CODA
SCA Graduating Dance Performance
April 21 – 23, 2022 | 7:00 PM
Studio T – SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
$7 SFU Students / $10 SFU Staff/Faculty/Alumni / $15 General Public
April 20, 2022 | Live streamed dress rehearsal | 7:00 PM
Coda: a concluding event, remark, or passage.
This student-run showcase consists of 11 works performed by our nine graduating Dance Majors at the SCA. The combination of bitter-sweet, sentimental, and playful works serves as a summation of their years spent learning, working, and creating together. Though our dancers may soon be venturing down entirely different paths, they will have these transient moments on stage to share and reflect on their time dancing alongside one another. Coda aims to bring the eventful chapter of each dancer’s university experience to a satisfactory close.
Credits
Creative Directors and Organizers: Roya Pishvaei and Sarah Kennedy
Choreographers and Dancers: Andrea Isea Galindo, Breyanna Oldham, Emily Bosak, Mikela Vuorensivu, Nicole Dreher, Paige Wichers, Roya Pishvaei, Sarah Kennedy, and Zaarah Lopez
Technical Director and Lighting Designer: Jack Chipman
Stage Manager: Jullianna Oke
Sound Operator: Clara Xu
Photography and Graphics: Mikela Vuorensivu
Program
Group improvisation | 5 mins
Performed by all of the dancers
For All That It Is, Was and Will Be | 3-4 mins
Choreographer: Sarah Kennedy
Dancers: Sarah Kennedy
Title of Piece: For All That It Is, Was and Will Be
Music Credits: Ephemeral by Leif Hatzi-Blaak
Program Notes:
Even though the journey may feel like it is over, it is only just beginning.
the drawing board | 3 mins
Choreographer: Roya Pishvaei and Mikela Vuorensivu
Dancers: Roya Pishvaei and Mikela Vuorensivu
Music Credits: Manifold by Oneohtrix Point Never, Levity by venn, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk, The Elevator Bossa Nova by Bensound.
Program Notes:
What even is this? A summary of the past four years, really. We are so very sorry, and not sorry at all.
Woman | 3 mins
Choreographer: Breyanna Oldham
Dancers: Breyanna Oldham
Music Credits: What a Relief by Reyna Biddy
Program Notes:
I dedicate this piece to all the powerful, strong, and beautiful people in my life, especially the ones I get to share the stage with tonight. It has been a long journey to get to where we are now but getting to experience it with you all has made it so worth it. Thank you:)
Memories of Tight Spaces | 5-7 mins
Choreographer: Paige Wichers, Sarah Kennedy, Andrea Isea Galindo
Dancers: Paige Wichers, Sarah Kennedy, Andrea Isea Galindo
Music Credits: Now Here by Alex Abahmed
Program Notes:
Wrists, waves, crumble, circles, paper, pieces, spaces, and nice company. Special thanks to NiNi for facilitating our work.
For me, for you | 5 mins
Choreographer: Emily Bosak
Dancers: Emily Bosak
Music Credits: Last Christmas by Wham!, Sun by 憂鬱, Mad Rush by Phillip Glass
Program Notes:
I dedicate this performance to my past, present and future self and the long list of people who I owe many thanks to.
Your support of me and my dreams has come in many forms.
I wouldn’t have begun dancing if not for you.
I wouldn’t have continued dancing if not for you.
As much as this performance is a contemplation/celebration of how far I have come
and a speculation of where I will go,
it is also a thank-you.
As much as this performance is for me,
it is also for you.
*** INTERMISSION – 10 Minutes ***
All is Well | 7 mins
Choreographer: Mikela Vuorensivu
Dancers: Roya Pishvaei, Sarah Kennedy, Mikela Vuorensivu, Paige Wichers, Andrea Isea Galindo, Emily Bosak, Breyanna Oldham
Music Credits: Please Love Me Forever Bobby Vinton and Container Park The Chemical Brothers
Program Notes:
Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still… Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
~ Excerpts from Death is Nothing at All by Henry Scott Holland
Who Gets To Keep The Last Kiss? | 5 mins
Choreographer: Zaarah Lopez
Dancers: Zaarah Lopez
Music Credits: Besame Mucho by Laura Fygi and La Tarde Se Ha Puesto Triste” by Dr. Kucho & Adonis Alvarez, ft. Marta Bolaños. Edited by Charlie Cooper
Projection Designer: Alexandra Caprara
Program Notes:
To my beautiful mom, for all of her support and love.
A goodbye and thank you to all the places, people, and situations.
To whom we no longer are but will always be.
To transformation.
Until we meet again.
falling into place | 3-4 mins
Choreographer: Nicole Dreher
Dancers: Nicole Dreher
Music Credits: Gravity Falls (S2E20)
Program Notes:
It’s terrifying to leave the comforts of the familiar. However ill-prepared we feel, the time has come to head into the unknown and create a future for ourselves. By remaining curious and trusting the unfamiliar in conjunction with what’s comfortable, we can be assured that it will all fall into place.
Permutation | 7 mins
Choreographer: Sarah Kennedy in Collaboration with Jessica Langelier, Roya Pishvaei and Mikela Vuorensivu
Dancers: Sarah Kennedy, Roya Pishvaei and Mikela Vuorensivu
Music Credits: (flake) by Jameszoo, Metropole Orkest, and Jules Buckley, as well as excerpts from conversations the dancers had together.
Program Notes:
Created during Sarah Kennedy’s Directed Study. This piece explores how we explain contemporary dance in relation to Acrobatics. Innovation, creation, how do we explore something never been done before? Is there an answer?
