Venue: the Merrill Theater at On the Boards
May 19 - 22
Thursday, May 19, 8pm
Friday, May 20, 8pm - followed by artist conversation with Dana Michel and dani tirrell
Saturday, May 21, 8pm
Sunday, May 22, 5pm
Runtime: 1 hour
THIS IS AN IN-PERSON SHOW WITH SPACE LIMITED TO 100 PEOPLE PER PERFORMANCE
We are unable to seat patrons who arrive late, in order to preserve the experience of this performance
Contains Considerations: Nudity, primarily a performance with ambient sound and no spoken dialogue
Canadian artist Dana Michel last appeared at On the Boards in 2016 with Yellow Towel. On the Boards will present her newest work, CUTLASS SPRING (2019).
« I’ve always been obsessed with...“sex stuff”. My much older sister majored in Psychology in University, and so I spent my childhood often sneakily pouring over her textbooks, always particularly fascinated with her human sexuality textbooks. These memories came ooding back this past year when my ve- year old started receiving special sexual education workshops at his daycare. It made me think that it was time to renew my own sex ed knowledge.
While i work with the body and movement in my work as a live artist, I have noticed an increasing disconnection with myself as a sexual being over the past 20 years. This widening ssure has stricken me as particularly troubling as i have always had a particularly keen interest in sexual investigation and a somewhat latent (and admittedly giggly!) interest in becoming a sexologist. In my past two works, I have to some extent been exploring the idea of repression - how I had been repressing certain aspects of my cultural identity and the repercussions of this kind of withholding. Moving further towards uncovering buried facets of my human composition, I would now like to delve into what has become the mystery of my sexual self and how it affects me as a human, a performer, a mother, a lover.
A couple of major questions, for instance:
-How does a lifetime of hiding affect how we connect to others?
-What are the effects of repression on how one loves, how one shares physical space with others, and how one shares their body with others? »
--Dana Michel
About the artist
Post-performance conversation, May 20
Audience members joining us for Dana Michel's May 20 performance of CUTLASS SPRING will be treated to a fantastic post-show conversation with Dana Michel and dani tirrell.
Dana met dani when she was last in town in 2016 performing Yellow Towel. Dani has a genuine interest in having conversations with artists about their creative process, what brings them joy, and learning more about who they are and they are interested in creating art. This conversation will be recorded and something you won’t want to miss!
"The first time I experienced Dana's work was at OtB. Dana presented Yellow Towel, the work was familiar, distant, emotional, and lifted my body to levels of joy. I am excited to be able to get closer to Dana's work through this intimate conversation. I look forward to be able to create a space bravery and joy with Dana." --dani
Credits – CUTLASS SPRING
Created and performed by Dana Michel
Artistic Activators Ellen Furey, Peter James, Mathieu Léger, Heidi Louis, Roscoe Michel, Karlyn Percil, Yoan Sorin, Alanna Stuart
Sound Consultant David Drury
Lighting Design Karine Gauthier
Technical Direction Caroline Nadeau and Karine Gauthier
Production Dana Michel
Executive Production Parbleux
Distribution Key Performance – Anna Skonecka, Koen Vanhove
Coproduction Arsenic - Centre d’art scénique contemporain (Lausanne, Suisse / Switzerland), Rosendal Teater (Trondheim, Norvège / Norway), Black Box Teater (Oslo, Norvège / Norway), Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans (France), Centre National des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Canada), Julidans (Amsterdam, Pays-Bas / Netherlands), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles, Belgique / Belgium), Montpellier Danse (France), Moving in November (Helsinki, Finlande / Finland)
Co-produced with the support of the Visiting Dance Artist Program, a joint initiative of the National Arts Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Creative residencies Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans (France), Centre National des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), CounterPulse (San Francisco, États-Unis / USA), Dancemakers (Toronto, Canada), da:ns lab (Singapour / Singapor), Galerie du Dourven – Passerelle Centre d’art contemporain (France), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Bruxelles, Belgique / Belgium), PAF - Performing Arts Forum (France), Parbleux (Montréal, Canada), Usine C (Montréal, Canada), Reykjavik Dance Festival (Islande / Iceland), Tanzhaus Zurich (Suisse / Switzerland)
The creation of this work was made possible thanks to the financial support of Conseil des Arts du Canada et du Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec
Proof of vaccination* or negative Covid test within 24 hours will be required for entry. Patrons are required to wear masks during the entire event.
*Photo of vaccination card is acceptable. If you do not have your card, you can access your vaccination record remotely by creating an account on the WA Dept of Health Immunization Information System, WA.MyIR.net.