Ground Festival, Rhubarb Festival, Long Winter, Âjagemô - Canada Council for the Arts, FFDN, and Nuit Blanche Toronto. Francesca is currently working as an Emerging Artist in Residence at Dancemakers Centre for Creation. Peter Jasko has been involved in the dance community as a performer, choreographer, and teacher in Europe and abroad for over 15 years. He holds a deep desire to revive a space for instinct in dance, with a sincere interest in body-space-connection awareness. He sees beauty everywhere—in all bodies, emotions, and personal histories. Through his choreographies, performances, and workshops, presented around the world, Jasko abolishes the hierarchies and divisions between body and mind by favoring an open dance that encourages deep consciousness, in a difficult and fragile process towards balance. Peter studied and graduated at the Conservatory J.L. Bella, Slovakia. He continued his education at VSMU in Bratislava, before entering P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. His professional experience includes dancing with artists and companies such as R.Olivan, S.L.Cherkaoui, D.Zambrano, B.Coleman, P.Forman, Clara Furey and more... Peter Jasko is co-founder of Les SlovaKs Dance Collective. He had directed many circus groups such as Svalbard company, Circus Eloize, and several projects of Roberto Magro. Ja Britton Johnson, aka Jigsaw, is an artist with an extensive knowledge of various street styles, with a focus on Hip Hop and Krump. He began working in hip hop with 2marvelous, then ventured into Krumping in 2006. He has dedicated 10 years to his art, and with determination and dedication Jigsaw has become one of the new generation of leaders of Krump in Canada. He is also part of MKA (Montreal Krump Alliance), a not-for-profit dance organization. He now dances for Ebnflōh Dance Company. He has performed at 100Lux festival in Juxtapose led by Saxon Fraser; also presented at Breakin’ Convention in Toronto in the summer of 2017. Active in the Montreal dance scene since 2013, Marie-Reine "MQueen" Kabasha combines her love of movement of all kinds with her pleasure of sharing in all her practices. In freestyle as well as in theatre, every opportunity for expression nourishes it. She has collaborated with several prominent street dance figures in Montreal as well as internationally. Notably, in 2014 she joined the company Ebnflōh, founded by Alexandra "Spicey" Landé, as a dancer, and the company Tentacle Tribe in 2016. She has also collaborated with the Parisian waacking collective Ma Dame Paris in 2019. In parallel, she nourishes a growing interest in research and creation, presenting a co-creation with Christina Paquette TNM in 2013 at the 100Lux Street Dance Festival, and Orbite in 2018 as part of the OFFTA. She is currently undertaking a research project on her own movement language called Trigger Point. MARIE-REINE KABASHA JA BRITTON JOHNSON ©KINGA MICHALSKA, STUDIO 303 COLLABORATOR BIOGRAPHIES SOUND Montréal-born Patrick Conan is a drummer and percussionist who has been playing music professionally for more than twenty years. Since 2013, he has composed music for contemporary dance works by Nate Yaffe, Sarah- Ève Grant-Lefebvre, and longtime collaborator Lucy M. May. Patrick has played as a musician in numerous projects and toured Canada, the United States, and Europe. Notable past acts include Tricky Woo, Sackville, The Carnations, and Valleys. Current projects include Sam Shalabi's Land of Kush and Traces. His compositions use software manipulation, field recordings, and found sounds. He completed his studies in Classical percussion at Vanier College in Montréal. Vicky Mettler is a guitarist and composer based in Montreal, QC. In 2018, she started a songwriting project ‘Kee Avil’, blending the experimental and the familiar through the use of guitar, voice and electronics. The project has since toured the USA, Europe and Canada - sharing the stage with artists such as Marc Rib ot, Fly Pan Am, Pere Ubu and Bill Orcutt. She composed music for the contemporary dance piece ‘Modern Woman in Search of Soul’ (Citadel + Compagnie, 2018) by Sasha Ivanochko and is currently collaborating in a research project by choreographer Lucy M. May. Vicky is also a member of ‘Land of Kush’ (Constellation Records) and Miller/Mettler/Foisy (Notice Recordings). Festival appearances include Vancouver Jazz Festival, Sled Island, Pop Montreal, Suoni per il Popolo and Kiezsalon (Digital in Berlin). SCENOGRAPHY & VISUAL ART Maisie O'Brien "I could have sprouted out of the ground from Southern China — that’s about all that anyone knows before. I was adopted from Jiujiang and raised in the prairie oasis of Dallas, TX. As the daughter of a film photographer, I sympathized early with the need to frame the world in a soft and sinister Noir. My first flirtations with art were through printmaking and stop-motion animation. An introduction to woodcut and intaglio in high school led me to pursue a lithography-and-woodcut-heavy printmaking major at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. While still in school the most impactful experience was in earning a travel scholarship which I used to study folk art and puppetry across Europe and the United Kingdom. After graduating from PAFA’ s Certificate Program, I took an additional year to complete my BFA at the University of Pennsylvania where I continued to absorb conversations around folklore, anthropology, and Earth science.