Special thanks to my dancers; Roya, Mikela and Jessica for being so open-minded during rehearsals and bringing their own individuality to the work. This was a collaboration between all of us and it would not have been possible without you all.
If Not Love | 3-4 mins
Choreographer: Andrea Isea Galindo
Dancers: Andrea Isea Galindo
Music Credits: La Vague by Leif Hatzi-Blaak
Program Notes:
“What is grief, if not love persevering?”
Nothing can prepare you for grief. It comes and goes in waves in the most expected and unexpected ways. Beginning with this one, all my dances are for you. I miss you everyday.
blood. sweat. and tears. | 5 mins
Choreographer: Roya Pishvaei
Dancers: Roya Pishvaei, Sarah Kennedy, Mikela Vuorensivu, Zaarah Lopez, Andrea Isea Galindo, Emily Bosak, Nicole Dreher, Breyanna Oldham
Music Credits: Blood on the Dancefloor by Michael Jackson
Program Notes:
You can’t part ways without a dance party first.
This piece pays homage to our wonderful dance professors here at the SCA. Thank you for the techniques and knowledge that you have provided us with, we are so grateful for our time here. Hope you have fun spotting elements of your technique classes within this playful piece.
Cast and Crew Biographies
Emily Bosak
Emily Bosak (she/her) is a dance artist who currently practices on what is now known as Vancouver on the unceded ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Emily is interested in working with movement to physicalize different images and prompts while mindfully pushing the boundaries of her body. She continually investigates the multiple ways a body can be virtuoistic. One of Emily’s greatest joys in life is performing and she aspires to translate the work of Vancouver’s many amazing dance artists.
Jack Chipman (He/Him)
Jack is a current student at Simon Fraser University studying Theatre Production and Design with a focus on lighting and multimedia design. He currently has an interest in design-led creation and using unique mediums to create visuals in conjunction with performances. He hopes to continue exploring these concepts in the future. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, biking, and carpentry.
Nicole Dreher
Nicole Dreher (they/them) is a contemporary dance artist currently based in Vancouver, BC. Born and raised in Cambridge, ON, they quickly discovered their passion for contemporary and modern dance. By using their training in ballet, modern, and contemporary dance to go against their natural instincts they are able to explore and push the boundaries of what it means to be a ‘dance artist’. They are excited to continue working in collaborative settings, exploring vulnerability in movement, and evolving as both an artist and a human being.
Andrea Isea Galindo
Andrea (she/her) was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She utilizes this time of growth to learn as much as she can from other artists while developing her own artistic voice in the process. Andrea is currently exploring her own style of movement and how to balance her creativity with structural limitations while choreographing. Her future aspiration is to pay it forward by sharing the knowledge she has gathered throughout her life with young artists and her current students.
Leif Hatzi-Blaak
Leif was born in Athens, Greece and moved to the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, otherwise known as Vancouver, British Columbia. Leif is interested in composing for the piano, further testing the boundaries of music as a means of personal expression. He aspires to follow his passion in creating music for film, dance and wants to collaborate with various musicians and artists.
Sarah Kennedy
Sarah Kennedy was born and raised on the traditional territories of the Wendat, Haudeno-saunee and the Anishinaabe peoples, the place now commonly known as Newmarket, Ontario. Sarah is currently incorporating her love of acrobatics into her practice of contemporary dance and hopes to continue this in the future. She aims to share this knowledge and passion for dance with children with varying communication and developmental disabilities.
Zaarah Lopez
Zaarah Lopez is an emerging dance and interdisciplinary artist born in the indigenous lands of the Mayan people in the South of Mexico. She is particularly interested in the art practice of merging dance and film together, and choreographing the camera.
Jullianna Oke (she/her)
With Japanese and French-Canadian ancestry, Jullianna works and plays on the Indigenous homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, in the place now commonly known as Vancouver. In her third year of study at SFU as a dance major, she is interested in the embodied empathy and passage of information expressed from one body to another in movement. As her own practice continues to evolve, Jullianna hopes to express this kinesthetic knowledge through various means and mediums.
Breyanna Oldham (she/her)
Breyanna Oldham was born and raised on the Indigenous homelands of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc, in the place now commonly known as Kamloops B.C. Breyanna is currently exploring the collaboration between contemporary and hip-hop movement, as well as the combination of movement and film. As a dance artist Breyanna hopes to inspire, create, and impact the dance community. After graduation Breyanna hopes to continue working in the commercial industry and perform for as long as she can.
Roya Pishvaei
Roya Pishvaei was born and raised with Fijian & Iranian ancestry on the Indigenous homelands of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, and Tsawwassen First Nations. Roya is currently working on researching hybridity within her contemporary dance works, and is also interested in interdisciplinary collaborations with local artists. Her goals as a dance artist are to welcome and inspire others with the joy of movement, and to help establish more positive dance environments for future generations to work and learn in.
Paige Wichers (she/her)
Paige Wichers was born and raised on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy (the Siksika, Kainai), the Piikani, the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, and the Métis Nation (Region 3), in the place now commonly known as Lethbridge. Paige is currently working on finding her own personal practice that aligns with her lifestyle and personal values. She hopes to achieve an arts practice that both supports and fuels her growing love of dance and creation.
Mikela Vuorensivu
Mikela Vuorensivu was born with Finnish ancestry on the Indigenous homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-waututh First Nations, now commonly known as Vancouver. She continues to rediscover her love choreographing and performing for in-person shows. Her hope is to create works that embody meaningful relationships, discovering identity, and enormous emotion. Most recently, this has meant drawing inspiration from her experience as a woman as well as her Scandanavian heritage. Mikela also pursues her interest in capturing movement on film and photography and aspires to expand her portfolio in these areas.