Artist Bio
Meghann Michalsky is a Contemporary dance artist currently working in Alberta and Saskatchewan. She is the co-creator of Project InTandem and YYC Contemporary Technique Training, two programs that offer opportunities to emerging artists in Canada. She was awarded the 2019 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions – she is the first Dancer/Choreographer to receive this award.
Since completing her BA in Contemporary Dance, with a concentration in Choreography and Performance, at the University of Calgary. She has rigorously pursued her dance technique training in Canada as well as in Israel, Portugal, Sweden, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium & Austria.
As a dancer, you’ve seen her dance for an array of individual artists and companies, including Karissa Barry, Laja Field of LajaMartin, Davida Monk, Linnea Swan, Michele Moss, kloetzel&co, Cloudsway Dance Theatre, Dancing Monkey Laboratories, J-Sik Movements, & Dancers’ Studio West – Lab Emerging Artist Program (2016) & Physic/Alchemy (2018), amongst others. She is one of the only creators in Canada to have extensive training in all three current contemporary techniques: Gaga technique, Countertechnique, and Flying Low.
Between 2014 and the present she has created twelve new works and three dance films. Six of these were major works between 20 – 35 minutes in duration. All of them were professionally produced by dance organizations and festivals, or self-produced, in Alberta, and one was presented at the 2016 artArctia Festival in Finland. Her most recent choreographic works have been presented prestigious festivals such as Dance Made in Canada | fait au Canada (Toronto), artsPlace (Canmore), Mile Zero Dance (Edmonton), Citadel + Compagnie (Toronto), University of Calgary, Chutzpah Festival (Vancouver), Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre (Camrose), Project InTandem (Calgary), Fluid Festival (Calgary), Stream of Dance Festival (Regina), Convergence (Edmonton).
Her choreographic research starts with her trust in the body and investigating how bodily experiences are deeply embedded. She creates highly visceral works that combine intense musculature and athletic physicality. Her movement signature has been described as vigorous, raw, and intricate. Her knowledge of Hip-Hop and Krump movement principles has influenced her development of isolated, rhythmic, bound, and fast-twitch movement qualities into her contemporary choreographies.
She has received grant funding from Calgary Arts Development, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts and has been awarded Choreographic Residencies from the Centro Jobel (Italy), Vitlycke Arts Centre (Sweden), New Dance Horizons (Regina), Banff Centre for the Arts, amongst many local Alberta opportunities.
Instagram: @meghatron7
Dancer(s):
Meghann Michalsky
Special thanks to:
Kwento Productions
Artist Bio
Mitchell Larsen (they/them), born and raised across Saskatchewan, is a multidisciplinary, genderfluid, queer performing artist with a passion for the creation and proliferation of new works. Their work spans genres of dance, theatre, music, and poetry. One of their deep focuses has been dance and adjacent movement-based arts.
Some highlights include:
A year-long mentorships in mime from Frank Engel who trained in the Polish Tomaszewski school of mime;
Participation with my collaborator, Megan Zong, in the Remai’s year-long Here and Now performance art program,
Adapting Governor-General-Award-winning Lorna Crozier’s poetry into music and dance/movement based art, directed by Shannon Litzenberger
And contracts performing work by internationally acclaimed artists, Tino Sehgal and Brendan Fernandes.
Many of their formative artistic experiences come from their years of dancing with Free Flow Modern Dance Theatre Company and KSAMB, a Saskatoon-based contact-improv company.
Currently, they find great joy in exploring diverse forms of artistic methodology and expression. Each time they explore a new method of creation, they learn a great deal about their craft and themself and grow as an artist. One of the most reward things they do is being a part of creating the local, prairie, queer artistic content they needed but didn’t have access to growing up.
Instagram: @thatgaykidmitchell
Dancer(s):
Jonathon Pickrell (co-choreographer/dancer)
Mitchell Larsen (co-choreographer/dancer)
Special thanks to:
Lautaro Reyes
Kwento Productions
U of S Drama Department
SK Arts Micro Grant Program
Artist Bio
Ruby began her dance journey at the age of 4 and have since developed a profound passion for the art. With 14 years of competitive dance experience, she has honed her skills in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary styles. Her dedication and hard work were recognized when she completed the Advanced 2 Ballet exam with distinction and the Pre-Advanced Jazz exam. Recently, she graduated from a professional dance training program based in Vancouver, BC, called the Harbour Dance Centre’s Intensive Training Program (ITP) in June 2024. Expanding her repertoire, Ruby has been training in breaking and hip-hop freestyle, adding social Latin dance skills with salsa and bachata, as well as mastering the art of dancing in heels, all within the past 2 years. She draws inspiration from Rubberband, a contemporary dance company based in Montreal, renowned for its innovative focus on combining breaking techniques with classical dance. Ruby has worked on sets and filmed numerous dance short films, been in music videos, and created/directed concept videos of her own. Dance is her way of life and she feels incredibly lucky to have had the privilege to pursue it as far as she has.
Instagram: @ruby.eger
Dancer(s):
Special thanks to:
Kwento Productions
Artist Bio
Valentyna has danced throughout her life. She was born and grew up in the Ukraine, there she studied dance and finished at Kyiv university of culture in the profession of choreography. She begun teaching dance 27 years ago mainly in Ukrainian dance (but love to touch emotion, tell stories, use lines and feelings, use various genres of dance to add a spice). She has taught Ukrainian dance in many communities across Saskatchewan, and has her own Ukrainian dance school Leleka Ukrainian dance ensemble, here in Saskatoon.
Valentyna also taught and created choreography for circus studios and ballet pieces, back in Ukraine.
She has presented pieces of work where she used peaceful emotions of water , family, nature and plastic movement. Where dancers were represented different natural elements like water waves, crabs and birds. With the intention of transporting audiences to those natural environments, after seeing the dance .
She loved the opportunity to step outside of expectations, limits of Ukrainian dance school and opened up her creativity in the residency.
Instagram: @leleka_in_the_sky
Dancer(s):
Rachel Sawitsky
Giulshen Kalyton
Justin Chometa
Alyssa Chenier
Valya Long
Special thanks to:
Kwento Productions
