THE HAVEN:

SUMMER INTENSIVE

Contemporary Movement and Creation Workshop Intensive

August 5 - 9 (5 DAYS)

930 AM - 330 PM at the Knox Performance Centre

Join Method Dance Society artistic faculty and guest artists for our first 5-day Pre-Professional/ Professional Summer Intensive. The intensive is a great opportunity for dancers aged 13+ to learn more about a career in contemporary dance arts and access a professional training style and environment.

This year the intensive will feature two guest artists, James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam of Plastic Orchid Factory based on the unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory (colonially, Vancouver). Plastic Orchid Factory emerged as a not-for-profit, artist-run, live performance company in 2008. The organization is committed to creating, supporting, and advocating for diverse art forms that embrace a pluralistic approach in both practice and form. The focus is on inclusive methods that blur genres, foster collaboration and exchange, and result in distinctive frameworks for making and experiencing live art.

Workshop Fees

Early-bird (until May 15th) $325 +GST

Regular registration (after May 15th) $375 + GST

Schedule

9:30-9:45 – Dancers arrive (light snacks and juice will be provided)

10:00-11:15 – Warm-up sessions – open class

11:15-11:30 – Break

11:30 – 1:00 – Contemporary Class/ Repertoire

1:00-1:30 – Lunch Break (please bring your lunch)

1:30-3:00 – Contemporary Class/ Workshopping

3:00-3:30 – Dancer pick-up

To conclude our summer intensive we will providing a short performance at The Knox Centre to highlight the work the artists have been focused on this week.

The performance will take place at 6 PM on Friday August 9th at the Knox Performance Centre.

Admission is by donation with all proceeds going to the United Way's BC Wildfire Recovery Fund. RSVP HERE

Auditions for MDS company dancers and apprentices will also be held during the week of August 5-9th.*

*Details on auditions will be released end of May 2024. We have opened up MDS apprenticeships to dancers 16+. If you are interested in apprenticing with MDS, please email us for more details at admin@methoddance.ca

Accommodations:

For dancers interested in attending the workshops from outside of Prince George, we have the following accommodation options.

Ramada Prince George $100/ night, two double beds, sleeps 4 people.

For those who may need financial assistance for accommodation, please reach out to MDS and we will assist you in finding additional options.

GUEST-FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES

James Gnam (he/him) is a dance artist based in Vancouver and Montreal. He is the artistic director of plastic orchid factory, a founding member of Left of Main, as well as an associate artist with MAYDAY and Grand Poney. He trained at the National Ballet School of Canada and from 1998 to the present, has performed in the works of Crystal Pite, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Jiri Kylian, Barak Marshall and collaborated in the creation of new work with Lee Su-Feh, Jacques Poulin-Denis, Melanie Demers, Vanessa Goodman, Evann Siebens, Peter Bingham and Tedd Robinson. With plastic orchid, James collaboratively devises interdisciplinary work that focuses the body as a site of social commentary. James’ research and performance have been supported by Opera Estate in Bassano Italy; Circuit-Est in Montreal; Centre Q and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa; Electric Company Theatre, The New Forms Festival, The Vancouver Art gallery, The Burrard Arts Foundation/Facade Festival, The Belkin Gallery and SFU/W in Vancouver. In 2010, the late Lola Maclaughlin nominated James and his wife Natalie for the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Dance.

Natalie LeFebvre Gnam (she/elle) is a dance artist, producer, teacher, curator, performance maker and mother to two energetic boys, originally from Lheidli T’enneh (colonially known as Prince George), now living on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territory (colonially, Vancouver). She studied dance at L’École supérieure de danse du Québec and Le Cégep du Vieux Montréal in Tio‘tia:ke (Montréal) and arts management at Capilano University (Lil’wat, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Shíshálh (Sechelt), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territory). Natalie has performed with companies and artists across Turtle Island including, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Coleman Lemieux & Co., The Vancouver Opera. Since 2003, she has the privilege of co-imagining and collaborating in the projects of plastic orchid factory as artistic producer, alongside her life and art partner, James Gnam. As a producer, Natalie has worked across disciplines and language with DanceHouse, The Cultch, Théâtre la Seizième and Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret. She is currently the Managing Producer at Electric Company Theatre. In 2009, she was awarded the Isadora Award for excellence in performance and with James Gnam, was nominated by the late Lola Maclaughlin for the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for Emerging Dance. Active in her community at large, Natalie is a committee member for the Indigenous Learning Program at École Secondaire Jules Verne, the chair of francophone theatre company, productions 4par4, and chaired the Training Society of Vancouver from 2009-2020. In 2017, Natalie led plastic orchid factory’s work in establishing Left of Main, a creator hub for the live arts in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown.